RYAN RICE
Ryan Rice
Thermal Design Engineer at Kelvion
As a Global Solutions Engineer at Kelvion, I apply my chemical engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh and my manufacturing experience to develop large-scale temperature control solutions for Data Center customers across the globe. I showcase my experience and Kelvion's product offerings by partnering with Data Center solutions providers.
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This is webpage for my professional portfolio. For my personal hobby webpage, please visit www.ryan-rice.com
Contact
Phone: (484) 402-7060
Email: ryan@ryan-rice.com
Links
Heat Exchange Specialist
Sales, Engineering, and Processes
My thermal engineering expertise is in industrial heat transfer equipment with an intimate understanding of industrial processes. My goal is to make a meaningful impact in a respected industry and expand my knowledge as an expert in my field. Constant learning and mentorship is an important value of mine.
For the past two years I have been apart of the rapidly expanding data center industry. My expertise as a thermal engineer has enabled me to position myself with a team on the forefront of innovation in heat management. We partner with some of the largest data centers in the world to tackle the big issues such as cooling density, PUE energy efficiency, and the AI arms race.
I have thrived in my career by utilizing engineering principles in real-world applications with a strong customer-focused approach. My engineering education and my manufacturing experience provide a solid technical foundation for learning and understanding the technical specifics of a wide variety of industries. I work hard to understand my customer, their values, and how we can meet their needs. My biggest strength is in knowing my audience and being able to convey highly technical information to a variety of buying customers.
Professional Accomplishments
Creative Equipment Layout
Kelvion
A data center customer was struggling with the placement of the heat rejection equipment we had recently sold to them. They were experiencing worse performance than expected and supplying temperatures to the datacenter much warmer than our equipment was rated for. At the same time, they were looking to increase the chip density inside the datahall which would pull our heat rejection equipment even closer together. To investigate the underperformance and creatively design for the increased cooling density, I hired a CFD team to analyze the existing layout and proposed several redesigns for analysis. Through this analysis, we determined the customer was experiencing up to 8 degrees of hot air recirculation back into the uptake of the heat exchangers, resulting in the underperformance. Together we decided to proceed with my optimized layout design of elevated equipment and wind tunnels directing the flow of air. This drastically minimized hot air reuptake into the heat exchangers and resulted in a more efficient and cooling dense system than originally proposed.
Kettle Chilling Trials
Messer
I had a customer interested in chilling a marinara sauce using liquid nitrogen. This is not something Messer normally handles. I brought up an innovative idea to my team about retrofitting our injection nozzles directly onto their equipment. My development team was against the idea and told me I was wasting my time. I got the approval from my management, and we went ahead with the testing anyway. I pulled the resources together myself without the help of some members of the development team. We built our own kettle, cleaned it, and shipped it for testing to the customer's location. The customer was very excited about the tests, but the final product ended up being too aerated for the customer's requirements. They ended up not going with our solution, but they recommended us to their sister site for a separate freezing application. We ended up winning that business due to the good working relationship we had at the original site.
Product Transition Cleanser
DuPont
Our manufacturing location had tasked a compounding production line to full capacity and the company was looking to increase production further. I had recently taken part in a lean processing initiative to reduce downtime, and saw an oppurtunity. Our longest downtime event was due to a color change from black to white plastic. This scheduled transition took 3.5 days and required a lot of help from the maintenance team. Our global technology leader recommended a solution that had already been in use at our sister site in Switzerland. A cleaning agent would breakup the plastic stuck to the extruder and reduce our transition time from 3.5 days to 1 day. It was expensive, and had to be used properly to be effective. I pushed for the project and worked hard to bring the compound onsite. I developed proper testing procedures, proved the compound's safety and effectiveness, and set the new standard for this transition. After a few attempts and adjustments, the tests were successful. The capacity of the line was increased and the line could be scheduled more freely.
Fire Root Cause Analysis
DuPont
On the first day of the year, we underwent site safety incident where one of our plastic extruders had caught fire and needed shutdown. Since I best understood the processing line and I had just been promoted to a leadership role, I led the root cause analysis on the incident. Through operator interviews, discussions with senior engineers, and research into best practices, we learned a lot about the product that was running at the time. I visually analyzed the feeders and extruder, and reviewed the process data at the time of incident. We determined the epoxy raw material had been pooling on the side of the extruder entrance. The incident occurred when a chunk of material broke lose and reacted with the base material at a faster rate than normal. This was confirmed with lab samples of the product around the time of the incident. The feed tube was moved so that it could no longer pool and the product could be produced safely. Following the incident I wrote and documented many new safety and training procedures to warn new operators and engineers about the dangers of the specific product and raw materials.
Career Experience
Kelvion
Global Solutions Engineer
2022 March - present
Philadelphia, PA
In my current role, I engage hyperscaler and colocation customers in the data center industry to provide solutions to meet their cooling needs. My individual focus on heat exchangers and heat rejection equipment enables my customers to safely and efficiently remove heat from their data halls and maximize server uptime. This keeps the internet running and AI advancing. My position allows me to develop some truly creative solutions to tackle some of the largest problems facing the data center industry today.
Messer Americas
Applications Sales Engineer
2022 September - 2024 March
Philadelphia, PA
As a sales engineer, I engaged in a customer-facing engineering position in the industrial food and beverage space. I assisted customers through the entire sales process from idea to installation and commissioning as well as ongoing equipment support. My freezers utilized cryogenic gases pulled from the air to rapidly and efficiently freeze food products to temperatures that are safe to transport. I sized and verified food freezing/chilling equipment, proposed recommended solutions to the customer, and generated new business in the Northeast Sales Territory. In 2023, I grew my sales territory from $10 million to $16 million in revenue.
DuPont
Production Specialist
2022 January - 2022 September
Parkersburg, WV
After demonstrating my success engineering roles at DuPont, I was promoted to a leadership role in the organization. In this position, I was responsible for the daily production efforts of a $1 million/day plastic plant. I relied on my process knowledge and influence to guide a multi-discipline team of operators, engineers, mechanics, and supervisors towards increasing plant output and reducing downtime. My leadership and my implemented projects had direct results in increasing production, product quality, and yield while reducing downtime and safety incidents. In this role, I retained many of the responsibilities of the process engineering position.
Process Engineer
2021 January - 2022 January
Parkersburg, WV
In my first role with an engineering degree, I continued my journey with DuPont as the lead process engineer for 3 plastic compounding extrusion lines. My primary responsibilities included qualifying 11 new products to the production lines and installing equipment upgrades through capital projects (small and large). Projects I worked on included large capital investments in new equipment with over $1 million in annual cost savings. I also assisted the daily operation of the process line as the technical expert in the area.
Chemical Engineer Co-op
2019 January - 2020 August
Charleston, SC
New Orleans, LA
As an engineering student, I had the opportunity to spend 12 months working in specialty chemicals plants to gain valuable experience in plant operations. This was crucial for my understanding of how I can generate value as a chemical engineering graduate. In my time as a co-op, I learned three chemical processes at two separate plant locations. I brought my experience at these plants back to the classroom and to my future career roles. I worked on batch and continuous processes and assisted engineers in several cost savings initiatives.
Education
University of Pittsburgh
Teaching Assistant
2018 August - 2020 December
Pittsburgh, PA
While taking engineering classes, I worked for the university as a teaching assistant for the freshmen engineering program. I taught my students the basics of logic and coding while simultaneously showcasing to them what it takes to be an engineer in a variety of disciplines. Through this opportunity, I developed my passion for mentoring others, and I saw this as an opportunity to pass on my experience to a new group of future engineers. Much of my teaching went beyond the practical knowledge of the classroom, where many students came to learn from my experience as an engineering student and a working professional at my co-op position.
Engineering Student
2016 August - 2020 December
Pittsburgh, PA
3.50 GPA
I studied chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Through my education, I obtained the knowledge and skills necessary for an engineering career. I worked collaboratively with peers towards solving complex problems, researching topics of importance, and discovering our passions and goals. The university provided me opportunities to teach younger students and to work for DuPont, a reputable chemical manufacturer, while taking classes. Additionally, I volunteered with Engineers Without Borders, Special Olympics, and a local youth flag football team. I also participated on the school's club rugby team.
Community Outreach
One of my personal values is providing service and giving back to others. I honor this value in my professional career by giving effort and providing results that are expected of me in any role that I hold. I continue to look for additional opportunities to give outside of the office. It is important to me that I give my time and effort rather than relying solely on monetary donations. Below are details of some of these opportunities that I have had.
Street Tails Animal Rescue
Shelter Volunteer
Philadelphia, PA
2023
I volunteered at the local dog shelter which helps to keep stray dogs off the streets of Philadelphia. We care for the dogs and assist in finding placement into a new home.
Parkersburg South High School
JV Football Coach
Parkersburg, WV
2021 - 2022
I coached high school football in WV AAA athletics. I gave my time to prepare my student athletes for their futures after high school and embodied my former mentors.
Blennerhasset Christian School
Lunch Packer
Parkersburg, WV
2021 - 2022
I routinely spent evenings packing donated lunches for kids in need. We separated donated food into individual lunches that the kids could easily grab during break.
Pittsburgh Elementary School System
STEM Outreach Instructor
Pittsburgh, PA
2019 - 2020
Through the engineering program at Pitt, I spent one day each semester at a local elementary school teaching students about engineering and engaging their excitement in a STEM career.