Professional Intro

My name is Brandy Allen. I am located at the Raleigh-Knightdale facility in NC, USA. I am a part of the Materials Technology lab also located in the Raleigh-Knightdale, NC, USA facility. In my lab position, I act as both an analytical chemist and materials scientist. I provide testing and analysis for polymeric, composite and some metallic materials. I am very glad to have the opportunity to join the Polymer Community.

My educational background includes a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master’s of Science in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Before joining Schneider Electric, I worked as the US product specialist for the Smart Trac manufactured by CEM (http://www.cem.com/smart-trac-2.html) and as a polyurethane synthesis chemist at Forbo (http://www.forbo.com).

I joined the Materials Technology Lab in April 2008. In that time I have provided the analysis and report for 784 testing requests. The types of testing and projects have varied over that time. Below is listing of the types of requests related to their projects.

* Restriction of Hazardous Substance initiative, Metallic Finish Evaluation, 178 Reports, Equivalent to 178 work days, 2008-2011;

* Rebalancing Project, Material Comparison, 13 Reports, Equivalent to 13 work days, 2012-2015;

* Instrumented Impact: 30 Reports, 105 Samples, Equivalent to 82 work days, 2009-2015

* Clone Component Materials Comparison Analysis, 6 Reports, Equivalent to 30 work days, 2012;

* BMW Electric Charger Contacts, Metallic Evaluation, 6 Reports, Equivalent to 24 work days, 2013;

* Hammer QC from J Frame Breaker, Polymeric Material Quality Check, 8 Reports, Equivalent to 14 work days, 2014-2015;

* Porcelain Insulators, Material Comparison, 2 Reports, Equivalent to 3 work days, 2014-2015

* Discovery Materials Selection, Thermoplastic Substitution for Thermoset, 6 Reports, Equivalent to 30 work days, 2015;

* Printed Circuit Board Evaluation, 17 Reports, Equivalent to 35 work days, 2009-2015.

My analytical skills include the following:

Advanced User (Level 4/5), Full Utilization and Trouble-Shooting Capabilities:

o Molecular Identification: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman;

o Thermal Properties: Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Dynamic Hybrid Rheometry (DHR) and Melt Flow;

o Microscopy: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Stereomicroscopy;

o Elemental Analysis: Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy and Glow Discharge Spectroscopy (GDS);

o Instrumented Impact using Falling Dart.

o Specimen Preparation using specialized cutting tools, mounting media (cold and hot) and material specific grinding and polishing procedures.

o PC Software: Microsoft Word and Microsoft Access

Intermediate User (Level 3/5), Practical Application:

o Instron Tensile and Compression Testers

o PC Software: Microsoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat and Windows

· Novice User (Level 2/5), Limited Experience or Long Duration Since Use:

o Analytical Techniques: Raman spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Ultraviolent-Visible Spectrometry (UV-Vis), surface area analysis (BET), and electro-analytical techniques.

o Software Programming: HTML, Visual Basic, Java ++ and QBasic

My ten year career at Schneider Electric has involved a substantial focus on the technology of materials testing. My future career expectations at Schneider Electric would involve the adoption of improved testing capabilities, the spread of useful materials knowledge and more open access to testing results.

A main component of this expectation involves effective communication, useful collaboration and knowledge management. I currently store and relate through database technology all of my materials related test results. I have made some steps to provide this related information to internal customers and stakeholders in materials related technology. The improvements in computers and automation will optimistically provide quicker and more consistent materials testing results. The continuously improving digitization of information and adoption of content management systems should lead to increased access to relevant material related testing results. I have created and shared many useful knowledge based documentation to customers for process and product improvement.