2017 CBE Alumni Panel

Panel Discussion: Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology in Chemical Engineering

Join past and present chemical engineers from Drexel University as we discuss evolving career opportunities with your academic training. Over breakfast and lunch, alumni will share experiences with current students and have the opportunity to network with peers across pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Take the opportunity to learn from career paths of the panelists!

Panel Event Sponsored by ExxonMobil and International Academy of Automation Engineering
Raffle Prizes Sponsored by GIWA, La Colombe Coffee Roasters, Joe Coffee, Wahoo's Tacos

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Saturday, April 29, 2017
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Bossone Atrium, 3rd Floor

MODERATOR:

Dr. Via has extensive general management experience leading operations in North and South America, Europe and Asia, primarily in the pharmaceutical, medical device and chemical manufacturing industries. He has 30 years of industrial experience in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries spending the last 20 years at Alcon Laboratories where he served as Vice President of Manufacturing for both the Global Surgical and Global Pharmaceutical & Lens Care Business Units. He has a proven track record in manufacturing (internal and contract) operations; design, construction, validation and start-up of new manufacturing plants; technology transfer and new product launches; validation and regulatory compliance in the US and international markets; improving safety and productivity performance; business continuity; organizational development and succession planning; and building and growing cost-competitive organizations. Dr. Via left Alcon in August 2012 following its acquisition by Novartis and joined Drexel in October of 2012. Prior to working for Alcon, Dr. Via worked for both Merck, Inc. and Parke Davis.

Dr. Via is currently the Associate Dean of Engineering for Administrative & Technical Operations, Department Head of Engineering Management, Director of the Engineering Management Program, Founding Director of the Systems Engineering Program, and a Teaching Professor at Drexel University. He previously taught engineering at both Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Via is a Drexel graduate, receiving both a M.S. in Chemical Engineering and a M.S. in Engineering Management. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia, a Master of Engineering Science from Lamar University, and an M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Management, and a Doctor of Engineering in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University. He also completed the Program for Management Development (PMD) at Harvard Business School. Dr. Via is a registered Professional Engineer (Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Texas), is a Professional Engineering Manager, and is a member of AIChE, ISPE and PMI.

PANELISTS

Ed received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in 1987. Ed has worked in the petroleum, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries throughout his 30-year career. He got his start at Mobil Oil Corporation (currently Exxon Mobil), where he performed consumer report type research evaluating loss prevention products such as fire fighting foams, extinguishing agents, structural steel fire protection, etc. Also with Mobil, Ed became a safety advisor for Lube Plants, Marketing terminals and the Pipeline division. This job required familiarity with OSHA regulations and NFPA codes.

Ed’s later transitioned to Elf Atochem (currently Arkema) where he performed Safety, Health, Environmental, and Process Safety Management audits at over 30 chemical manufacturing facilities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Also with Atochem, Ed became a Technical Service Specialist for the acrylic monomers division. A major part of this job was quality control for marine and truck shipments of acrylic monomers as well as supporting the safe transport and handling.

After years working and specializing in the safety field, Ed make a switch towards process engineering by accepting a position with Siegfried Pharmaceuticals as a Process Optimization Engineer. Ed used computer modeling to maximize the yields and scheduling for the batch processes of Siegfried’s many API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients). In addition, he became a specialist in conducting Process Hazards Analyses. After expressing interest in automation, Ed later switched to the site’s Lead Automation Engineer and learned how to program using Emerson’s DeltaV product and managed the site’s automation systems.

Ed continued his career in the pharmaceutical industry by working with Biokenetics as a Senior Automation Engineer and then with Auxilium Pharmaceuticals. Ed has experience with CMO oversight of both small and large molecule manufacturing. In addition, he has helped validate secondary suppliers for key API’s and excipients. In his most recent position, he is the Associate Director of Engineering and Facilities with Endo Pharmaceuticals where he manages a team of 7 professionals.

Ed is a member of the ISPE. He is also a Capstone Project Advisor for Drexel BCE Undergraduates. When Ed is not working, he can be found rock climbing at local gyms or playing tennis with his wife.

Ron currently serves as the COO and is one of the founders of Frontida BioPharm, Inc., after completing a successful 13-year term as a founding management team member of Frontage Laboratories, a leading CRO in the US and China. As Chief Operations Officer of Frontida, Ron leads an established team of 240 manufacturing professionals to produce high quality, affordable pharmaceutical products. Frontida’s manufacturing capabilities in their Philadelphia and Chicago area facilities include immediate release and controlled-release Oral Solid Dosage forms for high potency and pain management medications and fixed-dose combination therapies, utilizing large volume fluid bed processing, solvent- and aqueous-based granulation processes, innovative three-component capsule filling technology (with ability to fill mini-tabs, granules, beads, liquids, and powders) and various tableting technologies. The sites offer commercial and clinical trial material packaging services with on-line serialization capabilities. We also have the ability to manufacture and package highly potent Oral Liquid and Oral Suspension products, with plans to add injectable product manufacturing in the future.

Ron is involved in helping clients coordinate drug development activities and providing solutions to efficiently develop new drugs and generic formulations. He has over 26 years of drug development experience concentrated in scale up and commercialization of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Finished Dosage Forms. Ron also provides GMP and CMC consulting services to clients, utilizing his experience from more than 100 DMF/IND/NDA applications and 30+ FDA PAI and general GMP inspections.

After receiving a BSChE from Drexel University in 1991, Ron held positions at Sanofi (formerly Rhone Poulenc Rorer) as a process engineer scaling up batch chemistry processes from lab to plant floor, Senior Research Scientist at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals’ esiLederle developing and commercializing injectable manufacturing processes, and as Technical Affairs Manager at Flavine North America where Ron utilized his engineering and FDA remediation experiences to facilitate technical and GMP matters for API manufacturers in Europe, China, Japan, Taiwan and India. Ron was actively involved in FDA inspections, helping companies to develop robust quality systems and conduct GMP remediation projects. In 2003, Ron joined the team at Frontage Laboratories as Sr. Vice President for 13 years overseeing the business development and customer relationships for US operations. He provided guidance to formulation development and organic synthesis staff to accomplish client and project goals, developed strategies for business expansion and execution of existing business operations, and provided GMP and technical consultation to clients and Quality Assurance functions, implementing new technologies to improve business operations.

Ron is a proud father of his 20 year old son Nate and husband to Irene (also a Drexel alum) for 24 years, and is actively involved philanthropically in Philadelphia, dedicated to impacting the community by organizing outreaches to the veterans and homeless and leading a church in the Old City community. Ron enjoys playing the saxophone and other wind instruments whenever he has the opportunity as well.

Youssef (Drexel BSChE 2000) has worked in the Industrial Automation and Information Systems Engineering disciplines, primarily leading the execution of projects and consultancy for Biopharmaceutical firms.

Starting his career at Automation Applications Incorporated (now JMP Engineering), Youssef learned design, programming, and commissioning of multivariate, model-based control strategies for pulp and paper chemical recovery, cogeneration, continuous emissions monitoring, and bituminous earth (oil sand) refining processes. The position afforded travel throughout the Canadian provinces and the Southeast United States.

Starting a family meant having to limit travel, so Youssef changed employers. Working for Proconex, a Local Business Partner of Emerson Process Management, exposed him to a regional customer base consisting mainly of Pharmaceutical Industry mainstays such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson. Over the next 12 years, Youssef increasingly expanded his domain of expertise in the highly regulated Life Sciences industry by supporting cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) and GAMP (Good Automated Manufacturing Practice) commercial facilities. This led to initiatives and growth into the administration of Distributed Control Systems (DCS) infrastructure technologies, integration to and management of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), and Batch Reporting Systems for regulatory release of product. Recognizing the rapid expansion of traditional IT systems and methodologies into the automation controls engineering discipline, Youssef worked with clients to propose and present forward-looking cyber security and enterprise information systems integration methodologies sensitive to concerns of data integrity and availability.

Simultaneously, the phenomenon of professional social networking started taking flight. Youssef leveraged his detailed knowledge and contacts within Emerson Process Management to establish a highly visible presence in the company’s Exchange365 and various LinkedIn groups. This participation was primarily done in his spare time , freely assisting end users and peers with answers and advice to system planning, management, and innovation.

Being offered a positon of leadership at Horizon Controls Group, Youssef changed employers again to head the Manufacturing Information Systems (MIS) department. Growing a team of experts in the enterprise historian, integration, MES, and industrial cyber security consulting space focusing on the Life Sciences Industry, he is also responsible for managing internal company information systems and cloud-based infrastructure.

Ron Pollack received a BSChE from Drexel in 1982. He worked for Chemicals giant Rohm and Haas (now Dow) through 2005 in various roles, including R&D, production, environmental (mainly designing, troubleshooting, and starting up numerous biological wastewater treatment plants) and project management and in many product lines including ion exchange, monomers, leather chemicals, electronic chemicals, and biocides. In addition, he earned a Six Sigma Black Belt. Then, he worked at Air Products for a short time, where he designed an ion exchange resin system to purify chemicals used in silicon chip manufacture. In 2006, he transitioned to the medical device industry, working at Integra LifeSciences, where he was the processing expert for their INTEGRA™ artificial skin product. In 2008, he joined Johnson & Johnson (Janssen Pharmaceuticals), where he is currently Principal Scientist, working on design, development and manufacture of drug delivery devices (for example, syringes and autoinjectors) for several pharmaceutical products. In addition, he earned another Six Sigma Black Belt at J&J and serves as a statistician resource.

Ron is a member of Phi Eta Sigma and Tau Beta Pi.

Dr. Eleanor Small

Eleanor Small currently works for Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc. as a Senior Scientist in Oral Care Product Development. Ellie received her BSE in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2006. She received her PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Drexel University in June, 2012. During her doctoral work, Ellie was twice awarded a NSF GK-12 fellowship which allowed her to work with local high school teachers to enhance S.T.E.M. education in their classrooms. She published two papers as first author (one in Colloids and Surfaces A, the other in Langmuir) and contributed to two additional papers.

Ellie is passionate about S.T.E.M education, especially for young women. She is the 2016-2017 Leader of J&J Consumer’s Women In Science & Engineering (W.I.S.E.) group, and serves as advisor to the Princeton chapter of her fraternity, Kappa Kappa Gamma. She is also the 2016-2017 President of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Philadelphia Alumna Association Foundation. Ellie has worked with the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia since 2012, and she currently serves as the Chair of the Undergraduate Student Paper Award within the Delaware Valley Engineer’s Week planning committee. She is an active member of both AIChE and ISPE, holds the position of Vice President of Communities of Practice for the Delaware Valley Chapter of ISPE.

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