Career Opportunities in Statistics and Quality
Jobs in Quality, Statistics and related fields are growing. Graduates from RIT's Center for Quality and Applied Statistics work in a variety of positions and companies. We have had 774 students graduate in the Master's Degree Program in Applied Statistics and Advanced Certificate Programs. Listed below are just a few examples of the job titles and companies in which our alumni work:

Where our Graduates Work
Plant Statistician, Motorola
Project Director, Harris Interactive CRMD
Biostatistician and Quality Assurance Statistician, Eastman Kodak
Actuary, Nationwide Insurance Company
Statistician, Chiron Diagnostics, Inc, Eastman Kodak
Test Engineer, Xerox Corporation
Senior Reliability Engineer, Eastman Kodak and ABB Systems/Instrumentation
Senior Quality Engineer, Bausch and Lomb, Eastman Kodak
Senior Quality Assurance, Pfaudler Co.
Lead Analyst/Programmer, University of Rochester
Statistical Measurements Specialist, Corning, Inc.
Manager, Xerox Corporation
Black Belt Program Instructor, Eastman Kodak
Director of Quality Assurance, Ferronics, Inc.
Manager of Network Services Delivery, IBM
Director, Research & Development, Planning Perspective, Inc.
Vice President of Quality, Sentry Group, Nokia Mobile Phones and Peko Precision

What our Students Say About the Program

"The MS degree from CQAS offers great utility to the student. It allowed me to work for private sector firms as an engineer/statistician, launched my statistical consulting career and also provided a sound foundation for my subsequent doctoral studies."

John L Coleman Ph.D., MS 1996
Lecturer
Department of Statistics
California Polytechnic State University

"Like many of the individuals enrolled in the Applied Statistics program, I worked full-time while going to school. I took classes on campus and on-line over my three years at RIT. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the classes was getting to meet and know individuals from many fields. One of RIT’s best attributes is combining individuals working in industry and students either right out of their undergraduate studies or out for only a few years. This mixture of knowledge and talent, pooled with exceptional instructors, kept us all on our toes. The projects we worked on and the questions asked in class had real-world applications. I was putting what I learned in class to work right away.

"For me personally, graduating allowed me to change careers without changing my employer. I had worked for a public utility for years running power plants. After my degree I quickly went from managing power plants to sitting on a utility trading floor. On the floor there are individuals trading electricity, coal, emissions, natural gas, and fuel oil. The statistical needs within the trading industry are already immense, but the future is awe-inspiring. My current responsibilities include managing risk for the trading positions and ensuring that these positions properly hedge risk allowing the company to manage the distribution of earnings over any given time horizon.

"My time at RIT has allowed me to be a bridge between executive management, traders, and individuals immersed within statistical & quantitative analysis. The ability to work and communicate with all three groups has allowed my career to thrive and put me years ahead of my peers."

Rob Hochstetler
Manager of Midwest Market Risk
Duke Energy
Cincinnati Ohio
7/11/06

"I found the Applied Statistics program at RIT to be the perfect complement to my industry (Black Belt / Master Black Belt) Six Sigma training. The Applied Statistics Master program filled in many of the “why’s”, “what’s” and “how’s” of statistics often glossed over in Six Sigma training programs. A better understanding of how to use statistics (e.g., design of experiment) to solve industry problems has been key to resolve a number of long standing productivity problems that cost over $1M in waste annually. The use of applied statistics I learned in the reliability course was very useful in the design and analysis of various accelerated life tests I’ve conducted. I believe the RIT program balances the theory of statistics (“why’s”), the application of the theory (“what’s”), and the mechanics of statistical analysis tools (“how’s”) to help with the many engineering problems often encountered in the design and manufacturing of industrial products."

Steve Albers
Sr. Technical Manager
Honeywell
Aerospace Engineering
1/3/06

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"I believe that one of the strengths of this program is the quality of the instructors and their depth of experience in applying the material that they teach. RIT's very flexible Distance Learning format has made it possible for me to get an education that I would probably otherwise never have been able to obtain. Although I must admit to some early apprehension about taking courses in this format, my experience has proved that apprehension to be unfounded. Chat session class discussions have proved interesting as well as educational, the lecture video tapes and learning guides have been of very high quality, and the responsiveness of the instructors, the Distance Learning staff, and everyone else associated with the program, have combined to make my learning experience very rewarding.

The RIT program has truly been a both pleasurable and rewarding experience for me."

Glen Ryan
Sr. Quality Engineer
ITT McDonald & Miller
Chicago, IL
1/28/99

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"My experience in the RIT, Advanced Certificate in Statistical Quality has significantly improved my professional effectiveness. With the constant expectation of companies for their people to provide evolutionary and revolutionary improvements, the program provides the tools to make an immediate contribution.

The RIT distance learning format which combined video taped lectures with texts and manuals gave good coverage of the course material. The Internet contact with faculty and other students personalized the learning. The use of the Internet for chats was an important part of my learning. It reduced the isolation typically associated with distance learning.

I would like to thank RIT, the Center for Quality and Applied Statistics and my course instructors for the skills they have given me."

Glenn White
Manager
Bombardier Transportation Systems
Ankara, TURKEY
2/2/99

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"As a student at RIT in the Quality and Applied Statistics Department, I got one on one attention from the faculty and staff. The department really cares for the whole student. I am glad I had the opportunity to attend, study and work with such a fine group of people. I still keep in touch with them."

Stacie Thomas, MS 1994
Sr. Quality Analyst

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"Profit improvement projects undertaken by companies almost always involve new product, or process development activities. With technology and jobs changing at a phenomenal pace, employees that can contribute efficiently at such tasks are valuable assets to the company. Applied Statistics is a skill base that applies to all technologies, and significantly increases the efficiency of improvement efforts.

RIT's Center for Quality and Applied Statistics teaches practical tools and techniques that can be directly applied to the job. As a Mechanical Engineer, and now Quality Manager, I have been able to resolve highly complex issues through efficient data analysis and experimental design methods learned through CQAS."

Eric Alden, MS 1997
Quality Manager
Xerox Corporation

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"Completing the RIT masters program in applied statistics was a challenging and rewarding experience. The curriculum was directly applicable to my daily activities as a product/process development engineer in the new business group at a major packaging corporation. Most of the courses offered opportunities to bring in work- related problems to the classroom. This truly enhanced the level of comprehension, as the real-life problems faced either by oneself or classmates often had nuances that required an approach that went beyond that of standard textbook examples.

I would recommend to anyone interested in furthering their understanding of the hows and whys of the statistical methods used for analysis of data from processes, experiments and experimental design, product testing and QC, that they strongly consider the CQAS program."

Marcus Merriman, MS 1998
Senior Development Engineer
Tenneco Specialty Packaging

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"I first heard about the RIT graduate program in Applied Statistics when talking with a graduate of the program about my desire to change careers. His enthusiasm about the RIT program spurred me to investigate and eventually enroll as a part time student.

I attended RIT while working part time and caring for young children. I found class times worked conveniently into my schedule. I was able to choose from a variety of classes, to meet my individual interests. My instructors were always approachable, knowledgeable and available to offer assistance.

I graduated from the program and was able to successfully change careers."

Bernadette Witkiewicz, MS 1993
Director, Early Childhood Growth and Development Study
Monroe County Department of Health

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"Having graduated from the Center for Quality and Applied Statistics has greatly impacted my job as a Quality Engineer at Kodak. For example:

• When I started the program I was using factorial experiments on a regular basis for machine accreditations
• At my next assignment I was applying reliability statistics, failure mode analysis, and factorial experiments on a regular basis.
• I was employed in one of the businesses that Kodak decided to "exit". Although most folks were given the dreaded "60 day" notice, I was reassigned to a new work area. Later the new supervisor told me that a prime contributor to his decision to put me onto his staff was my having an MS from the Center for Quality and Applied Statistics at RIT.

I not only use what I learned on an ongoing basis, having my MS degree made the difference between having a job at Kodak or not. From my perspective my MS from the Center for Quality and Applied Statistics has paid dividends not only in personal satisfaction but a directly measured in my career at Kodak."

Larry Mohr, MS 1997
Quality Engineer
Kodak

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