Randy Newman

newman@polysty.com
Randy Newman

Personal Resume

2001 to Present - POLYSTY, Inc.

  • Co-Lead Process Designer, Technical Scope Lead Negotiator for Shaw Stone & Webster / POLYSTY license PS plants
  • Co-Developer of POLYSTY DV-Plus model, pilot development, commercial process development, co-author of patent
  • Co-Developer of POLYSTY C-Star Plus GPPS process and model
  • Co-designer of POLYSTY DV-Plus commercial devol unit for Stirol in Ukraine
  • Developed dynamic simulation model for troubleshooting PS plant operations
  • Process design of three devolatization improvement projects
  • Trained operating personnel and lead startup of 100 kTA GPPS/HIPS line in Taiwan

1997 - 2001 Newman Associates - Principal

  • Contract process engineer / technical consulting for: Taita Chemical, Shell Elastomers LLC, Nova Chemicals, Resirene, Unistar, Huntsman Chemical Company, Elf-Atochem, SABIC, Philippines Petrochemicals, General Electric, S.C.Johnson, Deltech Polymers, Chemineer Corp, Stone & Webster Engineering, D&S Engineering, Industrial Process Group Inc.
  • Business consulting with Hexcel Inc and Phillip Townsend Associates Inc
  • Designed, built and operated Pilot Plant for Polystyrene and copolymers
  • Commercialized Styrene-MMA copolymer production in existing PS facility
  • Completed process development from pilot plant through commercialization to convert styrene with 30% mixed xylenes to saleable Polystyrene product
  • Solved streamer formation problem in block copolymer conveying
  • Sized rupture disks for two PS plant sites for Process Safety Management, utilizing DIERS methodology
  • Wrote operating procedures for IsoPhthalic Acid plant expansion project

1994 - 1997 Nova Chemicals, Inc. - Strategic Project Leader

  • PS Technology Manual documenting Nova’s Polystyrene process technology
  • Led Polystyrene benchmarking effort for Phillip Townsend Industry Metric Study
  • Developed strategy to grow business from 730M to 1200M ppy, as a part of Styrenics Strategy Team

1992 – 1994 Novacor Chemicals Site Manager - Decatur Polystyrene facility

  • Increased production capacity by 42%
  • Increased prime yield 7.3%
  • Achieved 100% OST for Line 2 (up 15% from 1992)
  • Reduced unit costs by 19%
  • Reduced recordable injury frequency from 7.8 to 1.3
  • Led site effort to re-engineer business
  • Served as manufacturing representative to Business Strategy Team

1989 – 1992 Novacor Chemicals

Manager of Manufacturing and Engineering, Clear Performance Plastics

  • Led Process Development and Commercialization that changed Styrene Acrylic Copolymer production from batch suspension to continuous mass; $20 M/yr. business transformed from a -$3 M loser to a +$2 M gain as a direct result
  • Assisted design, successful startup of new world-class PS line in Decatur, AL; developed new operating conditions for 40% higher production rates

1986 – 1989 Novacor Chemicals, Inc. (Polysar, Ltd.)

Production Superintendent / Technical Superintendent PS Mfg - Springfield MA

  • Successfully transferred plant from Monsanto to Polysar with 85% new hires; led hiring and training effort.
  • First year performance improved from three previous years in terms of volume(+23%), quality (+5%), on-stream time (+5%)

1976 – 1986 Monsanto Chemicals, Inc, Plastics Division Springfield, MA

Engineering positions Process Development, Pilot Plant, Manufacturing Technology Manufacturing Supervisor in PS Business

Technical Leader in Research Dept, in Nyrim and Triax Commercialization

Education

BS Chemical Engineering Cornell University, 1974
MS Chemical Engineering University of Illinois, 1976