Ray Cocco has been with PSRI for four years where he has the role of President. PSRI is a consortium-based company with 28 member companies in Canada, France, Brazil, Finland, Germany, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Before PSRI, Ray spent 17 years with The Dow Chemical Company where he led research and development efforts in numerous particle technology platforms including the production of WoodStalkTM (a particleboard made of straw) for Dow BioProducts, the production of vinyl chloride monomer and RCl oxidation using fluidized beds, the production of hydrocarbon using circulating fluidized beds, the development of polyolefin catalyst for fluidized beds, and in the production of aluminum nitride and silicon carbide ceramic powders using moving bed reactors. In addition, Dr. Cocco was instrumental in bringing computational fluid dynamics, Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma methodologies into Dow’s research environment. Today, he is chairman of the AIChE Particle Technology Forum (Group 3), a board member of ASTM’s D18.24 Committee on Characterization and Handling of Powders and Bulk Solids and on the advisory board for University of Florida’s Chemical Engineering Department. He has 23 publications, 3 book chapters, several patents, and numerous invited presentations. He also consults for industry, national labs and universities on a regular basis.
Ray received his B.S. in Ch.E. from the University of Florida in 1982 and his Ph.D. in Ch.E. from Auburn University in 1989.