Meet the 2018 Great LSS Race Winners and Competitors
Another high-stakes, fast-paced Great LSS Race is in the books. It all went down at Process Palooza 2018 in the Price Center ballroom. Competitors arrived bright and early – some seasoned vets from 2017, some brand new, all with training Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodologies.
As LSS is all about being efficient, organizers wasted no time in dividing competitors into six teams, with about six members each. Teams’ were tasked with tackling tricky campus processes. Half the teams worked with UC San Diego Health, which needed help with its patient flow and capacity management transfer procedures. The other teams lent a hand to Fleet Services, which wanted to look at its department vehicle request process.
After a brief orientation, teams were off and running, filling up whiteboards with fishbone diagrams and process maps. By mid-afternoon it was “pencils down” and teams huddled to prepare their 10-minute pitches to judges.
One participant – Jeno Bonetti, from IT Services – described the experience as one of the most challenging exercises in which he’s ever participated. “Getting a team to work together, and perform well with little to no advance affiliation is tough on its own,” he commented. “Throw in a problem to be analyzed and solved and you’ve got the ingredients for a very challenging event. Top it off by compressing the timeline into five hours with a cohesive presentation at the end and you have great challenge! I tip my hat to the winners for they have truly risen to the occasion and performed well.”
Speaking of the winners…teams emerged victorious after wowing the judges. Meet them below!
Interested in knowing more about the Great LSS Race? Read this first-person account from a 2018 winning team member, and check out the actual improvements made resulting from the 2017 Great LSS Race.
Winning Teams and Members
Process 1: UC San Diego Health Care Patient Flow & Capacity Management Department Transfer Center
Embolden Golden
| Name | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Gloria O’Connor | Project Policy Analyst | Office of Clinical Trials Administration (OCTA) |
| Miguel Rodriguez | Educational Technology Analyst | IT Services |
| Michael Kirkpatrick | Technical Project Manager | IT Services |
| Tareq Turjman | Project Manager | Information Services, Health System |
| Carlos Rojas | Lead Project Manager | Clinical and Translational Research Institute |
| Leticia Egea | Program Coordinator | Medicine/Endo |
Process 2: UC San Diego's Fleet Services Department Vehicle Request
Turquoise Trailblazers
| Name | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Lorena Smith | Principal Analyst, Supervisor (Assoc. Director) | Human Research Protections Program |
| Csilla Csori | Data Systems Architect | Supercomputer Center |
| Beverly Ward | Business Manager | Student Life Business Office |
| Arden Tran | Research Facilitator | Research IT |
| Ana Portlock | Program Manager | Integrated Procure to Pay Solutions (IPPS) |
| Farah Rahman | Business Process Manager |
All Teams
Process 1
Lean and Green
| Name | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|
| Valeria Estrada | Assistant Director Tissue Technology Shared Resource | Biorepository and Tissue Technology |
| Katarina Tang | Sponsored Research Analyst | Office of Contract & Grant Administration |
| Jeno Bonetti | Change Management | IT Services |
| Davis Becker | Management & Program Analyst | VA Hospital, Systems Redesign & Innovation Office |
| Kevin Waldrop | Administrative Officer, Special Projects | Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Business Office |
Lean Code Blue
|
Name |
Title |
Department |
|---|---|---|
|
Walter Zimmer |
M.SC. |
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) |
|
Gabriel Lopez |
Sr. Academic Personnel Analyst |
Academic Personnel Services |
|
Anne Goldenberg |
Data Analyst |
Pharmacy |
|
Manisha Kanodia |
Senior Applications and Database Developer |
Executive Vice Chancellor’s Academic Affairs Unit |
|
Harrison Watts |
Supervisor |
Research Information Systems, IT Services |
Process 2
Lean Depot
|
Name |
Title |
Department |
|---|---|---|
|
Margaret Ramaeker |
Research Administrator |
Computer Science & Engineering |
|
Pam Tallarida |
Sr. Training & Client Support Analyst |
Educational Initiatives, Change & Client Services, OCGA |
|
Kevin DelMastro |
Senior Academic Personnel Analyst |
Academic Personnel Services |
|
Pauline Loyola |
Graduate Admissions Credential Evaluator |
Graduate Admissions |
|
Aaron Smith |
Asset Manager |
Facilities Management |
Black in Business
|
Name |
Title |
Department |
|---|---|---|
|
Charles Cannon |
Infrastructure Admin (SysAdmin) |
Student Affairs Technology Services (Enrollment Management) |
|
Deanna Hill |
Finance Manager |
Computer Science & Engineering |
|
Julie Moritz |
Facilities/Safety Coordinator |
Electrical & Computer Engineering |
|
Tehseen Lazzouni |
Financial Analyst |
Chemistry & Biochemistry |
|
Dhara Parekh |
Student |
UC San Diego Extension |
|
Kristine McCabe |
Budget Analyst |
Budget & Financial Forecasting |