Our Staff

Team Directory

Quality and International Standards - Team Directory

Tim Israel	Carol Aton	Vicki Bryan	Craig Cochran	Deann Desai
Karen Fite	Holly Grell-Lawe	Ed Hardison	Dennis Kelly	Don Pital
Elliot Price

	Tim Israel Group Manager, Atlanta Metro Timothy Israel is the Group Manager for Lean Enterprise and Quality Services at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. He and his staff of 15 professionals work with organizations to reduce waste and improve manufacturing operations. His group helps companies and organizations implement continuous improvement techniques, quality management systems, and lean manufacturing principles. Mr. Israel is a RABQSA -certified Quality Systems Lead Auditor and Environmental Systems Lead Auditor. He has trained more than 5000 individuals representing more than 500 companies on all aspects of Lean, Quality, ISO 9000, and ISO 14000. Mr. Israel has both a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been an active member of the Georgia Oglethorpe Award Process, serving on the Council and as an Examiner in past years. Currently, Mr. Israel is the chairman of the Georgia State Shingo Award steering committee. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 760 Spring Street NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0640 Phone: (404) 894-2272 Fax: (404) 894-1192 E-mail: tim.israel@innovate.gatech.edu

	Carol Aton Training Products Manager, Atlanta Metro Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 760 Spring Street NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0640 Phone:(404) 894-6785 Fax:(404) 894-1192 E-mail: carol.aton@innovate.gatech.edu

	Vicki Bryan Administrative Assistant Vicki Bryan is the administrative assistant for the Process Improvement group (Quality and Lean services). She is a Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) with more than 25 years of service in the education field. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 760 Spring Street NW Atlanta, GA 30332-0640 Phone: (404) 894-8270 Fax: (404) 894-1192 E-mail: vicki.bryan@innovate.gatech.edu

	Craig Cochran Region Manager, North Atlanta Craig Cochran is a Project Manager with Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute. He has served in management roles in multiple industries—including textiles, glass manufacture, semiconductor, and telecommunications—for nearly twenty years. Some of his specific areas of expertise include customer feedback methods; auditing; development of key measures, organizational development, management systems of all types, and problem solving. Craig has an MBA from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also attended the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. He is a Certified Quality Manager, Certified Quality Engineer, and Certified Quality Auditor through the American Society for Quality. He is certified as a QMS Lead Auditor through the RABQSA. Craig is the author of The Continual Improvement Process: From Strategy to The Bottom Line; Customer Satisfaction: Tools, Techniques, and Formulas for Success; and Becoming a Customer Focused Organization, all available from Paton Press (www.patonpress.com). He has also authored numerous articles in national and international publications. Cochran is frequently featured as a speaker at conferences on quality, performance improvement, and management. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 4705 Norman Drive NW Kennesaw, GA 30144-1318 Phone: (678) 494-9938 Fax: (404) 894-1192 E-mail: craig.cochran@innovate.gatech.edu

	Deann Desai Project Manager, Northeast Georgia Deann Desai, a project manager with the Environmental and Energy Management Center (EEMC), provides implementation assistance and training to companies pursuing ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. She has experience in environmental compliance, policies, and regulatory affairs; quality systems; statistical process control; experimental design; and analytical and scientific techniques. Ms. Desai has assisted over 150 companies with ISO 9001/ISO 14001 implementation. Ms. Desai is an RABQSA-Certified Quality Management Systems Lead Auditor and an RABQSA-Certified Environmental Management Systems Lead Auditor. Ms. Desai has M.S. degrees in Statistics and Polymers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia. She is a member of the American Society for Quality, American Management Association, and the American Chemical Society. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 1180 E. Broad Street, Chicopee Complex Athens, GA 30602-5413 Phone: (706) 542-8902 E-mail: deann.desai@innovate.gatech.edu

	Karen Fite Region Manager, Northeast Georgia Karen Fite is region manager of Georgia Tech’s Northeast Georgia service delivery region and directs activities in 24 counties surrounding Athens and Gainesville. Her responsibilities include providing managerial and technical assistance to area industries and supporting Georgia’s economic development efforts via courses, research, and on-site technical assistance. Ms. Fite is an RABQSA-Certified Quality Management Systems Lead Auditor and a lead trainer for the ISO 9001:2000 Lead Auditor Training course, and she has participated in developing several other courses. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 1993, she worked as a business manager for the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center and as an industrial engineer for Eastern Airlines. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech and an M.B.A. from the University of Miami. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 1180 E. Broad Street Athens, GA 30602-5413 Phone: (706) 542-8901 Mobile:(706) 340-1404 Fax: (706) 542-8899 E-mail: karen.fite@innovate.gatech.edu

Holly Grell-Lawe
Energy Management Center

Holly Grell-Lawe is a senior research associate and project manager with Energy and Sustainability Services at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. She develops and provides training, technical assistance, coaching, and system assessments to help organizations integrate environmental management and sustainability-based decision-making into their business processes. She has worked with scores of organizations to implement and attain third-party certification of environmental, quality, and integrated management systems based on the ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. She is an RABQSA-Certified Lead Auditor for both environmental and quality management systems and is a member of the ANSI/MSE 2000 Energy Management System standards development team. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 1983, Ms. Lawe worked for the Atlanta office of McKinsey & Company. She holds a master’s degree in information management from Emory University and a B.S. in communications from Northwestern University.

Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
760 Spring Street, N.W., Suite 330
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0640

Phone: (404) 558-5948
E-mail: holly.lawe@innovate.gatech.edu

	Ed Hardison Project Manager, South Georgia Ed Hardison is a principal research associate with Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. For over 25 years, he has provided management and technical assistance to existing and developing industry in the areas of plant layouts, ventilation, thermodynamics, and general mechanical engineering. As an associate staff member of the Energy and Environmental Management Center he also provides companies with environmental assistance, including regulatory compliance, management systems, and ISO 14000 system implementation. He is an RABQSA-certified environmental systems auditor. He has also completed dozens of energy audits at industrial facilities and is certified by the U.S. Department of Energy as a Qualified PHAST (Process Heating Assessment Survey Tool) Specialist utilizing the PHAST software tool for detailed furnace analysis. He also works in the area of quality and is an RABQSA-certified quality systems lead auditor and has assisted numerous companies seeking ISO 9000 registration. Mr. Hardison has bachelor and master of science degrees in engineering from the University of Central Florida and is a Registered Professional Engineer in both Florida and Georgia. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 125 Pine Avenue, Suite 220 Albany, Georgia 31701 Phone: (229) 430-4210 E-mail: ed.hardison@innovate.gatech.edu

	Dennis Kelly Project Manager, Central Georgia Dennis Kelly is the quality audit program manager and senior research engineer for the Center for International Standards & Quality (CISQ) at Georgia Tech, and serves as its Management Representative. Mr. Kelly is an RABQSA-Certified Quality Management Systems Lead Auditor, RABQSA-Certified Environmental Management Systems Lead Auditor, RABQSA Certified Skill Examiner and a registered professional engineer. He has assisted more than 300 companies with the implementation, maintenance and improvement of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, TS 16949, AS9100 and integrated management systems. Mr. Kelly is a CISQ lead instructor and auditor who provides assistance, primarily to small and medium-size companies, and conducts workshops on ISO 9001, ISO 14001, AS9100, TS 16949, statistical process control, six sigma, and related subjects. He is one of the principal authors of ANSI/MSE 2000, the American National Standard for management systems for energy. Mr. Kelly has an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He is a senior member of the American Society for Quality and a Certified Quality Engineer. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 2791 East Houze Road Fort Valley, GA 31030 Phone: (478) 825-5504 Fax:(478) 825-9119 E-mail: dennis.kelly@innovate.gatech.edu

	Don Pital Project Manager, is the Growth Services Manager for the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute. In this role, Mr. Pital routinely coaches companies on organizational growth through ideation process management. Mr. Pital is a Business Growth Coach certified by the Eureka Ranch in Cincinnati, OH. In addition to idea generation and management, Mr. Pital coaches organizations in lean product development techniques leading to design and prototyping services for the small to mid-size company. Prior to coming to Georgia Tech in 1998, he served in the telecommunication manufacturing industry in a variety of key areas including quality, operations and engineering management positions for over 12 years. Mr. Pital has regularly coached and consulted with all levels of client organizations in quality management system implementations (ISO 9001 and sector-specific standards) and best practice training in areas such as: root cause analysis, process improvements, SPC, process mapping, high-impact auditing, project management, and creativity. He has also been a lead staff member in the Center for International Standards and Quality (CISQ) within the Innovation Institute. He serves as a Georgia Tech Certified Lead Instructor and is a nationally certified (RABQSA) Quality Management Systems Lead Auditor. He has taught quality management courses and techniques to hundreds of employees and organizations in the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors. Don’s passion is to facilitate creative group problem solving activities with an emphasis on turning ideas into reality that generate organizational growth. He has M.S. and B.S. degrees in Ceramic Engineering from Georgia Tech and is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology 760 Spring St. N.W. Atlanta GA 30332-0640 Phone:(770)-595-8921 E-mail: don.pital@innovate.gatech.edu

	Elliot Price Region Manager, Augusta Region Elliot Price is manager of the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute’s Augusta Regional Office and a member of the Process Improvement Group and Sustainability Group. A RABQSA-certified lead auditor, he has helped companies successfully prepare for ISO 9000 registration and ready their workforces for a culture based on employee involvement and continual improvement. He is also an ASQ-certified quality manager and was the past chair for the 2001 Oglethorpe Conference. As a field engineer in the Augusta Regional Office, Mr. Price provides technical and managerial assistance to area manufacturing and service industries. He has brought together several companies in workshop series and user network meetings dedicated to process improvement. Mr. Price has an M.B.A. from Augusta College and a B.S. in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Enterprise Innovation Institute Georgia Institute of Technology Project Manager, Coastal Georgia Augusta, GA 30907 Phone:(706) 721-4522 Fax:(706) 737-1420 E-mail: elliot.price@innovate.gatech.edu