Candidates About

                   

                   Gary r. Kostur                                                                  

CAREER PROFILE

TECHNICAL & ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

Senior Technical Laboratory/Engineering Management professional with a strong diverse industrial background including Aerospace, Medical Devices, Commercial Testing Laboratories, Automotive, Steel Industry, and SuperElastic/Shape Memory (Nitinol) Alloys. Experienced in handling laboratory retrofits as well as greenfield laboratory construction: domestically and internationally. Manage laboratory staff. Effectively facilitate the next technological shift.

 

CORE COMPETENCIES

•    Research technical developments	•    Mentoring & Coaching
•    Negotiator with customers & vendors	•    Strategic Technology Assessor
•    Lab construction planning & execution	•    Alternative Solutions to Technical Problems
•    Formulate overall technical vision	•    Develop Strategic Alliances
•    Bachelor Metallurgical Engineering	•    MIL STD, ISO, ASTM, AMS, and SAE specifications as well as FDA protocols

 

CAREER PROGRESSION

 

Contract Engineering Consultant                  Cleveland, Ohio                                   June 2015 – Present

Advising growing companies with materials/process selection, performing failure analysis, mechanical testing,

and corrosion testing.

 

Swagelok Company                Solon, Ohio                                                       2014 – June 2015

Privately held manufacturer of high performance tubing, pipe and vacuum fittings used in aerospace,

electrical power generation, shipbuilding, automotive, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, and other industries.

   Metallurgical Engineer

•   Perform failure analysis on components for external customers.

•   Provide metallurgical and materials input to new product development.

•    Troubleshoot manufacturing process defects and propose solutions.

•          Train engineers and technicians in laboratory equipment operations.

 

Norman Noble Inc.                 Highland Heights, Ohio                                               2011- 2013

Privately held contract manufacturer of medical devices and aerospace components.

Corporate Metallurgist

•         Failure analysis on components for internal and external customers.

•         Presentation to upper management for the capital expenditure involving a new Scanning Electron

Microscope (SEM) w/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX) - $250,000. Negotiated the purchase

          contract with SEM vendor, supervised installation, trained technicians in the operation of the SEM,

          also the administrator/principal operator of the SEM.

•      Expertise in Nitinol testing - Bend & Free Recovery and Differential Scanning Calorimetry to determine the

     shapeset temperatures to achieve the proper transformation temperatures per customer product requirements.

 

Gary R Kostur                                                                                                  Page 2

Norman Noble Inc.             Highland Heights, Ohio                                               2011- 2013

•          Train technicians 2 direct report & 2 indirect report technicians in laboratory procedures - optical microscopy, SEM techniques, and Nitinol testing.

Metallurgical Engineering Consultant                        Golden Valley, Minnesota                  2007 – 2010

Advising growing companies in materials/process selection and performing failure analysis problem solving.

•          Develop NiTi Passivation process, mechanical testing, and corrosion test methodologies

•          Train technicians in metallographic procedures - sample preparation, optical microscopy, and SEM/EDS/EBSD techniques.

 

Boston Scientific Corporation                                Maple Grove, Minnesota                                     2000 – 2007

$2B medical device corporation with multi-national divisions devoted to cardiology products, spinal implants, and pacemaker/defibrillators.

Principal R&D Engineer

•          Managed specific equipment and manufacturing processes to produce medical guidewires on site.

•          Develop n-vitro and in-vivo testing protocols with 2 direct report technicians.

•          Teach metallurgy, Nitinol, metallography, Failure analysis, SEM/EDS/EBSD, and laboratory safety to groups

of 25 engineers throughout the year.

•          Interface with physicians to obtain feedback on new product designs and features.

 

Memry Corporation                           Menlo Park, California                                    1997 – 2000

$200M manufacturer of Shape Memory and SuperElastic Nitinol wire and tubular products for medical devices and consumer products.

Senior Metallurgical Engineer

•          Reduced time to complete failure analysis investigations by 60%.

•          Managed metallographic/physical testing laboratory that developed metallographic, SEM/EDS/EBSD, and

 physical testing procedures; taught 3 direct report technicians how to execute the procedures.

•          SEM Project: Wrote capital equipment justifications, negotiated contracts with equipment vendors, coordinated shipping, supervised on-site installation, and performed final process and equipment validations/qualifications.

•          Meet regularly with customers and vendors to develop new test procedures, explore new product concepts, and solve manufacturing problems in the production of Nitinol wire and tubing

•          Presentation on Nitinol to 100 professionals at chapter meeting of ASM.

 

Medtronic Interventional Vascular               San Diego, California                          1995 – 1996

$12.5B international manufacturer of medical devices for interventional medical procedures.

Senior Medical Guidewire Design Engineer

•          Trained engineers and technicians in the execution of in-vitro and in-vivo testing protocols.

•          Developed test methods in conjunction with vendors and end-users to alleviate discrepancies and concerns between customer’s requirements and production manufacturing capabilities.

                                                                                                                                                                       

SciMed Life Systems, Inc.                  Maple Grove, Minnesota                                 1990 - 1994

$200M manufacturer of stents, angioplasty catheters, guidewires for cardiology.

Senior Metallurgical Manufacturing Engineer

•          Developed and executed successful strategy to transfer technology to European facility:

Timeframe: Completed project < 10 months and two product lines were at 92-95% yields.

•          Invented improved slotting process reducing slotting time for 250 tubes by 87.5% and improved brazing process to reduce processing time by 75% per lot of 50 assemblies.

 

Gary R Kostur                                                                                                           Page 3

 

 

Lucas Aerospace PEC                        Cleveland, Ohio                                               1984 – 1989

Multi-national manufacturer of aerospace electrical systems and components.

Laboratory Section Manager

•          Supervisor of non-destructive & physical testing laboratory with annual budget of $100,000 and 6 direct report technicians.

•          Instructing /training technicians in proper laboratory procedures, the operation of laboratory equipment, and laboratory safety.

•          Established techniques and acceptance parameters for Radiographic, Magnetic Particle, and Fluorescent Penetrant Testing.

•          Lead retrofit project for $500,000 equipment upgrade to metallographic and physical testing lab. Develop capital equipment justifications, negotiated contracts with equipment vendors, coordinated shipping of equipment and facility improvements. Supervised on-site installation of equipment and performed process & equipment validations/qualifications.

 

EDUCATION

Cleveland State University                   Cleveland, Ohio                                   1980

Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering

 

 

TECHNOLOGY EXPERTISE

Metals

Non-Ferrous Alloys - Aluminum, Beryllium, Magnesium, Titanium, NiTi, Copper, and Zinc

Electrical Contact Alloys - Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium

Hard and Soft Magnetic Alloys – Nickel, Cobalt, Iron, and Rare Earths

High Temperature Alloys - Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Refractory Metals

Ferrous Alloys - Alloy, Tool, and Stainless

 

Ceramics

Carbides, Oxides, and Nitrides, Glasses

 

Polymers

Thermoplastics/Thermosets, Fluoroelastomers, and Silicones

 

Engineering Processes

Heat Treating, Casting, Forging, Powder Metallurgy, Welding, Brazing, Soldering Finishes and Coatings - Electrodeposited Metals, Electropolishing, Passivation, and Anodizing.

 

Physical / Non-Destructive Testing

Metallography – Optical Metallography & Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM)/ EDX .

 

Non-Destructive Testing - Radiographic, Magnetic Particle, and Fluorescent Penetrant,

 

Physical Testing – Hardness Testing, Plane Strain Fracture Toughness, Rotary Beam Fatigue, Tensile, Stress Rupture, Creep, Charpy/Izod Impact, FTIR, DSC, DTMA.