Meet David Miyamoto, a cheerful and forward-thinking Senior Chemist. David has been working with Kuehne for 5 years and has played an integral part in expanding Kuehne’s lab in Delaware. He frequently travels between the three sites collaborating with other chemists to ensure that we are efficiently and consistently producing top-quality products.   

David’s Life Before Kuehne 

David enjoying a Temple University football game with his parents

David attended Temple University, where he obtained his degree in Chemistry along with two minors – one in Religious Studies and one in Racial Studies. He also played on the Temple University Rugby team. He laughs that before he began working as a chemist, he worked at a very busy Starbucks where he supposes that he made more frapacchinos than anyone else in all of New Jersey! 

David is a blackbelt in Six Sigma, a certification from Villanova University. Working through the levels of this certification helped deepen his understanding of core chemistry concepts.  

Giving Back 

“My heroes are my parents,” says David. He is appreciative for all they have done to allow him to grow and reach his goal of becoming a Senior Chemist. He also states that his coworkers at Kuehne have been generous in taking the time to help him figure things out, even when it was not part of their job. He likes to think that he is a product of everyone that he has worked with.  

David in the lab

Having the summer chemist internship program at Kuehne has made David feel that he has been empowered to pass on some of his expertise. He recognizes that college programs are generally not able to attain the expensive equipment used in professional settings, so giving students that real-world experience of getting to interact with a variety of instruments is a special learning opportunity that David says Kuehne should be proud of. 

Cool Changes 

One of David’s philosophies is that “as a culture, we should always be striving for continuous improvement.” He has enjoyed expanding Kuehne’s Delaware lab for many reasons. Sophisticated use of a variety of lab instrumentation allows David and the other chemists to do much more than ensure that the products are top quality. They are also able to give feedback to the production team about changes that could be made to prolong the life of the plant equipment as well as improve the efficiency of certain processes.  

David and his fiancé, Mia, at a Phillies game

What David’s Co-workers say about him 

David has fun joking around with other team members at work. Kevin Booth, Kuehne’s Director of Engineering, says “Anyone who knows and has worked with David Miyamoto understands his passion for work which is also mirrored by his devotion and passion of religiously following all the major Philadelphia professional sports teams.” 

“Therefore, Dave is used to the disappointment of being a Philadelphia sports fan especially when conversing with members of the other sites where each plant has a geographic affiliation to a separate major sports city along the northeast corridor.” 

David says that listening to sports podcasts often keeps him entertained on long commutes between the plants. 

David and Mia at a Kuehne Christmas party

Mark Leyer, a Project Engineer who is stationed at the South Kearny site, says “David has a disarming personality and he really strives to bring a room together; it’s been easy to collaborate with him on various projects here at Kuehne.” 

 He goes on to say that David “was a natural mentor to the two 2021 summer interns, working hard to ensure they had a positive experience here.” 

Congratulations! 

It is always fun to get to celebrate personal achievements with our team members, and David has some special news to share. Last month, David proposed to his girlfriend Mia. “Thankfully, she said yes!” They enjoy playing volleyball together and, for now, planning for their wedding.

David instructs B Operator Mitchell Harman on manually checking the PH in the brine feed.

There are many more interesting things that could be said about Mr. Miyamoto and his interest in how the knowledge of chemistry and use of data can tell a meaningful story that allows Kuehne to continually improve. But for now, we will just say that we are so thankful to have such an innovative and fun member on our team. Thank you, David Miyamoto!