David Leonard

Dr. rer. nat. | GSK | Process Chemistry

Montrose, Scotland, United Kingdom

About

Experience

  • Process Chemist at GSK
    Nov 2022 - Present · 3 yrs 8 mos

    • Technical ownership over several synthetic stages in API manufacture • Support of primary manufacture, including day to day problem solving • Lead investigations on manufacturing process deviations, ensuring suitable corrective and preventative actions are identified • Identifying opportunities for process improvements, including increase of yield, reduction of carbon footprint and cost of goods • Support lifecycle activities (e.g. change control, continuous process verification, support to GMP inspections)

  • Production Chemist at Ames Goldsmith Ceimig
    Mar 2022 - Oct 2022 · 8 mos

    • R&D of heterogeneous catalysts to meet customer demands for use in PEMWEs, PEMFCs, and gas sensors • Design of Experiments (DoE) for continuous improvement of existing catalyst production processes • Leading technicians in the production of heterogeneous catalyst batches • Electrochemical assessment of catalyst activities using rotating disk electrodes • Quality control of PGM catalyst batches (including AAS, BET, particle sizing, metal assays)

  • PhD Student - Kekulé Fellowship (Fonds der Chemischen Industrie) at Leibniz Institute for Catalysis
    Aug 2018 - Nov 2021 · 3 yrs 4 mos

    Applied Homogeneous Catalysis, Sustainable Redox Reactions. Supervisors: Prof Matthias Beller and Dr Kathrin Junge. • Title of thesis: "Development of 3d metal catalysts for redox reactions" • Discovering new homogeneous and heterogeneous systems for catalysis • Statistical Design of Experiments (DoE) for optimisation of multivariate reactions • Late-stage functionalisation of pharmaceuticals

  • Industrial Placement at Bayer
    Sep 2016 - Aug 2017 · 1 yr

    Process Research. Supervisor: Dr Andreas K. Steib. • Synthesis of chiral amine intermediates for the production of APIs • Asymmetric synthesis of amines using 𝜔-transaminases • Kinetic resolution of amines using lipases and 𝜔-transaminases • Optimisation and scale-up of enzymatic reactions towards industrially viable processes • Focus on biocatalysis, asymmetric synthesis, kinetic resolution, efficient purification

  • Clerical work at The Surgery
    Jun 2016 - Aug 2016 · 3 mos