ASQ1106 Northeast TN Section - April 2025 Section Newsletter & Meeting Announcement
Content:
- Thursday April 17 Section Meeting – 2 Presentations: Leveraging AI in Audits and Strategic Planning for career enhancement and personal gain.
- Insightful Panel Discussion on Design of Experiments
ASQ 1106 Section Meeting
Thursday April 17, 2025 (Virtual with Zoom)
Agenda (Eastern time zone):
5:30 - 5:45 Log in and socialize time
5:45 – 6:45 Video + Discussion: Leveraging AI in Audits by Mary Breslin
6:45-7:00 Break
7:00-8:00 Strategic Planning for career enhancement and personal gain by David Auda
Register https://mp.gg/s2ljfpjf or at the URL below.
https://app.memberplanet.com/#/event/asqnortheasttennesseesection/asq1106aprilsectionmeeting
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For questions or reservation issues contact Arved Harding (423) 765-5382. aharding@eastman.com
Presentation 1
Topic: Video + Discussion: Leveraging AI in Audits
AI technology such as ChatGPT provides auditors many opportunities to accelerate the processes of planning, conducting and reporting audits. Whether it’s working with text or data, AI can help in checking compliance and operational performance. While this recorded presentation is based on financial audits, it should be of interest to auditors of any type management system. After the video, we will discuss participant experiences and ideas.
Speaker Bio:
Mary Breslin, MBA, CIA, CFE, FOUNDER and MANAGING PARTNER of Verracy
Mary Breslin is the Founder of Verracy and specializes in Internal Audit transformations, Operational and Financial Auditing, Fraud Auditing and Investigations, and Corporate Accounting.
Ms. Breslin’s career spans over 20 years in Internal Auditing, Management and Accounting for companies such as ConocoPhillips, Barclays Capital, Costco Wholesale, Jefferson Wells and Boart Longyear. With significant International experience, she has managed audit programs in more than 50 countries. Most recently, Ms. Breslin held the title of Vice President and Chief Audit Executive where she transformed a checklist audit function into a value-add audit department which regularly delivered measurable business results through the use of risk-based auditing, data analytics, continuous education and skill development for her leadership team and staff.
Additionally, Ms. Breslin has extensive Fraud Audit and Investigation experience and has conducted major fraud investigations on multiple continents including large scale federal cases domestically. She has developed and implemented fraud auditing programs in various industries focused on both accounting and operations.
Ms. Breslin attended Rutgers University and received her BS in accounting, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix while living and working overseas. She is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She maintains memberships in the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), ISACA, the Society of Corporate Compliance (SCCE), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and is currently an instructor and conference speaker for the IIA, The ACFE and ISACA.
Presentation 2 – Strategic Planning for career enhancement and personal gain.
I have been delivering training on strategic planning to a wide variety of audiences over several years. For example, a variation of this material was delivered to a nonprofit consortium, the corporate Quality department of a global enterprise, a graduate class at university, a professional association, a business solutions center, etc. During covid I enhanced the training to help support those who found themselves going out of business due to the lack of a strategic plan for disaster and business interruptions. It focused on what a planner could do in the midst of a business disruption to minimize loss and sustain the business entity. I would not be surprised to discover that given our current global instability (tariffs, wars, politics, etc.) many are still operating without a well thought out plan. Strategic plans are extremely useful under such conditions but are also very beneficial in improving the capability maturity of a business unit, developing a personal development plan to improve ones’ Quality of life, enhance interpersonal relationships (professional networking, relationship enhancement), and personal health improvement, to mention a few. Yet, the plan is one step in the process. If the necessary commitment(s) have not be formalized there is a high likelihood that the plan will have been developed in vain. Some discussion on commitment is necessary but due to its entanglement with the complexities of consciousness, emotions, heredity, etc. only a cursory treatment will be provided. Those who were fortunate enough to make it through a disruptive event, dodging the proverbial bullets of disaster, have likely convinced themselves that they are simply lucky. Luck is not a strategy, and “luck always seems to be against the man who depends on it.” – Anonymous. Whether you are a certified strategic planning facilitator, engineer, manager, technologist, office staff, maintenance crew member, or just curious about the topic, I can guarantee that every attendee will find something of value in this webinar.
Speaker Bio
David Auda is an ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer and Certified Quality Manager who has worked in a wide variety of industries, to include but is not limited to sensitized products manufacture, energy generation, automotive design, heavy vehicle manufacture, aerospace, medical and high-volume consumable goods manufacture. David’s experience includes, but is not limited to, product design, instrumentation design, medical device design, aerospace systems design, information systems management, infrastructure network management, programming, etc. David has worked extensively in the areas of risk analysis, failure prevention, root cause analysis, problem solving, strategic planning and safety engineering as well as numerous other related disciplines. David has a BSEE from the Rochester Institute of Technology, with honors, Tau Beta Pi, and pursued his master level reliability studies at the RIT Center for Quality and Applied Statistics. David is a frequent presenter at international conferences and symposia, a competent speaker and validated ASQ trainer, delivering presentations and workshops on a wide variety of topics essential to the effective and efficient performance of Reliability and Quality practitioners. David’s most recent deployment was a Reliability and Maintainability Manager at Georgia Pacific’s Dixie works in Darlington South Carolina supporting their $350M+ expansion. David is presently semi-retired, providing consulting and training through a variety of channels.