Division Leadership
Chair - Lou Ann Lathrop
Email: louannlathrop@live.com
Phone Number: 517-540-9613
Chair Elect - Kush Shah
Email: asq.automotive@gmail.com
Phone Number: 248-830-5011
Past Chair - Dr. Mohammad Hijawi
Email: mshijawi@gmail.com
Dr. Mohammad Hijawa has 30 years of teaching, research and industrial experience in Quality and Reliability engineering and management. He received a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University in 1996. Dr. Hijawi is currently a Quality and Reliability Engineering Technical Fellow at FCA US LLC.
Dr. Hijawi started his Quality journey at Cummins Engine Inc., where he was responsible for problem solving and led the launch of Six Sigma in 1999 at MidRange Division. In 2001, he joined Ford Motor Company and conducted several Six Sigma and Reliability Senior Technical Specialist. At FCA, he is responsible for the development of the corporate global Q&R strategies and policies, teaching Q&R classes, and the development of the advanced Q&R tools.
Dr. Hijawi is a ASQ senior member, FCA/ASI certified DFSS Master Blackbelt and an ASQ Six Sigma Blackbelt certified. He is a member of the Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS) management committee and GYRS reliability symposium chair. He also was a session organizer with SAE for several years.
Dr. Hijawi authored multiple professional publications on the topics of reliability, statistics, vibrations, and Six Sigma. He was a speaker at ASQ Ann Arbor section in 2013 and 2014. He was an adjunct professor at University of Michigan-Dearborn where he taught Quality Management, as well as Probability and Statistics.
Past Chair - Kenneth Coll
Ken is a retired Quality Manager for Continental Automotive, and has over 20 years of experience in the automotive industry as a Tier 1 supplier. His responsibilities include continual improvement, Lean Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma, quality management systems, and quality auditor training and development in North America.
Ken has developed and taught a variety of quality and problem solving courses and has worked extensively with QS 9000 and TS16949 quality standards. His career has spanned production and corporate facilities, and he has worked as a production worker, material handler, inspector, quality systems auditor, and quality engineer.
He holds a B. A. degree in Management and Organizational Development from Spring Arbor University, an MBA from Northwood University, ASQ Quality Engineer Certification, is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, DFSS Green Belt, TS16949 lead auditor and is certified as a Master Trainer for TS16949 by Plexus International.
Past Past Chair - David Butler
David Butler has been a quality professional for more than 38 years and has worked at several Tier 1 Automotive suppliers during his career including, TRW, Robert Bosch, Champion Spark Plug, Eagle Picher, ThyssenKrupp and his current employer TI Automotive. His current role at TI Automotive is Global Director- Supplier Management and Purchasing Systems. David has attended more than 250 training seminars and classes and has taught about the same amount.
David first joined the ASQ in 1976 and after a short time away rejoined in 1986 and has been a full time member ever since. He is a Senior Member of the ASQ, Certified Quality Engineer, Six Sigma Black Belt and has served on various standards and test committees over the years. David is currently Chair-Elect for the Automotive Division Council and is also a member of the Customer/Supplier Division and Quality Management Division of the ASQ. He recently attended his 28th consecutive ASQ World Conference this past May in Anaheim. He has tried to volunteer at each of these conferences.
David has a BSMB in Business Management and is past Chair of the National Management Association. During his career David has been lucky enough to personally meet and train under many of the key quality “gurus” including Dr. Deming, Joseph Juran, Phillip Crosby and many others. He considers the highlight of his career learning from two of his favorite mentors; Dorian Shanin and Dr. John Hromi. Both of these men were “personable” and both respected the person more than the process or method. “Quality is never better than the honor and intent of the men and women that are assuring it”
