What’s Next For QUEST?

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Every semester, QUEST students in the 397 class, Mentoring Design and Quality Teams, take on a project in addition to mentoring 190H students. In the QUEST spirit of continuous improvement, these projects look into ways to improve the QUEST program. For this semester, one of the most daunting projects is focused on “What’s Next For QUEST?”

For Andrew Lee and Ananth Srivatsan, two Q23 members who have long awaited the opportunity to work together, this project’s scope goes way beyond simply looking forward, but rather also looking back into what has made QUEST the program it is today- which is what they say makes it that much more necessary and attractive.

“When QUEST students are told to describe the program, they tend to use words like practical learning, team-based, and innovation,” says Srivatsan, a junior ECE major.

By the end of this project, the two seek to have a more concrete and centralized idea of what the QUEST Program is and be able to answer questions such as “If QUEST were to focus on innovation and consulting, will this be applicable in 4 or 5 years?”

In their attempt to find a “Blue Ocean” for the QUEST program, Srivatsan has stated the importance of analyzing the current state of QUEST. This project is very data heavy as it must analyze what has given QUEST its competitive advantage in the past and how it can continue to be an innovative and enriching program.

In order to properly look at how QUEST has evolved and what direction it’s headed to, Lee and Srivatsan have even gone through binders from the first cohort of QUEST, back when it was called Total Quality Management. Additionally, to collect current information, the two have sent out a survey to current students and recent alumni.

“We’ve found that QUEST was pretty revolutionary when it came out and people continue to join because it’s different and practical.”

Although in school most engineering and business classes are centralized on the individual, the creators of the QUEST Program recognized that in the real-world you are never on your own and made this a framework of the program. However, while other organizations on campus take on team-based learning, this project proves vital in helping QUEST remain at the forefront of innovation and provide students with a program that prepares them for the real-world.

Srivatsan said that the fact that this project was very general, data intensive, and so open ended appealed to him and Andrew the most. The fact that answering the question “What is QUEST?” is so difficult, the two realized that answering “What’s Next For QUEST?” would be that much more interesting and fun to answer.

“I don’t think this project will ever be done,” says Srivatsan. “I hope that every couple of years students get involved in the discussion about the future of QUEST.”

QUEST Goes Global in 490H

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Immediately upon joining QUEST, one hears about the challenge of 490H. One hears that it’s demanding, realistic, and enriching- the pinnacle of the QUEST program. This spring, eight students from Cohort 23 have ventured even further outside of their comfort zone for their 490H projects. For the first time ever, the QUEST Program has teamed up University of Maryland students with students in Australia and Sweden.

“Providing an opportunity for students to work on projects with geographically dispersed teams has been a goal for the program for the past 5 years,” explained Kylie King, QUEST’s Program Director. “When asking our alumni how QUEST could be better-structured to prepare students for the real world, this emerged as a significant opportunity for improvement. Funding from the Office of International Affairs helped make this possible.”

Students working on the global projects have not only welcomed the challenge but say it’s right-in-line with what they signed up for when they decided to join QUEST two years ago.

“I think one of the biggest goals of the 490H consulting projects is to give us a relevant ‘real-world’ experience while we are still in college,” said Andrew Dicken, who, with Shmuel Gold is paired with a team from Sweden. “Working with international teammates is a very realistic challenge that many professionals deal with on a daily basis in 2016.”

These students were not only up for the challenge, but some even searched for it and welcomed it with open arms.

Joseph Dadzie, who with Alex Huang is paired with an Australian team and client, says he ranked all of the global projects as his top choices. Currently studying chemical engineering, he’s interested in working internationally in the future. “I’m involved with a lot of global programs at school, and I studied abroad,” Dadzie said. “Gaining a better global perspective is something I value.”

While the time differences and geographic positionings are two of the most prominent challenges these students face, through today’s technology, these students have been able to adapt and adjust. Being able to critically think through their group’s challenges and come up with innovative solutions echoes not only what real-world international professionals do, but what QUEST students have done since day one.

“[A] challenge that we have faced is that our Swedish teammates were not able to physically visit our client’s warehouse with us,” said Dicken. “Therefore, it is somewhat difficult for them to get a full picture of the challenges that our client is facing and their current solutions. We have tried to overcome these challenges by skyping with them while walking around the facility as well as answering any questions that they have about the layout as they come up.”

“There’s about a 15 to 16 hour time difference, so we have to schedule meetings in the late evening here, which is early morning for Australia,” said Dadzie, whose team has realized how valuable the time they can meet actually is. In order to make meetings more productive, his team has had to take a slightly more individual approach where they perform their individual tasks for the week on their own prior to meeting up, so that their team members can spend time on Skype monitoring progress and delegating work.

“The biggest challenge was finding a balance where we all remember that we are one team together, despite the distance,” said Shmuel Gold. “Along those lines, we also struggled with how to properly divide the work without separating into two teams entirely.”

Embracing the challenges and benefits of this unique experience, QUEST students are not the only ones getting this taste of international business. Their clients have also realized the prominence of global projects in the world today and have eagerly welcomed this opportunity.

“Our clients have fully embraced this challenge,” said Dicken. “They are very enthusiastic about working with us. They think that it is very appropriate that they have an international team consulting for them because Intralox is an international company, and we are facing many of the same challenges that they face on a daily basis.”

Hao Tian, one of the project champions from Intralox, stated that “the students have been very impressive so far. They recently handed in a statement of work with well-organized objectives and a great understanding of our current process and operations [at Intralox]. They came up with a very good approach for moving forward.”

Tian said that Intralox was interested in a global project because it provides the company with “a great opportunity to have a chance to work with students and gain new insights and opinions.”

Kylie King is the faculty advisor for the Intralox team. “Advising the Intralox team has been a wonderful experience so far. It was fun to tour the warehouse with the Swedish students joining us over Skype. The combination of the student skills and experiences has already resulted in some interesting findings. I can’t wait to see where this team takes their project.”

The students too have not only fully embraced this challenge, but also the opportunity itself to learn about new cultures. While Dadzie admits that other QUEST teams have had a lot more time to get to know each other, being that they’ve taken 190H and 390H together, his team has already gotten close enough to crack jokes in meetings and chat about differences in sports, culture, and slang.

“You realize how big the world really is,” said Dadzie, who eagerly looks forward to the opportunity to present his final presentation with his full team at the QUEST Conference this May.

King explained, “In addition to welcoming the international students to our final presentations here at Maryland, we plan to send the students working on projects in Sweden and Australia to present their final results at their client sites. I think this will be a rewarding experience for our students and will help showcase the quality of QUEST across the globe.”

If you’d like to check out the final presentations here at Maryland, be sure to save the date for the QUEST Conference on Thursday, May 5th, 2016 from 5-9PM at the Riggs Alumni Center!

Shmuel Gold and Andrew Dicken from Team Intralox skyping with their teammates in Sweden

Shmuel Gold and Andrew Dicken from Team Intralox skyping with their teammates in Sweden

Natalie Urban (Q25) and uBoard’s Journey to the Pitch Dingman Finals

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As QUEST students, we’re no strangers to innovation and disruptive ideas. Whether it’s 190H, 390H, or 490H, we’re always being told to push the envelope and think differently. The QUEST environment encourages change and gives us a safe space to innovate and explore, a luxury that some can’t afford. Despite this, there comes a time when the “forces that be” seem to push your idea out of that safe space and into the world. Before you know it, you’re forced to get your house in order and get your business running before you’ve even had time to seriously consider your ideas. It’s a scary space to operate in, but after talking with Natalie Urban, Q25, it seems to also be a space that forces creativity and pushes you past your limits.

Natalie started uBoard her summer after freshman year, and had you asked her then, forming a company would have been the last thing on her mind. uBoard provides customizable headboards for beds in the residence halls. Natalie built one for herself freshman year to make her room feel unique and give it personality. Suddenly the people on her floor were giving her compliments and encouragement and after freshman year, she decided to pursue her idea with two friends, after participating in different case competitions.

Unexpectedly, the coordinators of the Smith School’s Pitch Dingman competition emailed uBoard, encouraging Natalie and her team to apply.

“Initially we didn’t want to because we weren’t that developed yet,” said Natalie, but with some encouragement from a professor, uBoard sent in their application and made it all the way to the Pitch Dingman finals last month. In the end, Natalie’s product uBoard won the Judges Choice Prize and the Audience Choice Award.

According to Natalie, the time commitment for this project was no joke. In its early stages, the team would meet all day on Sundays and a couple of hours throughout the week as well. Once Pitch Dingman started, they began to meet two or three times a week for three or four hours at a time.

When you invest such a large amount of time into a project, there must be a serious connection between the people you work with.  Natalie said, “The main things I looked for were people who cared about the idea and weren’t thinking about the money. People with intentions to develop the company.”

The other members of uBoard are UMD students Lina Bauer (a QUEST student in Q26), Erich Meissner, Uday Misra, and Tristan Prejean. Having a diverse and reliable team is invaluable and definitely contributes towards the feeling of pride for ones work.  Natalie said that for her, working on uBoard with her team didn’t even feel like work because they were so invested in the project.

When I asked Natalie about the role QUEST played in her creation process, she only had positive things to say. She gave credit to QUEST as an incredible resource in regards to presentations, PowerPoint, and helping them properly analyze their data and utilize it to improve their product. Her experience from 190H also helped make the brainstorming process a lot easier and more fruitful. Having done projects of this sort before, she knew the right things to focus on and had no trouble developing her ideas with her team.

As a sophomore, Natalie still has two more years to develop her idea within the confines of UMD, but as for her plans after that, she seems fairly grounded about the future of uBoard. Understanding that nothing is ever guaranteed, she plans to take things as they come, but in a situation where uBoard is big enough, hopes to transition full-time and devote all of her energy to her company. Starting a company can be scary and to those who are on the fence she says, “If you want to start a business, but you aren’t sure, just try it because there’s nothing really stopping you.” Whether you fail or succeed, it’s sure to be an experience, and in Natalie’s words, “If you do the hard work, you will see the positive outcome.”

QUEST Alumnus Ryan Atkinson on Hack Reactor Coding Bootcamp

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Ryan Atkinson is a QUEST Cohort 17 Alumnus and 2012 UMD graduate in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating, Ryan worked for two and a half years as a Mechanical Engineer for ExxonMobil in New Orleans. In early 2016, he enrolled in Hack Reactor, a coding bootcamp in San Francisco. Shortly after graduating from Hack Reactor, Ryan signed with SolarCity where he works today as a Software Engineer.

As a recent graduate, can you tell us a little bit about Hack Reactor?

Absolutely. The general hook is that Hack Reactor is an intensive three-month school that helps passionate individuals learn to be software engineers, and it boasts a 99% placement rate with an average starting salary of $105K, trending north. Intense, in this case, describes the 11 hours per day x 6 days per week x 12 weeks, or 792 hours of required class time, which equals about 1.65 years of traditional university class time.

For QUEST students, I’ll propose a different angle. My perception during and after Hack Reactor was that I was experiencing one of the two most unique, carefully-curated, and inspiring academic experiences available; the other being QUEST. I thought QUEST was brilliant because you were immersed in an environment of exceptional and highly motivated individuals, the instructors had an unusual and inspiring passion for the program, and the curriculum was always pushed to be as forward-thinking and valuable to students as possible, all things I was happy to find at Hack Reactor as well.

Outside of the schedule difference, how is Hack Reactor different than traditional academia?

I remember taking Dynamics during my sophomore year of college and finally feeling like I had discovered the subject matter that captured my excitement and interest. Of course, this was one of five very different classes I was taking at the time, and I was half a semester away from moving on to a completely new slate of subjects.

Bootcamps are the complete opposite. Every lesson is strategically placed to build off of the previous one as students cultivate an ever-growing grasp of the bigger picture that is application engineering. A class on server technology, potentially a semester long subject at a traditional university, could leave you concurrently thrilled, confused, and simply salivating for related content to fill out the big picture puzzle. At Hack Reactor, the other pieces of that puzzle, classes on user interfaces, database technology, data structures, etc., are scheduled as separate two-day sprints just a few days later.

In this sense, the script is flipped. It’s this connection of concepts and curated series of “aha” moments that I don’t remember having in college when relating different courses. Rather than drilling down to the extreme depths of each subject matter independently, at bootcamps, the topics are highly related and delivered to the point of proficiency. This leaves it up to the individual to separately explore any specific topic of interest in as much detail as they desire.

Who makes a good candidate for bootcamps?

It’s hard not to be overly subjective here, as so many different types have been successful in the program. Thankfully, there’s a very objective way to find out.

  • Give chapters 1-5 of Eloquent Javascript a read.
  • (Or) if that’s a little too dull for you, try the first two courses in Code School’s Javascript track, then head back to Eloquent Javascript.
  • When you’re done, stop by CoderByte and start knocking out the easy coding challenges*.
  • If you think completing these challenges is a lot of fun, you like computers, and love at least the idea of building things, the odds are that good you’re a great fit for bootcamps.

*Tip – ignore and avoid answers utilizing RegEx, not a great use of time.

Additionally, a few of you have probably kicked around some VBA in Excel or MATLAB for calculus. If you found the power of the code and the fact that you can automate pretty much anything really exciting (read: tell the computer how to check into Southwest flights for you), that’s typically an indication you’ll be a good fit. If you hated MATLAB (me), don’t worry, most coding languages are way more fun.

How does this all fit in for a current student at UMD?

The background of students at Hack Reactor is very diverse, including roughly (my estimation) 25% that either took time off, squeezed it in between semesters, or dropped out of college to attend. A surprising and increasing number of new students show up with degrees in computer science simply because they don’t feel they have the skills necessary to land a job in the industry.

If you’re really interested, the safe play is to shoot for a spot in one of the summer cohorts and skip a round of the traditional university internship plan. To be clear, once you start day one at Hack Reactor, you won’t have any inclination to go back.

If you would like to contact Ryan for more information, he can be reached at rjatkinson2@gmail.com.

Got Skills?

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my – admittedly short – time in QUEST, it’s that everyone loves to lend a hand. Don’t know what electives to take next semester? Can’t figure out why your latest presentation isn’t clicking? Odds are, if you sit in the QUEST Lab long enough, someone will be able to help you out. As Yash Mehta put it, “Each QUEST student has some sort of expertise,” and it’s this community of scholars and innovators that form the backbone of the new QUEST Development Series (QDeS) workshops.

The project of 190H mentor team Yash Mehta (Q22), Chris Yeager (Q22), and David Dorsey (Q23), the QUEST Development Series stems from the need for skills that don’t fit neatly into course curriculum, but are valuable nonetheless. Comprised of workshops run by students (or alumni), the Development Series hopes to give QUEST students a chance to pick up hard skills in a hands-on, low pressure environment.

“Don’t expect to come out there and listen to someone talk for an hour,” Yash said, and Chris added, “It’s definitely a different format… very much not lecture-based; it’s meant to be engaging.”

While no one is under the illusion that these workshops will make experts out of the attendees, they will give students a chance to get their feet wet, become passionate about exploring something new, and pick up new tips and techniques. The student-to-student format also allows for students to give back to the QUEST community and pass on the skills they’ve learned.

The inaugural workshop took place on February 15th. Taught by Steven Gresh (Q22), it focused on Computer Aided Design (CAD) – a program all engineering majors, some more happily than others, are at least passingly familiar with. While the bulk of the attendees, as a result of the topic, were engineers, a scattering of other majors ventured out. Sarina Haryanto, a supply chain management major from Q26, was “glad I went so I know what it’s like ‘behind the scenes’ of 3D printing.”

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Steven Gresh (Q22) teaches the first QUEST Development Series workshop

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The CAD workshop gave students a chance to test and grow their skills.

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Student-to-student learning isn’t limited to just the leader of the workshop; attendees work together to compete their task.

However, if you can’t be swayed by 3D printing, never fear – the Development Series plans to offer workshops on far more than just technical design skills. The next workshop, to be taught by Praneet Puppala (Q22) and planned for March 24th from 6:30-8:00 PM, will cover personal finance – a skill you can never have too much of. The last workshop of the semester will also focus on a topic you can never be too good at: presentation design. The date isn’t finalized yet, but QUESTees should keep an eye on the TWIQ and Facebook group for dates and registration links.

So what’s the future of the QUEST Development Series?  “Well, we’re going to host these three workshops, and if they’re successful we’re hopefully going to start another QUEST student group [to manage it],” Chris said.

The QUEST Development Series truly is a product of the QUEST community. Driven by the desire to constantly be improving, it provides a more structured opportunity for students to learn from their peer’s expertise outside of the classroom. However, more than anything, it’s just a fun chance to learn – and an opportunity this author, at least, hopes will continue.

Interested in getting involved with the QUEST Development Series? Feel free to reach out to any of the QDes team members. Emails below.

Quest Development Series – QuestDevSeries@gmail.com

Yash Mehta – ymehta@terpmail.umd.edu

Chris Yeager – yeager@terpmail.umd.edu

David Dorsey – david.dorc@gmail.com

QUEST’s Top 7 Quality Spring Break Plans

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Two weeks ago, we were attempting to stay warm indoors with a hot cup of cocoa on a chilly snow day. It’s hard to believe that we have already reached 60-degree weather, which can only mean one thing – spring break is coming!! And with midterms and the pressure of QUEST projects upon us, we are definitely ready for it. Take a mental break to read about seven of your fellow QUESTees’ *quality* spring break destinations:

1. Outdoor excursion in Arizona

Andrew Jones, an Aerospace Engineering major from Q26, is taking a class through the Science and Global Change Scholars Program. The GEOL288A course, called “Field Geology: The Natural History and Astronomy of Arizona,” is a ten-day hands-on excursion exploring the diverse geology, zoology, botany, astronomy, and archaeology of the breathtaking state. Some highlights include visiting the Grand Canyon, Chiricahua National Monument, and the Sunset Crater.

2. Road trip to Myrtle Beach

Some are opting for a more “traditional spring break” and heading to the beach. Q22 seniors Ben Hsieh, Dan Levine, Sarah Niezelski, Brogan Sheehey, and Chris Yeager (formerly known as 390H Team Sync) are taking a fun road trip to Myrtle Beach. Although Ben wanted to go the extra mile and drive down to Florida, Myrtle Beach sounds like a fierce competitor to the beaches of the Sunshine State. In addition to soaking up the rays, the 390H dream team will also be stopping by Charleston, Greenville, and the Great Smoky Mountains bordering North Carolina and Tennessee.

3. Spontaneous getaway to Iceland

If you thought spring break was all about warm weather, you thought wrong – Dominick Montero (Q24) will be flying all the way to Iceland. “My friends and I had been joking about going to colder places for the spring, and I brought up that we could try to go see the Northern Lights,” Dominick remarked. In addition to gazing at the Aurora Borealis, Dominick and his two friends will be driving along the coastline, hiking on glaciers and volcanoes, riding ATVs, and taking in the spectacular raw landscapes of the country.

4. Environmental conservation service in the Chesapeake Bay

Uva Dayalan, a junior majoring in Bioengineering also from Q24, will be staying a bit closer to home this spring break, but not to catch up on her Netflix shows. Uva is an Experience Leader for Alternative Breaks, a University-sponsored service-learning program that offers students the opportunity to engage in community service during school breaks. She is leading the Chesapeake Bay team in a service experience focused on environmental conservation. In collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), Uva and her team will be helping out with tree plantings in Clagett Farm and a CBF oyster restoration center.

5. Chilly vacation in Montreal

Jacqueline Kwan (Q21) is going up north to Canada. She is visiting a friend of hers who attends McGill University in Montreal and some other friends she met on a study abroad trip and through her internship at Ernst & Young. Although she’ll be bundled up to avoid the frostbite, Jacqueline is excited to check out the main tourist attractions like Parc du Mont-Royal and the Old Port of Montreal.

6. Terp Pride in Indianapolis

For the die-hard Maryland basketball fans out there, Sydney Tommins from Q24 is going all out during her spring break. Sydney and her dad will be traveling to Indianapolis for the 2016 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “I’m going because I love Maryland basketball and my dad and I wanted a nice father-daughter trip since I don’t get to see him as much during the school year,” Sydney explained. The tournament will take place from March 9th-13th.

7. QUEST in Silicon Valley

And finally, some QUESTees are so committed to the program that they devote even their spring break to all things QUEST. Michael George (Q23) is one of them. As a Computer Science major, Michael has always been particularly interested in QUEST’s Silicon Valley course (BMGT438G/ENES489Q: Design and Innovation in Silicon Valley) because it is “an opportunity to go to a place where technology and innovation thrives.” Michael especially looks forward to visiting Google, Twitter, and Facebook and is also hoping to stop by the California-native In-N-Out Burger.

QUEST Students Innovate Higher Education

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In an effort to transform classroom learning, the Smith School and educational psychologist Dr. Sandra Loughlin founded the Innovo Scholars Consulting Program last year. Over the course of a semester, students partner with a faculty member to redesign and reshape the classroom learning experience, and hopefully, increase long-term learning and student satisfaction in the faculty member’s course. Along the way, the Innovo scholars learn the fundamentals of design thinking, educational psychology, and management consulting as they identify and implement their innovations.

Among this elite group of innovators, three QUEST students have endeavored to enhance the QUEST curriculum in the spirit of continuous improvement: Ben Hsieh (Q22), Bobby Fitzgerald (Q21), and Jason Rubin (Q21). Both Ben and Bobby were Innovo Scholars in Fall 2015, while Jason is taking the course this semester.

Ben’s work focused around innovating QUEST’s introductory BMGT/ENES 190H class, particularly looking at redesigning exams and assessments to better assess QUEST skills and not merely regurgitate information about fishbone diagrams and houses of quality. He wanted students to be able to demonstrate mastery of the skills and information Dr. Armstrong teaches in context, as opposed to filling in a fishbone diagram template because a prompt tells you to.

Ben also worked on designing pre- and post-lecture activities for students, so that they could come to class already prepared for the material of the day, and could reinforce their learning after class. This allows Dr. Armstrong to spend more in-class time doing team activities and engaging students in experiential learning rather than lecturing.

Says Ben, “Class time is more important when spent processing and working with information, not acquiring it.”

Bobby’s efforts were more macro, as he took a high level view of the QUEST program to analyze what skills were taught and what skills were actually gained in each of the three core classes, how their curriculums built on each other, and whether any gaps existed between BMGT/ENES 190H, 390H, and 490H. He also gathered and analyzed student feedback on their QUEST experience, satisfaction, and the two cohort model in order to improve student engagement within the program at-large.

Jason’s current focus is on designing a new way to teach the BMGT/ENES 490H course material (i.e. project management, risk management, data analysis), such that students find it beneficial and make stronger connections between the material and their projects. In addition, he is working on redesigning the final exam for 490H to better evaluate students on their knowledge of the key QUEST concepts and how they apply to their projects. The goal is to develop ways to better align course material and student projects, which can result in higher quality projects and increased student learning.

Another Step Towards the AI Takeover

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In regards to artificial intelligence, noted billionaire, entrepreneur and technology pioneer Elon Musk has said, “…we are summoning the demon”. Musk, an investor in artificial intelligence, believes it to be our species greatest existential threat.

One QUEST student bent on accelerating the pace of our demise is Steven Gresh, a senior mechanical engineering major and computer science minor in Cohort 22. In his mechanical engineering capstone (ENME440), Steven worked on teaching a computer to play (and win) rock, paper, scissors against a human player using machine learning.

Using a Java-based coding language and Microsoft Kinect, Steven was able to train the computer to identify when a player is playing rock, paper, or scissors, and over multiple games, to recognize and predict player tendencies and strategies in order to defeat them at a roughly 60% win rate. While it may seem like only a game of chance, Steven’s efforts represent the growing capability of machines to learn, recognize, and analyze data, and retrain themselves to perform complex tasks. Perhaps one day, QUEST students like Steven will be designing sentient robots in 190H!Steven-Gresh-Handout (1)

 

 

Q6 Alumnus Ricky Wilson Named Modern-Day Technology Leader

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QUEST alumnus Ricky Wilson (Q6) has been selected as a Modern-Day Technology Leader and will be recognized at the 30th annual BEYA (“Becoming Everything You Are”) STEM Conference this month. These individuals are nominated by the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine. Ricky will be recognized on February 19th, 2016 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market St.

According to BEYA, “Modern Day Technology Leaders are men and women who are demonstrating outstanding performance and will shape the future course of engineering, science, and technology. [Ricky] and the other technology leaders are individuals whose stories of phenomenal success merit national recognition.” For more information, visit their website.

Ricky has worked at Constellation since 2010 in a number of different capacities, initially as a Business Analyst both in Constellation’s IT group and Strategic Systems and Business Operations (SSBO). As a Business Analyst, his goal was to improve the system architecture and automate reporting in order to eliminate non-value added activities. Ricky currently works in Constellation’s Structuring group as a Sr. Structuring analyst, where he develops software solutions for Constellation.

Ricky credits the QUEST program with helping him develop the skills and abilities that have allowed him to achieve this recognition. “QUEST was about understanding business needs and using data to provide a solution that will be valuable to the customer.  It was my first real project of that nature and was also the first time I had to work with a multi-disciplinary team.  I learned a lot about identifying strengths, sharing responsibilities, and setting expectations so that multiple pieces can come together to form a single solution.  I would say that QUEST introduced me to the skills that I needed to be successful and I have spent years building upon and sharpening those skills.”

Ricky is also the new chair of the QUEST alumni board and shared his thoughts on the goals and initiatives of the board moving forward. “We recently had our retreat and we are working to continue strengthening the QUEST program. QUEST is already very successful and our primary goal is to continue to support existing programming and events. Our goals for this upcoming year will be to build upon this success by improving the web presence of QUEST, building out a directory for alumni and students, and working towards financial independence from the university by beginning to establish a QUEST endowment.”

Congrats Ricky!

Point 1: Total Quality at PwC with Joel Liebman

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Point 1:
Joel Liebman, PwC Public Sector, and Constancy of Purpose

Point 1
The 10 Commandments, Hammurabi’s Code, the Terms and Conditions for all of your app downloads. Certain rules and principles stand sacrosanct in the narrative of human history. For students of quality, W. E. Deming’s 14 Points assume a similar status. Deming codified his philosophy with the aim to transform American industry. In this endeavor, he proved quite successful. Through his research, publications, workshops, and consulting work, Deming played a foundational role in the Total Quality Movement.

In this series, I take each of his famous fourteen points and view them through the lens of QUEST Alumni and their work today.

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
– W. E. Deming, Point 1 of “The 14 Points”

Joel Liebman
For the first installation in this series I spoke with Joel Liebman, a Cohort 14 QUEST alumnus and manager in PwC Public Sector, which supports federal, state, and local government entities to solve complex problems. Joel and his team deliver financial management, internal control, and risk management solutions for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, one of the seven main components comprising the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

PwC Public Sector won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2014, the highest honor an organization can receive for quality and performance excellence in the United States. They are the only professional services organization ever to earn this distinction. I spoke with Joel about the journey to achieve the award, how he has grown from the experience, the impact of the award on PwC Public Sector, and how that translates to greater value for its clients.

Joel, could you contextualize the difficulty of achieving the Malcolm Baldrige Award for our audience?

The year that we won the award was not the first year we applied for the award—it took us 3 or 4 cycles before we were accepted. It was really a testament to our persistence as a firm and public sector practice. It’s extremely challenging to achieve the award as Malcolm Baldrige is the highest honor for quality in the U.S.

Side note: “Both Xerox, a 1989 winner, and Corning, a 1989 finalist, admit to having spent, respectively, $800,000 and 14,000 labor hours preparing applications and readying employees for site visits by Baldrige examiners.” (Harvard Business Review)

To achieve such a coveted award I’m sure it took the entire practice. What efforts did you have to put in personally to achieve this award?

It definitely did take the entire practice. The Malcolm Baldrige initiative was driven and championed at the top by Scott McIntyre (U.S Public Sector Leader) and his commitment to quality. It emanated out to everyone within the public sector practice. We had to understand fully what it took from a day-to-day perspective to deliver a level of service worthy of the award.
In order to demonstrate and communicate our efforts, as a manager, I was part of a group that was potentially going to be selected for a group or individual, multi-hour interview by Malcolm Baldrige inspectors. I had to be ready to discuss our people, processes, and infrastructure that support our internal and external commitment to quality and run them through any questions they may have on our services or our available resources.

It seems like there was strong buy-in from the top.

The year before we won you could tell that we were all in as a practice. Leadership essentially took a dedicated group of our top performers to solely focus on preparing our application, coordinating our evaluation, and ultimately achieving the award. There were numerous webinars, in-person training sessions, and regular conference calls with our employees at all levels. From senior leadership to our first year associates, we had to fully understand the infrastructure that supports our business and how that infrastructure manifests in the highest quality services delivered to our clients.

Given that you’ve spent over 6 years in the firm, how did you see PwC Public Sector transform throughout this process?

PwC Public Sector was only 5 or 6 years old when I joined the firm and I would guess our headcount was only around 400-500 people. We’ve grown to a point to where we are over 1,000 people now. When you grow a sizeable business at such an impressive rate, it can become challenging to maintain a level of consistent quality every single day. So to support that level of execution it is really important to build an infrastructure with a strong commitment to quality. It is engrained in the culture of the firm. The pursuit process [of the award] each year and over the course of those 3-4 years was a great opportunity to get better, self-evaluate, and see where we can improve to increase our quality. Even the years we didn’t win the grand award, we gained valuable feedback we subsequently incorporated into our business in the name of continuous improvement.

What type of recognition have you seen in the community?

Quite a bit of recognition. Scott McIntyre has done a speaking tour and worked with other businesses to improve the quality of their work. Many of our clients, some of whom were very familiar with the award from their own industry experience and even some of their experiences pursuing the award, were noticeably impressed.

We discussed Deming’s 14 Points before the interview. How would you communicate the importance of “constancy of purpose” for a firm to QUEST students today?

There is no substitute for it. When I think about the drive of the typical student in the QUEST community, this, [a firm with constancy of purpose], is the kind of environment that we can succeed in and contribute to in very meaningful ways. Otherwise, you’re in an organization that risks complacency. It is often easier to do things the way they’ve been done which doesn’t move you personally or professionally forward.

Any last message you want to leave the reader with?

I would just say that the journey doesn’t end with the achievement of the award. It wasn’t the apex. It was great validation, but we still recognize that our efforts require continued improvement. There is still plenty more to do to uphold and improve that level of quality. Plus, there is the opportunity to be a multiple award recipient, so there is always that.

Thanks Joel! Awesome speaking with you!

For additional information on PwC Public Sector and their Malcolm Baldrige winning year you can reference the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s website: http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/award_recipients/pricewaterhousecoopers-public-sector-practice.cfm