Quality Audit

Newsletter of the American Society for Quality Rochester Section 0204

In this issue:

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MEETING

ASQRS IS LOOKING FOR SOME VOLUNTEERS

CONGRATULATIONS 2010 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

A CONFERENCE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

The Rochester Section’s 66th Annual Conference is now history. By all accounts it was another great conference. If you missed it, I will give a few highlights. We had 135 attendees this year. While attendance was 29 fewer than last year, we were able to have the same or better quality in our presentations and the same amount of attendee contact time with our Presenters. We offered five tracks this year each with four sessions. We also had six exhibitors, same as last year although this year Brady Systems was not able to return due to a conflict with our date. We had an interesting new exhibitor, H&H Environmental Systems, a local company that offers new and refurbished environmental test chambers and environmental testing services. As in prior years, MCC, RIT, Minitab, ASQRS and GRQC/Baldrige were staples in the exhibit area. We are glad for that participation but we recognize that we can improve our exhibit area in future conferences.

Our Presenters were the real centerpiece of this Conference. Without them we would have little incentive to hold this annual event, and would certainly fail to attract the caliber of Attendees that we gather annually at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. I would like to extend special recognition and thanks to Janet Nelson who was instrumental in recruiting at least four of our fine speakers when last minute schedule changes occurred. In addition she presented two very engaging talks, very well received indeed.

Attendees were from 46 companies/organizations. We had folks from Section 800 (Ohio), as well as Buffalo and Syracuse Sections. Service Sector businesses made up 34% of our attendance. Of interest: 51% of Conference Attendees were Management level in their organizations. We maintained a strong showing in the healthcare and healthcare service delivery arena with 34% representation there. Women made up only 31% of our participants. Almost 40% of participants were not ASQ members. That provided us a golden opportunity to explain the benefits of becoming an ASQ member which I did as part of the luncheon address.

While the Conference was a bit smaller in size, the Convention Center did a really fine job of making the overall Conference areas feel like a comfortable fit for our sessions. In the next week or two we will post the presentations that we’ve been given permission to share for those who attended the Conference. The password is at the bottom of the Conference welcome letter.

NEW OFFICERS-ELECT For the next ASQRS term, we have an unopposed slate of candidates; Section Chair, Leigh Rundell; Secretary, Meg Godly; and Section Treasurer, Athena Visel. I have appointed Dr. William Sonnefeld as Section Vice Chair for the remainder of my term and I believe Leigh has welcomed Dr. Sonnefeld’s participation in the new regime. A vote of this slate of candidates will take place at the April Professional Development Program.

Rich Henderson, Section Chair, 2009/2010

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MEETING

The next professional development meeting will be announced shortly. Keep visiting www.asqrs.org for details as they become available.

ASQRS is Looking for Some Volunteers

ASQRS has the following volunteer positions open and available for your consideration!
Get involved and enrich your ASQRS membership.  Meet your fellow members and enjoy the rewards of building up the Rochester Section and contributing to its professional development activities.
We are seeking energetic, willing volunteers for the following positions (No experience required):
            Customer Service Task Group Facilitator
            Healthcare Task Group Facilitator
            Lean / Six Sigma Task Group Facilitator
            Quality Management Task Group Facilitator
            Scholarship Chair
            Nominations Chair
            Retention Chair for Members / Volunteers
            Audit Committee Chair
            2011 Conference Chair
            Professional Development Meetings Chair (formerly known as Dinner Meetings)

These positions are all Appointed by the Section Chair and are available in ASQRS Fiscal Year 2011 beginning in July, 2010 and running through June, 2011 (or possibly longer if all parties are willing and able).
If you have interest in any of the above or would simply like to learn more, please contact Leigh Rundell at lfr@qvii.com , Kathy Bannon at Kbannon@rochester.rr.com or Rich Henderson at rchender01@gmail.com.

Congratulations to the 2010 scholarship recipients

The ASQRS Scholarship Committee selected four recipients to receive ASQRS College Scholarship Awards in 2010. The awards were announced at the Rochester Section Conference on March 31. Each recipient received a $1000 check to assist them with their college expenses.

The recipients are:

Mr. Zachary A. Nelson, a third year student at SUNY Geneseo, majoring in Mathematics.
Mr. Zachary Angus, a second year student at University of Notre Dame, majoring in English and Music Vocal Performance.
Ms. Kate Alden, a third year student at Roberts Wesleyan College, majoring in Social Work.
Ms. Ashley Greenman, a third year student at the College at Brockport, majoring in International Business & Economics.

Life Cycle Assessment and Competing in the Green Marketplace

One-day Conference
Life Cycle Assessment and
Competing in the Green Marketplace
Sponsored by:
University of New Hampshire
Friday, May 21, Sheraton Hotel, Portsmouth,NH

This conference will be held on Friday, May 21, at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel in Portsmouth, NH, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
The conference is cosponsored by UNH Professional Development & Training and the UNH Environmental Research Group.
Internationally prominent Life Cycle Assessment experts, Gregory Norris, Catherine Benoit, and Kevin Gardner will present sessions on:
  (1) Sustainability and its Relationship to Life Cycle Thinking;
  (2) How to use LCA and Environmental Analysis to Gain Competitive Advantage;
  (3) How to use LCA to Analyze the Social Impacts of Your Business; and
  (4) a Demonstration of new Earthster LCA software and Next Steps to Supply Chain Engagement.

Nancy Hirshberg, VP of Natural Resources from Stonyfield Farm, will be Guest Luncheon Speaker and will speak on: "Lessons from the Trenches: Using Life Cycle Thinking to Minimize Environmental Impact and Maximize Profits."
Cost is $270 ($295 if registered after May 3).
For complete information, to download a brochure, and to register, go to: http://www.learn.unh.edu/greenmarket

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

TWO NEW ASQ CERTIFICATIONS

ASQ has announced that they will be offering new Lean and Master Black Belt Certifications in the coming months. The Lean Certification has three levels: Bronze emphasizes the tactical aspects of Lean; Silver is based on Lean integration; Gold focuses on Lean’s strategic facets.

The Master Black Belt Certification is currently being finalized by the ASQ Certification Board. More details will be forthcoming on the www.asq.org web site.

While you’re on the National ASQ web site, don’t forget to view the information on the ASQ World Conference, this year being held in St. Louis, Missouri. Both Leigh Rundell and Dr. Sonnefeld will represent ASQRS at this important Leader Training opportunity.

This educational offering of the Rochester Section has full details posted on our web site: www.asqrs.org. This all-day Seminar will take place from 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the MCC Damon City Campus. The course outline is on the web site along with a Registration Form. Successful completion of this training will result in an awarding of 0.7 CEUs.

The instructor is Eric Alden, has been practicing quality and reliability engineering in the Rochester Area for over 25 years. Eric is a Xerox Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Blackbelt, and is currently working for Xerox as a reliability manager. He holds a Masters degree from RIT in Quality and Applied Statistics, and an undergraduate degree from RIT in Mechanical Engineering. Eric served as the 2003 – 2005 Chair of the Rochester ASQ section, and holds CRE, CQE, CQM and CSSBB certifications.

For questions or to Register, complete the Registration Form from our web site or call our Education Chair: Jim Roode at (585) 278-8116.

To submit content for a future newsletter:
Send to:
David Gilfoy at auditeditor@asqrs.org by the 20th of the month prior to publication.
If information is not received by the 20th it may still be added to the asqrs.org web site.