Trainers

Eduardo Santiago

Technical Training Specialist

"My goal is to make sure that participants truly understand the material so they can apply Minitab in their work."

Eduardo Santiago draws on his experience as a quality improvement professional and a teacher to train people to use quality statistics successfully.

Eduardo joined Minitab's technical support team in 2006, assisting Minitab users with technical issues and working with them to identify and resolve problems with data and choosing appropriate statistical methods. He began teaching Minitab classes shortly after joining the company.

Eduardo earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from CETYS-Universidad, one of Mexico’s premier educational institutions, and later earned a M.Eng. and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from Penn State University, focusing on optimal design theory and how to collect the greatest amount of useful data in the fewest number of runs in expensive testing situations.

He earned his Six Sigma Green Belt certification from Sony while working as a quality improvement consultant for clients such as Plantronics, RCA Display, URBI Homes and Markofoam, a Sony supplier. Before becoming a consultant, Eduardo spent five years teaching mathematics, statistics, chemistry and physics. Eduardo also taught an undergraduate engineering economics course at CETYS University.

Now Eduardo combines his passion for teaching and his quality improvement experience to help others get the maximum benefit from Minitab software. “My training style is very interactive and learner-focused,” he says. “My goal is to make sure that participants truly understand the material so they can apply Minitab in their work.”

Jim Colton

Technical Training Specialist

"Seeing real world applications of statistics while taking coursework allowed me to put the statistical theory in proper context."

Recent clients: FP&L, Motorola, Dell.

Strength: Extensive statistical education with a wide variety of practical experiences.

As an undergraduate statistics major at The Rochester Institute of Technology, Jim spent summers developing his industrial statistics skills at Xerox, IBM, and ITT Hartford Insurance. "Seeing how companies applied statistics while I was taking coursework gave me an understanding of how to put statistical theory to use in the real world,” he says.

After receiving his BS in statistics in 1992, Jim spent the next year finishing his MS in statistics at R.I.T's Center for Quality and Applied Statistics. He also completed Ph.D. work at The University of Washington and The Ohio State University, where he specialized in experimental design, reliability, and generalized linear models.

Jim further developed his industrial skills at Kellogg's, where he designed and analyzed sensory experiments. He then spent two years in South Florida working as an Engineering Statistician at Pratt & Whitney, where he specialized in simulation, reliability, and teaching experimental design to engineers.

"Working daily with product developers at Kellogg's and engineers at Pratt & Whitney taught me how to explain statistics in practical terms," he said.

Jim has over 12 years of experience at Minitab promoting the correct use of statistical and quality tools through training and mentoring. In recent years, he has focused on manufacturing quality at pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Karen Meldrum

Technical Training Specialist

A certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Karen’s approach to training derives from her extensive industry experience and her background in academic instruction. She has trained thousands of technical employees including Six Sigma Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts, engineers, scientists and quality professionals at large and small companies throughout North America.

Participants in Karen’s training programs learn from a real-world expert how to use Minitab for quality improvement in the manufacturing and service industries, including the proper application of statistical quality techniques like DOE, Gage R&R and Capability Analysis. She has extensive consulting and training experience in Design of Experiments and Taguchi Robust Design methodologies, and has a passion for training the full array of Design of Experiments methodologies.

Karen has conducted training for Minitab Inc. since 2000. She has also worked as a statistical trainer, consultant and course developer for a variety of companies, including the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, Bayer, Hollingsworth & Vose, and MSX International.

She taught statistics and mathematics at the university level for the General Motors Technical Education Program, Wayne State University, and Oakland University. Karen has a M.S. in Applied Statistics, a M.S. in Mathematics, and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics, all from Oakland University. She also completed graduate study in Pure Mathematics at Wayne State University.

The breadth of her own experiences as a statistician and quality professional, combined with over 20 years teaching experience and an in-depth understanding of statistics and mathematics, make her an excellent trainer. Her classes develop proficiency in the use of Minitab Statistical Software and an understanding of the statistical concepts and tools essential to the success of quality improvement initiatives like Six Sigma.

Louis Johnson

Technical Training Specialist

"Helping others use data to make good business decisions is one of the things I enjoy most about teaching Minitab."

Lou brings 24 years of process engineering and Six Sigma experience to his role as a Minitab Trainer. As a Master Black Belt for Corning, Inc., he led a Minitab-driven Six Sigma program that significantly increased productivity and reduced costs. He has also consulted and trained with dozens of companies from Arrow to Xerox. Using designed experiments to solve long term manufacturing problems is a particular strength.

Throughout his career, Lou has trained engineers, project leaders and technicians to use data effectively when analyzing processes, and he is excited about teaching professionals the skills they need to improve quality. "Since the advent of electronic data acquisition, companies now have a great deal of information about their operations but don't always know what to do with it," he says. "Helping others use data to make good business decisions is one of the things I enjoy most about teaching Minitab."

Lou is a senior member of the American Society for Quality and enjoys sharing techniques for improving Quality with ASQ members. He has published articles in Industry Week, Quality Progress and ASQ Six Sigma Forum. He is also a frequent presenter at ASQ conferences including the World Conference, Lean Six Sigma Conference, Fall Technical Conference and Service Quality Conference as well as regional ASQ conferences across the U.S.

Lou earned B.S. degrees in Chemistry, Education, and Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois. After ten years of manufacturing experience, he returned to school to complete his M.S. in Statistics from Pennsylvania State University. He also has ASQ Black Belt and Oriel Master Black Belt certifications.

Luis Mateo

Technical Training Specialist

"When I teach people to use Minitab, I avoid lots of unnecessary theoretical jargon."

Luis has more than seven years of experience applying statistics to improve the quality of consumer products at global companies such as Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever Research, and PepsiCo. He has designed and analyzed experiments in a variety of product categories and worked in many areas, including clinical research, fabric development, product development, product claims development, and consumer/sensory sciences.

As a multi-lingual statistician (English, Spanish, and Portuguese), Luis has helped international laboratories implement experimental designs and statistical methods of analyses. He has also taught scientists, engineers, and clinicians how to design and analyze their own experiments and studies, and established corporate statistical guidelines for product claims.

One of the things Luis enjoys most about training is empowering professionals to solve their company's quality improvement problems. He understands that many training attendees find statistics overwhelming, and responds by keeping his instruction very practical. "When I teach people to use Minitab, I avoid lots of unnecessary theoretical jargon," he says. "My goals for them when they finish the course are to know how to use the software back at their jobs and to feel confident doing their own analyses."

Luis received his B.A. in Physics from Colgate University in 1995 and his M.A. in Applied Statistics from Columbia University in 1998.

Ming Dong

Technical Training Specialist / Technical Support Specialist

"My goal is to make my courses practical and relevant for professionals from all types of businesses."

Ming has been proudly supporting Minitab customers since Minitab Pty Ltd opened in 2007, first as a Technical Support Specialist and now as Minitab’s first Technical Training Specialist in Australia.

As a member of Minitab’s technical support team, he gained firsthand experience resolving the challenges Minitab users face when trying to choose the right method and analyze their data.

He also brings a great deal of industry experience to his training courses. He has worked as a Statistical Research Officer for Macquarie University and a Software Engineer and Project Coordinator for Toshiba, OzEmail and National Computing Systems Singapore.

One of the things Ming enjoys most about being a Minitab trainer is helping a wide range of clients effectively use statistics to improve their processes.

“My goal is to make my courses practical and relevant for professionals from all types of businesses,” he said. “I want training participants to leave with a 'statistical toolkit' they can take back to their jobs and use immediately and regularly.”

Ming has had several papers published in the field of Bioinformatics statistics research. He has a Masters of Computer Science from the University of New South Wales, and a Masters of Applied Statistics from Macquarie University.

Paul Sheehy

Technical Training Specialist

"I frequently tell my students that their success is the only measure of my success."

Paul Sheehy earned bachelor's degrees in both industrial technology and mechanical engineering while employed at GE, but believes that his most valuable training came from learning and applying practical business statistics and continuous process improvement in a real-world environment. He understands the needs and concerns of the professionals he trains because he, too, has sat in a classroom as an adult student and was expected to make immediate and practical use of new knowledge and skills.

In academia, Paul served as an adjunct professor and industrial advisor for Mechanical Engineering Technology at the University of Maine. Paul's industrial training experience includes extensive instruction at GE in topics including math, interpersonal skills, and continuous process improvement. After becoming a Master Black Belt, he deployed the Six Sigma program at the GE Power Systems facility. He taught Six Sigma methodology at both user and "Train the Trainer" levels at various GE locations.

At the Six Sigma Academy, where he was a master consultant and trainer for five years before coming to Minitab, Paul worked extensively on developing training material for Black Belt and Green Belt programs and trained Six Sigma Black Belts at companies such as Ford, Visteon, Johnson Controls, Tyco, Kerr McGee, and Lear. His extensive real-world experience coupled with seven years as a Master Black Belt has provided him with many examples on how to use statistics in the real world to solve problems, to make decisions with quantified risk, and, perhaps most importantly, to derive and define the problem from the available data. He believes it is just as important to know why a tool is valuable and where it might be used as it is to know how to operate the tool.

Paul flavors his instruction with illustrations drawn from many industries and different businesses. Many of these illustrations are Paul’s own, culled from over 35 years experience in both manufacturing and business processes with companies such as GE, Saco Defense, and Irving Leather Group. This experience also includes extensive training and practical application of Minitab Statistical Software, a tool Paul calls "critical for Six Sigma practitioners."

Paul has presented at multiple conferences and has delivered several luncheon keynotes at the American Society for Quality’s Lean Six Sigma Conference. He was lead author of the “Black Belt Memory Jogger.”

Scott Kowalski

Technical Training Specialist

Scott joined Minitab to help professionals to appreciate and harness the power of statistics in using data to solve problems, no matter what industry they're in. He gets a real sense of accomplishment from helping people from different disciplines and technical backgrounds come together to find solutions to important business problems.

His interest in helping people understand and apply statistical power was sparked during the two years he spent as a consultant in the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. These projects involved the use of designed experiments as well as reliability, control charts and regression analysis. By helping the institute's clients collect and analyze data, Scott saw first-hand the value that applied statisticians add to solving real-world problems.

Scott earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Florida, where he taught several courses and concentrated on design of experiments and response surface methodology. His goal in earning his doctorate was to develop theory for problems already being encountered by practitioners, and his dissertation focused on designing industrial experiments with hard-to-change factors.

After completing his education, Scott worked for one year at Stetson University and for one year at the University of Central Florida, where he continued to consult and served as the associate director of the university's Statistics Institute.

Scott is a member of the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Quality Technology and Quality Engineering, and has published articles in both journals, as well as in Quality Reliability Engineering International, Quality Progress, and Technometrics. He was awarded the 2005 Lloyd Nelson Award by ASQ for the paper having “the greatest immediate impact to practitioners.” In addition to his extensive teaching experience, he has delivered presentations and seminars at meetings of professional organizations including the American Statistical Association, the Fall Technical Conference of the American Society for Quality's Statistics Division, and many Six Sigma events in Asia.