Kim H. (“Vajramanas’’) Pries has four college degrees: BA History from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), BS Metallurgical Engineering from UTEP, MS Metallurgical Engineering from UTEP, and MS in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to the degrees, he has the following certifications: –APICS Certified Production and Inventory Manager (CPIM) – American Society for Quality (ASQ) Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) Certified Manager of Quality/Operational Excellence (CMQ/OE) Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) Mr. Pries worked as a computer systems manager (“IT”), a software engineer for an electrical utility, and a scientific programmer on defense contract. For Stoneridge, Incorporated (SRI), he has worked as: Software manager Engineering services manager Reliability section manager Product integrity and reliability director In addition to this, Mr. Pries provides Six Sigma training for bothUTEPand SRI, cost reduction initiatives for SRI. Mr. Pries is also a founding faculty member of Practical Project Management. Additionally, in concert with Mr. Quigley, Mr. Pries is the co-founder and principal with Value Transformation, LLC, a training, testing, cost improvement, and product development consultancy. Mr. Pries is also a lay monk in the Soto tradition of Zen Buddhism and functions as an Ino for the Zen Center of Las Cruces. Mr.Pries’s first book was Six Sigma for the Next Millennium: A CSSBB Guidebook, now in a second edition as Six Sigma for the New Millennium: A CSSBB Guidebook, Second Edition (ASQ Quality Press). E-mail Mr. Pries at kim.pries@valuetransform.com Jon M.