October 2008

Who’s Who at RJLG:
Experienced Experts For Your Hot Issues

You may be familiar with RJ Lee Group (RJLG) within the context of your organization’s work, but you may not have realized the myriad of consulting services that our experts can provide your company, with the benefit of our extensive analytical laboratory. RJLG has remained on the forefront of innovation in several different disciplines, and in this month’s newsletter we highlight some of the people who have pushed forward to keep RJLG on the cutting edge of materials issues that confront today’s industries.

Here are just a few examples of how our experts can help...

- Contact Kristin Lee Bunker, PhD to discuss the Hitachi S-5500
- Contact Christina L. Lopano, PhD to discuss Crystalline Silica Analysis
- Contact Matthew J. Perricone, PhD to discuss Medical Device Failure Analysis

Click Here to Learn More About These Featured Experts

Also In This Issue:

	RJLS & RJLG Join Forces			RJLG Featured on Local Programming

	Murtha Announces $3M Funding to RJLG for Air Force Project			New Publications

RJ Lee Solutions and RJ Lee Group Join Forces – top

RJ Lee Solutions, LLC (RJLS) announces today the beginning of a transition to join RJ Lee Group, Inc. (RJLG). Both companies have worked closely for nearly a decade. RJLG and RJLS have combined resources to become a destination for criminal forensic laboratory analysis, renowned gunshot residue expertise and information technology solutions.

Click Here for Entire Article

Murtha Announces $3M Funding to RJLG for Air Force Project – top

U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announced that the House of Representatives voted to pass the annual $487.7 billion defense appropriations bill. The Senate is expected to consider the appropriations bill this week.

Highlights of the fiscal year 2009 defense appropriations bill include funding to companies in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties.

"The partnerships created by local companies and organizations with the Department of Defense have resulted in reduced costs for weapons programs, savings to the American taxpayers, and have provided our troops with quality equipment, technology and health care," said Murtha.

$3 million is included for RJ Lee Group to continue work with the Air Force on an electronic system that tracks and stores the health and performance of aircraft engines (Engine Health Management Plus Data Repository Center; EHM+DRC). This system gives maintenance personnel and engineers immediate access to engine data and significantly improves efficiencies in engine trending and diagnostics, maintenance operations and support.

RJLG – Featured Innovator on Local Programming – top

In honor of the Pittsburgh Region’s 250 years of innovation, a local news program, “Our Region’ Business”, is featuring innovators from around the local area. RJLG’s David Crawford, Director of Technical Consulting Services, recently talked about expansion and innovation - growing greener in Greene County, Pa.

The program originally aired on WPXI: August 24, 2008.

Click Here for Entire Video Clip

New Publications – top

A New Method for Fracturing Mineral Particles for Cross-Sectional FESEM Analysis

RJLG has been published recently in Periodico di Mineralogica, an international journal of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, ore deposits, petrology, volcanology. The article titled, ‘A new method for fracturing mineral particles for cross-sectional FESEM analysis’, is authored by J. Craig Huntington , John J. Ptasienski, Kristin L. Bunker, Brian R. Strohmeier, Drew Van Orden and Richard J. Lee.

This work involves a novel approach for the preparation and characterization of cross-sectional samples of mineral particles and asbestos fibers. The unique sample preparation method involves embedding and fracturing the fibers across the length of the fiber. The morphology and characteristics of the fiber cross-sections are directly observed in a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). Dimensions of the fiber cross-sections were measured from the images off-line using AnalySIS© Version 3.2 software.

Click Here for Abstract and Entire Article

Measurements of PM10-2.5 Organic, Elemental 1 and Carbonate Carbon in the Southeastern U. S.

RJLG experts are acknowledged for a paper published in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association. Authors include Gary S. Casuccio and Traci L. Lersch.

Click Here for Abstract

More Information On Our Featured Experts – top

Kristin Lee Bunker, PhD
Dr. Kristin Bunker has more than 15 years of experience with RJLG as a senior scientist and researcher. Her work in the nanotechnology field has made lasting contributions to our analytical capabilities, notably her procurement of and research with the Hitachi S-5500 for RJLG’s headquarters. With the world’s highest imaging resolution of 0.4 nm at 30 kV, the Hitachi S-5500 immediately equipped RJLG to perform the most complex nano-analysis needed by our clients today. Combined with Dr. Bunker’s experience and familiarity with multiple microscopy techniques, the two are perfectly matched to support various scopes of analysis such as pharmaceutical drug delivery, medical device, environmental air particulate, and more.

Click Here for Entire Bio

Christina L. Lopano, PhD
Dr. Christina Lopano is a mineralogist and a scientist for the X-ray service and consulting groups at RJLG headquarters. Dr. Lopano’s research interests lie in environmental and soil mineralogy; particularly on the interaction of soil minerals with contaminants. At RJLG, she specializes in clay and crystalline phase identifications, as well as crystal structure analyses utilizing powder X-ray diffraction. She also evaluates a broad spectrum of materials for industries ranging from mining and processing to forensic trace evidence. Dr. Lopano’s mineralogical and instrumentation expertise provides valuable input for multi-disciplinary investigations of commercial materials and complex environmental problems. Dr. Lopano has more than five years of experience with powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Click Here for Entire Bio

Matthew J. Perricone, PhD
Dr. Matthew Perricone is a senior scientist and project manager at RJLG with expertise in materials science, failure analysis, metallurgy, and materials joining. A significant portion of his work focuses on materials challenges and issues in the medical device field. Innovation, investment, and product development in orthopedic implants and medical devices has seen unprecedented growth in recent years due to new demand for cutting edge medical solutions to a multitude of health issues. While the medical community cultivates the knowledge required to cure maladies of all kinds, materials expertise is an essential component in making new medical technologies perform the way they were conceived. Our work also assists in developing new materials to address patient needs in ways previously unexplored. Dr. Perricone is poised to help RJLG’s clients to bridge that gap in materials understanding.

Click Here for Entire Bio

Conference Corner

Gary Casuuccio RJLG’s Gary Casuccio will participate in a panel discussion at the Appalachian Regional Commission's Tomorrow's Workforce conference on October 22nd - 23rd, 2008, in Tupelo, Mississippi.

At this conference, you can learn how your community can develop the workforce it needs to attract and retain businesses.

Successful workforce developers, educators, and business leaders from around the Appalachian Region and beyond will discuss how they:

Identify workforce strengths and needs
Develop training programs for both traditional and emerging industries
Attract and retain a diverse workforce
Raise levels of educational attainment

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