Perhaps it’s a strong curiosity to know how things work, or maybe a simple fascination with the visual sensation called sight; whatever the source, I have been fascinated with color forever. This interest was further spurred by an optics class taken while pursuing a degree in physics. To learn that Rayleigh scattering explained why the sky was blue and sunrises and sunsets yellow, orange, crimson, and purple drove my passion to understand color much further. I delight in understanding why ice is white and an ice cave shifts to shades of blue (preferential absorption of the longer wavelengths of light – those with lower energy – leaving only the high energy blue light to be reflected). This is the same phenomenon which makes ocean water near the shore progress from clear, to green, to turquoise, and finally on to deep blue.
In 1985, I had the opportunity to pursue this passion when I was recruited to AccuRay, a company (now ABB) which uses various types of energy from the electro-magnetic spectrum to evaluate the properties of paper as it is manufactured. Among these energies is color from the small, but important, visible range. As a young systems engineer, I was among those selected for a team of eight people with the mission of developing a new color measurement and continuous control system for AccuRay.
Working with AccuRay for eight years, with a specialty in color science and its application in papermaking, informed me greatly in the areas of colorimeters, spectrophotometers, light booths, dyes, dye kitchens (dye delivery systems), laboratory and online color measurement and control. In this same role, I worked with multiple paper mills making white and colored papers in the U.S., Canada, France, and Australia, including Hammermill – Erie, PA; Strathmore – MA; International Paper – Ticonderga, NY; Boise Cascade – St. Helens, OR; Australian Pulp and Paper Mills (APPM) – Shoalhaven, NSW, Australia; Fletcher Challenge – Crofton, British Columbia, Canada.
Next I had a three-year career change with a direct focus on quality as a Product Quality Engineer at Rexam Graphics (now Intelicoat) in South Hadley, MA. I was responsible for two main, and very different, product lines for DuPont used in the manufacture of flexographic printing plates and photoresist used in making circuit boards. I became an American Society for Quality (ASQ) Certified Quality Engineer, and helped lead and protect site-wide registration to the ISO 9002 standard.
Following work as a systems engineer and area service manager for AccuRay/ABB with continuing focus on color measurement and control, I joined International Paper’s Color Technology group at the Erie Research Center in Erie, PA. After working there for two years on multiple projects, including the $1 million dollar project replacing more expensive yellow dyes with direct yellow 147 in several IP paper mills and the selection of IP’s new, corporate-standard color spectrophotometer – the Elrepho from L&W, I moved to the Cincinnati Technology Center upon closure and relocation of the Erie Research Center. With this move, I became the new Program Manager for Color and Appearance for International Paper and held this role for 10 years. During this time, I managed multiple major color projects such as the relocation of colored grades from Mobile, AL and Lock Haven, PA upon their closures to Franklin, VA; the move of multiple colored grades from Camden, AR to Bastrop, LA and then on to Georgetown, SC when Camden and Bastrop closed; and the multiple relocation of colored grades from Marasquel, France to Inverurie, Scotland and then to Saillat, France when Marasquel and Inverurie closed. Each of these projects was huge and multi-faceted. In 2005, I helped lead the project to increase CIE whiteness and TAPPI directional brightness of U.S. white papers from 100 CIE and 84 TAPPI to 146 CIE and 92 TAPPI values. This project involved rapid and thorough coordination with six large white paper mills: Ticonderoga, NY; Franklin, VA; Eastover, SC; Pensacola, FL; Selma, AL; and Courtland, AL.
In 2009, during a major downsizing of IP’s Cincinnati Technology Center staff, I was recruited by Greenville Colorants as an applications specialist for their paper colorants and fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs). This role evolved into a dual-function of technical support and direct colorant/FWA sales.
In 2011, I created Crable Engineering LLC as a company focusing on color and quality consulting in the paper industry and other businesses. I continue to expand this effort and to reach out to more businesses with shade and appearance needs.
Please see the list of services and clients, and contact me directly for more details and to explore my ability to assist your business.
