Panel Discussion: Management Support for Process Improvement

February 5, 2004

Location: Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Bldg., Room EE/CS 3-180

Topics of Discussion:

When you have an improvement idea for your organization, where do you go? Yeah, of course you go to lunch and complain about the current state of things to your co-workers. However, to make things happen, you eventually have to get management on board. How do you make the first steps? How do you win over your boss’ boss or the VP of IT? What can an improvement sponsor do for you? These questions and more will be answered in this session. Our panelists have lived through both sides of the process improvement arena: pushing for change from the bottom and supporting change from the top.

About the Panelists:

Tom Fowler: Tom has over 25 years experience in engineering. He began his career as an electronics developer at Research Products. He then worked for Univac on hardware and software development. Tom landed squarely in software at Cray, where he did development, administration and configuration management. After Cray, he spent five years contracting on application development. Then it was on to StorageTek in the Twin Cities, where he was an application developer and software manager and led process improvement teams. Tom currently works at General Dynamics as a Senior Lead Engineer in Process and Quality.

Tom has an Associates Degree in Electronics and Machine Design, a BA in Management and Computer Science, and a MS in Software Engineering..

Maryanne Gay: Maryanne has over 20 years product development experience, the last 10 years in leadership positions ranging from engineering functional management to championing product development process / methodologies to project management. Most of Maryanne's career has been at Datacard Corporation in Minnetonka, MN. She recently joined General Dynamics - Advanced Information Systems, in Bloomington, MN as an Engineering Manager, providing functional management and leading the Hardware Engineering Process Group.

Maryanne has a BS in Computer Science from UW - River Falls, an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, and a MS in Software Engineering from the U of M.

Ron Smith: Unisys Fellow; Director, Operating Systems Development.
Ron Smith has been involved with computing for more than 35 years.  Ron graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in physics, four years in ROTC, and two years experience as an operator and programmer consultant in the University computer center.  That qualified him to enter the Air Force as a second lieutenant and receive training as a weather forecaster.  Fortunately for flight safety, his assignment after completing weather forecasting training at Texas A&M University did not send him to a flight weather forecasting assignment.  Instead it was to the Air Force Global Weather Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked on real-time display programs for weather data and forecasts.  When Ron left the Air Force in 1969, he joined the Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation in the Twin Cities where he worked on the operating system, communications, system design, and system development.  Except for a four-year sojourn in Atlanta, Ron has remained at the Univac - Sperry Univac - Sperry - Unisys development center in Roseville, Minnesota.  He is currently a Unisys Fellow and the Director of Operating Systems Development for the ClearPath OS 2200 enterprise server product families with responsibility for the OS kernel, web server, and tools and utilities.

Milinda Rambel Stone: Milinda is an experienced Business Strategist and Software Engineer who works with clients to realize their critical business objectives through IT improvement initiatives.  She has a MS in Software Engineering and 12 years of industry expertise in all phases of software development. Milinda has developed and implemented a Software Development Methodology for Product Development and Professional Services organizations across public and private sectors.  Her work spans strategic design to tactical implementation in the disciplines of architecture, program & project management, business analysis and quality assurance.

Milinda is also a speaker and trainer, and has addressed everything from high-level strategy development to practical tool implementations.  Most recently, she developed a training & workshop series particularly for non-profits on the effective use of project management for Minnesota's Management Assistance Program.  Milinda is on the Board of Directors for Project Foundation, a homeless youth shelter, serving as their business to technology strategic representative.