2022 Best Practices for Operational Excellence

Successful Leader in transformation with 15+ years of experience with executives and teams across multiple industries to build ironclad processes for industry-leading customer-back thinking. Led many transformations and was directly involved with mentoring at all levels of an organization, including the C-Suite, and developed several programs for executives and practitioners customized to solve relevant customer and business issues. Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) deployment and project work. Goal-oriented and self-motivated with strong leadership capabilities and a proven track record of leveraging process improvement principles to identify and implement solutions that drive customer experience, eliminate waste, reduce risk, improve quality, and reduce cost.

Gustavo Lage is the Senior Director of Operational Excellence, Process and Leadership Excellence for Medtronic Inc. Gus has over 20 years of experience in OpEx and manufacturing management. He is a proven leader with exceptional business acumen and leadership skills demonstrated in large manufacturing settings in the automotive, medical, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and defense industries. Before joining Medtronic in 2019, Gus served as Vice President of Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement for Novanta. Gus has master's degrees in Science and Analytics from Villanova University and Business Administration from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Systems Engineering from Monterrey Institute of Technology. He is also a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Gus and his family reside in Littleton, Massachusetts.

Experienced Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with a demonstrated history of applying process improvement concepts to reduce operational costs for top-ranked Fortune 500 companies. Skilled in process improvement, statistical data analysis, and influential leadership.

Alan Goodman is the department head and full-time instructor with the Quality Engineering & Technology Department at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Alan has held various leadership positions throughout his career, with impactful results in client-facing roles, process improvement initiatives, and team management. His experience includes leading a new business to its first net profit, helping a school district resolve a complex billing issue, and implementing a process improvement program at a major corporation.

Megan graduated with a degree in Speech Communication and a Minor in Human Relations. Previously, she worked in HR, Recruitment, and Project Management. She obtained her Black Belt from United Health Group in 2020 while managing the transformation of the Global Mobility and Immigrations program. She moved her family to Ohio a year ago and began working for 5/3 Bank as a Process Optimization Advisor. Currently, she is teaching Lean Six Sigma classes at the bank while working projects and assisting with continuous improvement of the program, managing class enrollment and the relationship with Moresteam. Megan is currently enrolled in Master Black Belt class with Moresteam.

Joe Tanner worked as an organic chemist at Eli Lilly and Company for 40 years. During his last 14 years there, he was introduced to Lean Six Sigma: first as a Green Belt and then later progressing to a Black Belt. Joe spent his last 10 years at Lilly as a Master Black Belt before retiring and becoming an independent consultant. His passion continues to be teaching and coaching. He has trained and coached over 500 Green Belts, 300 Black Belts, and 15 Master Black Belts across 10 corporations and government agencies.

For the last 25 years, Maria Fry has assisted organizations across a broad range of industries in developing and deploying Lean Six Sigma as a part of their Operational Excellence strategy. She has supported businesses in project selection, Lean "Kaizen'' activities, instructional design, statistical analysis, one-on-one coaching, tollgate reviews, and all levels of belt training and certification. Maria began her career at GE Aircraft Engines as the first GE Leadership program graduate to receive a Six Sigma Black Belt. She later worked for Eaton Corporation and Shiloh Industries, where she led the deployment of Lean Six Sigma and started her tenure as an MBB. Maria earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Cleveland State University.

Christopher Spranger has over 20 years of experience training, coaching, and implementing Lean Six Sigma improvement programs in medical devices, industrial, food, aerospace manufacturing, health care, construction, service businesses, financial organizations, public service, and nonprofits. Chris has trained and coached hundreds of professionals on Lean Six Sigma improvement methods. He has also developed and taught course curricula on Lean Six Sigma at multiple technical colleges and universities. Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville and an MBA in Finance and Management from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. He is an American Society for Quality (ASQ) certified Six Sigma Black Belt and an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Robert is responsible for managing the development, implementation, and maintenance of quality assurance systems and activities. Responsible for the forward progression of quality assurance activities and sets standards for developing the QA process and staff. Responsible for overseeing and mentoring quality groups globally to promote best business practices, copy exact processes where applicable and provide strategic initiatives and projects within quality functions, both product-driven, and process- driven. Responsible for championing and developing a culture of total quality management (TQM). Champion for Lean Six Sigma and promoting a culture of continuous improvement.

William is the Operational Excellence Manager at Edmund Optics, Inc. He has 11 years experience in the optics and photonics industry with focuses in Quality Inspection, Quality Engineering, and Quality Management in both Manufacturing and Supply Chain settings. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Montclair State University and is an active member of ASQ (American Society for Quality) and AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence).

In his current role at Edmund, William is responsible for project portfolio management in the Americas regions as well as serving as a project manager and facilitator of cross functional teams. With his varied experience in the organization, he also serves a site expert, educator, and mentor in Lean, Six Sigma, and Quality Management topics. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and additionall holds ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Operational Excellence and ASQ Certified Quality Engineer certifications.

Kim Scibelli is the Head of Operational Excellence and Technical Operations at Kite Pharma. As an accomplished champion of Lean principles, with a demonstrated history of success in logistics, operations, and continuous improvement across the supply chain workflow, Kim has coached multiple teams through Lean Transformations. She helps create cultures centered around high-level problem-solving and develops strategies for cultivating cultures of continuous improvement. She summarizes her experience in three key areas; an engaging and effective team leader, a process improvement pioneer, and an organizational management expert.

Jewelyn has over 20 years of experience in process improvement and problem solving in the automotive and government industries. She is an experienced Senior Leader with a demonstrated history in cultural transformation, leadership development, structured problem solving, team development, and manufacturing operations. At the USPS, Jewelyn is responsible for transforming an organization of 640,000 employees into problem solvers and innovators through the use of the USPS Operational Excellence Management System.

Jewelyn has a master's degree in Engineering Management from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Systems Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. She is also a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt from The Ohio State University MoreSteam program.

Dr. Aravind Chandrasekaran is the academic director for the Master of Business in Operational Excellence (MBOE). In addition, he also teaches in the MBA program. He has won several teaching awards including the Best Outstanding Core Professor Award, as well as the Pace Setter Award for Teaching Excellence.

Kathleen is a seasoned leader with a demonstrated history of creating value in healthcare in acute and ambulatory settings. She is a Master Black Belt who has developed teams that achieved national and international recognitions for quality, patient safety and innovation through building a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

David Wittman is a leader in Quality Management at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. David is a Six Sigma Certified Blackbelt with training in IHI principles. David has 20 years experience in developing & delivering quality improvement training programs, mentoring project leaders, and leading quality improvement projects. This work includes training and mentoring individuals both domestically and internationally. In addition to healthcare, David has experience in both the manufacturing and service industries. He has a B.S. in Accounting from Arkansas State University and Masters in Business Administration from Christian Brothers University.

Nick LaRosa began working for MoreSteam in 2014, lending his talents to both the eLearning and EngineRoom development teams. He currently focuses his efforts on the back-end development of EngineRoom. In addition to his role with MoreSteam, Nick also serves in the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a Captain and Communications Officer with the 14th Marine Regiment.

Nick earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame and Master's of Science in Computer Science, Specialization in Machine Learning, from The Georgia Institute of Technology.

Experienced lead software engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in modern web frameworks, back-end services, machine learning, and cloud architecture. BS in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Information and Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley.