Date: Sun, 01 Dec 2002 11:43:42 -0500 From: John Pustaver Subject: MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Software Quality Group Meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002: Howie Dow, What is a Black Belt? Hi Everyone, A down time in the industry is a good time to be examining career objectives. Howie Dow will talk to us about traveling the road toward the Six-Sigma Black Belt certification. A copy of Steve Rakitin's, Software Verification and Validation, 1st edition, will be given to a lucky attendee. Due to enhanced security, a picture ID is now required for attendance. Best wishes, John Pustaver Director, Software Quality Group of New England Region I Deputy Councilor, ASQ Software Division P.S. If your company has SQA positions to fill for permanent or contract employment, please have HR send me a .htm file for each job with all pertinent info so that it can be posted. There are many people looking. Send to pustaver@swquality.com. Software Quality Group Meeting Meetings of the Software Quality Group are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the facilities of Sun Microsystems, Burlington (Driving directions below). MEETING DAY & DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2002 TIME: 6:00 PM Networking, 6:30 PM Meeting HEADLINE: What is a Black Belt? SPEAKER: Howie Dow MORE INFO: John Pustaver, 978-443-4254, pustaver@swquality.com LOCATION: Sun Microsystems, Burlington (Driving directions below) DESCRIPTION: Thinking of becoming a Black Belt? Not a Black Belt in karate or other martial arts discipline. This type of Black Belt is a person dedicated to driving projects to achieve critical changes in an organization. Recently there has been much written about the success of Jack Welch, Chairman of General Electric, and the improvement programs GE used to make customers happier, reduce costs and make more money for shareholders. Other companies, such as Allied-Signal and Motorola, have had similar, although not as well publicized, successes. A key element of GE^Òs strategy was the use of Black Belts to lead projects. Black Belts are highly skilled in the tools and techniques necessary to lead teams through the series of defined phases for improvement projects. This talk will focus on the following Black Belt related topics: · Six Sigma Black Belt, Master Black Belt and Green Belt. · What is Six Sigma? · What is the role of a Black Belt? · What does a Black Belt need to know? · Characteristics of Black Belts. · How to become a Black Belt · Benefits and pitfalls · References for Black Belts At the end of the talk, you should have some idea if you want to explore the topic further and perhaps become a Six Sigma Black Belt, ultimately becoming a ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB). Howie Dow is a process improvement specialist, Black Belt and change agent focused at achieving significant measurable business results. Previously, disguised as a System-Software Engineer at Enterprise Systems Lab of Hewlett Packard Corporation (formerly Compaq and Digital Equipment), Howie worked with customers to define test strategy and develop test plans. He led process improvement projects, managed the marketing effort, and defined projects to increase the overall skill level of the organization. Howie has a Master of Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, Master of Science in Computer Engineering and a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering. He has given papers at the International Conference on Software Quality (ICSQ), BOSCON and other conferences. 2002-2003 Software Quality Group Calendar Sep 18, 2002: John Pustaver, Flavors of Software Test Automation Oct. 9, 2002: Dan Goddu, Applying the CSQE Body of Knowledge (BOK) to the Workplace as a Method of Process Improvement Nov. 13, 2002: Marc Rene, GTECH, Introducing and Sustaining a Worldwide Software Inspection Process Dec. 11, 2002: Howie Dow, What is a Black Belt? Jan 8, 2003: Steve Rakitin & Scott Andersen, Impact of Agile Methods on Software Quality Feb. 12, 2003: Paul Piper, Load Testing Tools Mar. 12, 2003: Anna Allison Memorial Presentation, Linda McGinnis, Surviving and Thriving in Virtual Teams Apr 9, 2003: Johanna Rothman, Test Planning in an Agile Environment May 14, 2003: TBD June 11, 2003: TBD July 9, 2003: Annual Hot Topics Night August 2003: NO MEETING The Software Quality Group holds monthly meetings. Topics covered at these meetings have included software testing, inspections, ISO 9000, metrics configuration management, and demonstrations of vendor QA tools. There is no charge. The Software Quality Group meets monthly at 6:15pm on the second Wednesday of the month at the facilities of Sun Microsystems, Burlington, MA. Driving directions: From 128/95 Take the Rt. 3 exit heading north (not the Middlesex Turnpike exit if you're coming form the south). From Rt. 3N take the first exit (which is Rt. 62 - Bedford Ave). Turn east toward Burlington. Approximately 0.3 mile after the interchange, turn right onto Network Drive, which leads to the campus on your right. Take the second drive off of Network Drive into the Sun parking lot. Park in the visitor lot and enter the lobby opposite the Sun clock tower. Information about future meetings will be available on the Software Quality Page at http://www.swquality.com/users/pustaver. To be on the email distribution list, send a note to pustaver@swquality.com. The Software Quality Group is cosponsored by Sun Microsystems and the ASQ Software Division and all are welcome. Directors of the Software Quality Group are John Pustaver, Region I Deputy Councilor, American Society for Quality Software Division, Eric Patel, Regional Councilor, ASQ-SD, Liz Hryniewich, Allan Foley, and Jack Morrison of Sun Microsystems. To unsubscribe, reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" as the subject. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ John Pustaver, Director Software Quality Group of New England voice:978-443-4254 pustaver@swquality.com Visit the Software Quality Page at http://www.swquality.com/users/pustaver/index.shtml