More than 100 business and quality professionals attended the NY/NJ Metropolitan Section annual conference on September 16th at Rutgers University - Newark Campus. Co-sponsors of this year's conference were Rutgers Business School, Quality New Jersey, Parsons Brinkerhoff, EtQ- Excellence Through Quality and Minitab. The Section extends its thanks to all co-sponsors for their support and participation.
Holding this year's Ellis R. Ott conference at Rutgers was particularly fitting, since the conference was previously for many years held at Rutgers. The late Ellis R. Ott, Rutgers Professor of quality control and statistics, was extremely influential in planning past conferences and a tireless worker in helping the Metropolitan Section excel in its mission of service to members and the business community. This year's return to Rutgers also highlighted Rutgers Business School's continued leading role in teaching its students the many principles involved in bringing quality and efficiency to business organizations in the NY/NJ region. In honor of Professor Ott, the Ott Award is presented each year to a Section volunteer who has distinguished himself or herself in the quality field and in service to the Section. This year's Ott Award was presented to Mr. Satish Laroia, a long-time and tireless worker for the Metropolitan Section and a leader in quality within the pharmaceutical industry. Satish graciously accepted this year's award from Ott Award Committee Chairman, Lou Pasteelnick.
The conference began with a keynote address given by Dr. Nina Ziv, Professor and Academic Director at Polytechnic Institute in NY City. Dr. Ziv's address focused on the extent and pace of change occurring in today's business world and emphasized that business and quality professionals must prepare themselves to deal with this change if they are to effectively compete and help their firms to succeed. Her address was very well received.
Each of the conference's four tracks - Healthcare, Quality Tools, Design & Construction and Organizational Development was well-attended and sparked a lot of interest and many questions. In addition to the teaching sessions, display booths set up by business exhibitors received a lot of attention.
A sumptuous buffet luncheon was served to those at the conference by the Rutgers Newark dining facility caterer, with several entrees that seemed to please all those in attendance. Following lunch, Dr. Howard P. Tuckman, Dean of the Rutgers Business School, addressed the conferees and explained the successful initiatives that Rutgers Business School executed over the past few years to meet the needs of students and the region's business community, as well as additional initiatives under development for the future.
For a view of the September Conference program click here.
Thanks to all those who attended this year's Annual Conference.