ROGER HOERL leads the Applied Statistics Laboratory at GE Global Research, which focuses on new product and service development within each of the GE businesses. In 2006, he received the Coolidge Fellowship from GE Global Research, honoring one scientist a year from among the four global GE Research and Development sites for lifetime technical achievement. Dr. Hoerl has authored five books in the areas of statistics and business improvement, two book chapters, and over thirty-five refereed journal articles.

RON SNEE is founder and President of Snee Associates, an authority on designing and implementing improvement and cost reduction solutions for a variety of organizational environments. Dr. Snee has an outstanding record of leadership in process and organizational improvement in a variety of industries including pharmaceutical, biotech, clinical diagnostics, and telecommunications. Among his other achievements, he is credited with leading the design of the first company-wide continuous improvement curriculum for the global giant E. I. DuPont de Nemours. He holds a host of awards and honors, has coauthored four books, and published more than 200 articles on process improvement, quality, management, and statistics.