New Program
Fulton School of Engineering at ASU launches the Master Black Belt program
Master Black Belt programs, if taught effectively, can pay significant dividends for corporations who send their employees for certification. Not just in financial dividends but also in greatly enhanced leadership, mentoring and communications. Quality trained and certified Master Black Belts are truly THE future business leaders and a priceless asset of any aspiring organization.
Last month the Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University hosted several Master Black Belt candidates from various companies around the world for Six Sigma certification training in Tempe AZ. The companies represented ranged from Schreiber Foods, one of the nation's largest food manufacturing companies to DRS Technologies, a leading supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces. Even as far away as Cairo, Egypt came Symbios consulting along with town locals like Microsemi. The program was developed and taught by award winning ASU faculty, industry experts and two of the most prominent statisticians in industrial engineering; Dr. J. Stuart Hunter, Professor emeritus in the School of Engineering at Princeton University and member of the National Academy of Engineering, and Dr. Douglas Montgomery - ASU Regents' Professor in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. Both have authored countless books and publications on Statistical Methods, Design of Experiments, Forecasting and Time Series Analysis, Response Surface Methodology, Quality and Reliability Engineering, and the list goes on.
Cassandra Owen, Product Development Engineer from Microsemi stated this about her experience; "There is no comparison; we had exposure to world renowned statisticians and powerful executive industry coaches in an applied setting. The interaction, exchange of ideas and experiences with Master Black Belts from around the world created a unique and dynamic group which gave me additional resources that made the program worth far more than money can buy".
Dr. Hunter says "the science of optimizing systems performance and predicting outcomes has spread its reach far beyond rudimentary manufacturing operations and into almost every facet of business and life throughout the half-century he has been in the field". The main focus for the ASU MBB candidates is on how to obtain accurate and useful data in manufacturing operations, product design, production systems development and improvement as well in constantly changing areas like financial markets, environmental monitoring and business information systems. But the ASU faculty and industry leaders will also tell you that becoming a Master Black Belt involves a great deal more than just learning advanced statistical techniques. It involves acquiring the skills to be a leader and drive change initiatives. According to MBB instructor Al Filardo, a 30 year veteran of Motorola, now Executive Director of Organizational Performance and Six Sigma Champion, "Master Black Belts are the cornerstone of successful leadership and change deployment in the organization and the development of Master Black Belts is a critical element of the Six Sigma implementation plan".
The students more than agreed. "Great MBB program at ASU - the curriculum, group activities and interaction more than met my expectations and I would highly recommend this program to my colleagues" said Andrew Park, Continuous Improvement Manager with Microvision, Inc.
The MBB professional certification program at ASU is blended one week classroom training combined with online components that can be completed within a time frame that allows flexibility and convenience for the student. If you are interested in obtaining an MBB certification from an ABET accredited school, such as the Fulton School of Engineering at ASU, please visit our website at www.asuengineeringonline.com. Next program begins in fall 2008!