Pitt in Brief News, Awards, and Developments From the University of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH- Behind the larger stories about the University of Pittsburgh are other stories of faculty, staff, and student achievement as well as information on Pitt programs reaching new levels of success. The following is a compilation of some of those stories.

Pitt to Host Chemical Professionals Career Workshop on Post-graduation Employment Feb. 6

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Chemistry will host its annual career workshop for chemical professionals Feb. 6 in Room A221/A224, Langley Hall, 4249 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Registration for the daylong event ends Feb. 1.

The event begins at 8:30 a.m. and consists of presentations on navigating the existing job market, interviewing in science-related fields, a catered networking lunch, confidential résumé reviews, career-consultation sessions, and a job fair. The workshop is sponsored by the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh.

The workshop will feature notable guest speakers offering their expertise in establishing careers in science. Daniel J. Eustace, a career consultant with the American Chemical Society, will deliver the lecture "Managing an Effective Job Search" at 9:30 a.m. Eustace has more than 30 years experience in the chemistry field, having served as the health safety and environmental protection manager for Multilayer Coating Technology, LLC, formerly the Polaroid Corporation, and senior staff chemist for Exxon Research and Engineering Company. He currently is an adjunct professor for the University of Connecticut, where he teaches a course specifically designed to assist science students find postgraduate employment.

Joseph D. Jolson, founder of Custom Client Solutions, a Pittsburgh-based consulting firm, will analyze the local science job market at noon. Jolson's scientific career spans more than 25 years during which time he invented the lithium-silver oxide battery and commercialized improved lithium-iodine and thermally activated batteries; he also led teams that developed such products as gas sensors, gas detectors, and respiratory protection devices.

More information and an event schedule is available at www.chem.cmu.edu/acs-pgh/JSCP.pdf.

Pitt Offers Local Professionals, Companies Region's Only University-level Training in Popular Lean Six Sigma Strategy

Local professionals seeking certification in Lean Six Sigma, the popular process and quality improvement strategy, can take advantage of a new two-semester, part-time certification program established in the Department of Industrial Engineering in Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering. The program is the region's only university-level Lean Six Sigma program and offers Green and Black Belt certification, locally and affordably. Local companies seeking a Lean Six Sigma solution also can submit on-site project work to the class, regardless of whether their employees are taking the course.

Developed at Motorola in the 1980s, Six Sigma employs systematic statistical and quality methods to reduce process errors and variation in fields ranging from production and banking to service and health care, said instructor and Pitt field faculty member Shankar Lakhavani. Lakhavani-himself a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and chair-elect of the American Society for Quality's Pittsburgh section-said the program was designed in response to both commercial interest in a certification program and the lack of a local academic Black Belt course.

"Most professionals achieve Black Belt status through training with consultants or via in-house corporate programs. Pitt's program will be a boon to local professionals without access to either," Lakhavani said. "A Lean Six Sigma graduate could save their company as much as $100,000 per year by improving its processes. For the graduate, Six Sigma trains them to make more data-driven decisions that are superior to deciding by gut feeling and because it makes the professional an expert in process improvement, he or she subsequently has opportunities to advance professionally."

Both Green and Black Belt courses will be offered beginning in Pitt's summer term. These courses also can be applied as credits toward a master's degree in industrial engineering. More information is available by contacting Shankar Lakhavani at

412-736-5864, or shankl@pitt.edu.

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