Principals
Charles M. Waite
Charles Waite, President and founder of Process Design Consultants, has 24 years of technical, supervisory, and managerial experience with critical computer-based and embedded digital control and monitoring systems within manufacturing, nuclear, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries.
Mr. Waite’s technical career started at Electronic Associates, Inc. where he programmed data processing and alarming sub-systems for full scale nuclear plant simulators. Later, Mr. Waite accepted a position at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Station. One significant assignment as the project lead was to replace a 20 year old computer system used to monitor control rod motion and block movements exceeding defined limits. Responsibilities included preparing a bid specification, evaluating suppliers, reviewing and approving proposed designs, field wiring verification, supporting installation, and conducting factory and site acceptance testing.
In the seven years prior to becoming a consultant, Mr. Waite was the Principal Engineer & Supervisor, Digital Systems Group at PSE&G’s Salem 1&2 and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations with a combined output exceeding 3,000 MW. Mr. Waite was the responsible individual for all aspects of digital equipment used in plant and site-security systems including:
- Hazards analysis of proposed and existing digital systems
- Verification and validation of software and firmware
- Root cause investigation and analysis of all digital system failures
- Representing company interests during Nuclear Regulatory Commission audits and investigations related to digital systems
- Engineering, modification, maintenance, and configuration control of software, hardware, and parameter settings for digital systems and equipment
- Development and application of policies and technical standards for digital systems
- Supervision, training, and assignment of staff and contract engineers.
Mr. Waite has been invited to speak at several conferences to discuss issues, methods, and concerns related to the increasing use of commercial equipment in an increasingly competitive environment. Based on this experience he was asked to chair the Electric Power Research Institute’s working group on “Use of Commercial Digital Equipment in Safety Related Applications in Nuclear Power Plants” that produced NRC endorsed EPRI TR-106439.
In 1996, Mr. Waite joined KMI, a well respected pharmaceutical and medical device consulting and validation firm. He found his digital expertise was directly applicable to many situations encountered in the FDA regulated environment.
Mr. Waite maintains memberships in IEEE, PDA, INCOSE, and SAE. He is a PDA certified Lead Auditor, instructs the PDA auditor certification course, co-developed EPRI’s course on Digital Upgrades for Nuclear Plants, and has co-instructed the EPRI course domestically and abroad to utility and regulatory personnel.