February 2008 - Monthly Dinner Meeting

Click here to register on-line for the dinner meeting

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Open Registration - 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Topic: "Best Practices to Achieve Success in ASQ Certification Exams"

The session agenda – note this is a different agenda from the usual:

- 5:30-5:45 - SV ASQ business
- 5:45 - 6:30 - Dinner
- 6:30 - 7:00 - A few minutes presentation from each panelist on their experience with the certification tests and the process of preparation, plus recertification hints.
- 7:00- 8:30 - Q & A from the audience

Are you interested in learning the most effective ways to get certification and/or recertification?
You have one certification - how do you get another one?
What is the Black Belt certification exam like?
What are the kinds of questions on the certification exams?

Join us on Wednesday, February 20, 5:30 to 8:30 PM at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Clara for dinner and answers to these and other questions about certification and recertification - plus your questions of our distinguished panel of Silicon Valley ASQ experts. (And did you know you get an extra $25 discount off the test fee for the June exams?)

Our certification expertise panelists include Deborah Blackmon, longtime recertification Chair, documentation instructor and CQM/OE & CQIA, Don Evans, current Educational Chair and CQE, CQA & CQM, Don Mintz, Chief Proctor and CRE, and Govind Ramu, Six Sigma Black Belt and co-author of the Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB) Handbook and : CQM, CQE, CSSBB, CQA, CSQE, and CRE.

Abstract: Best Practices to Achieve Success in ASQ Certification Exams
Our panelists will be covering a diverse range of topics including:
 How the exams questions are developed
 Before an exam: targeting an exam, preparing for an exam (refresher courses, study guides)
 At the exam: what to bring and what not to bring. How to approach questions.
 After the exam: deciding on which exam to target next and coordinating certifications.
 Recertifying without taking the exam a second time

Also covered will be: exam planning, preparation, reference materials, exam writing, common errors, any misunderstanding about exam formats, and tips for success.
And…
If you a beginner in Quality, where do you start?
How to identify the right certification for you?
Planning multiple certifications? Which sequence has worked better?

If you have specific questions you want addressed, please email them to the editor before February 19 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to be sure they get answered during the session. Click here to register for this invaluable evening of information about ASQ certification http://www.asq-silicon-valley.org.

Panelist Bios:

Deborah Blackmon is currently Manager of the Corporate Facilities Services Document Control Group at Genentech in South San Francisco CA. She has been involved in their reengineering effort to create a corporate documentation program for calibration and preventative maintenance documents for more than three years, primarily focusing on the creation of global site document series and training programs applicable to both cGMP and cGLP maintenance processes used in product manufacturing and the Clinical Center of Excellence at South San Francisco CA. Previous roles at Philips Medical Systems included leadership in projects to create an enterprise-wide Quality Manual and Quality Documentation System and to introduce electronic document management processes into the medical imaging device manufacturing at the Milpitas CA site. Deborah has a B.A. in Journalism from Texas A&M University and is Vice Chair of the Silicon Valley ASQ Section and holds the CQIA and CQM/OE certifications.

Don Evans is currently Education Chair, coordinating the certification and other Education programs. He has taught several courses for the ASQ Silicon Valley section and Golden Gate Section including CQE and CCT prep courses as well as Basic Probability/Inferential Stats classes. He has several years as an instructor in electronics. He holds certifications as CQM, CQE and CQA, has been a member of ASQ since 2001 and is currently employed as a Sr. Quality Engineer at Natus Medical, Inc.

Donald Mintz holds a PhD in chemistry and has done R&D in the fields of uranium isotope enrichment, mass spectrometer design, and semiconductor wafer technology. For over 23 years, he as been employed in the semiconductor fabrication equipment industry, first at Varian Associates and later at Applied Materials.
Dr. Mintz has published a number of papers in the fields of electron spectroscopy and mechanisms of unimolecular ion fragmentation early in his career. Currently he holds 15 patents in the field of semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment and processes. Don holds the CRE certification, has been a member of ASQ since 1996, and has been Chief Certification Proctor for the Silicon Valley Section for over 8 years.

Govindarajan (Govind) Ramu is a quality manager and Six Sigma Master Black Belt for JDS Uniphase Corporation. A licensed professional engineer in the province of Ontario, Canada, Ramu has a mechanical engineering degree from Bangalore University, India, and a certificate in elements of statistical quality control and operations research from the Indian Statistical Institute, Chennai. An ASQ member since 1998 and an ASQ Fellow, Ramu holds six ASQ certifications: CQM, CQE, CSSBB, CQA, CSQE, and CRE. He is also a registered QMS 2000 principal auditor from IRCA (UK). He moderates the Certifications topic discussion board for ASQ. Ramu has co-authored ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook and published articles in ASQ’s Six Sigma Forum Magazine and in other magazines and newsletters.

Online registration dinner price is $35; Walk-in price is $40; Unemployed $20
Click here to register on-line for the dinner meeting

Join us on Wednesday, February 20, 5:30 to 8:30 PM at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Clara for dinner and answers to these and other questions about certification and recertification - plus your questions of our distinguished panel of Silicon Valley ASQ experts. (And did you know you get an extra $25 discount off the test fee for the June exams?)

Our certification expertise panelists include Deborah Blackmon, longtime recertification Chair, documentation instructor and CQM/OE & CQIA, Don Evans, current Educational Chair and CQE, CQA & CQM, Don Mintz, Chief Proctor and CRE, and Govind Ramu, Six Sigma Black Belt and co-author of the Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB) Handbook and : CQM, CQE, CSSBB, CQA, CSQE, and CRE.