Our Trainers

Technical Training Specialist

Bruno Scibilia

Benefit from Bruno Scibilia’s expertise, which combines real-world industry experience and training skills with the highest qualifications. Bruno has a PhD on Manufacturing Process Optimisation and a Six Sigma Black Belt certification by the American Society for Quality. Bruno is an active trainer, speaker and author in the areas of quality, process optimisation, reliability, applied statistics and datamining. Bruno’s training consistently receives excellent feedback from Continuous Improvement practitioners, industry innovation leaders, professional trainers, consultants, Black Belts and Master Black Belts. He listens to your challenges, to link the business problem to the right methodology, to explain the possible solutions and to help to deploy the solution. Whether your need is for a process optimisation or advanced techniques for a complex business case, Bruno’s skills will meet your expectations. Bruno is also involved in listening to the voice of our customers to help our Development Team continuously improve the products and services we deliver.

“I have used quality improvement statistical techniques in a very practical way in the manufacturing industry for a number of years. This experience of the industrial environment and the awareness of its problems and challenges gave me a unique understanding of how statistics may be used, to make processes more robust, optimise them and control them. Mastering Minitab’s wide range of solutions from Minitab Statistical Software and Companion by Minitab to Salford Predictive Modeler helps me to find the best fit for our customer needs.”

Senior Advisory Statistician/Technical Training Specialist

Cheryl Pammer

As a Minitab trainer, statistical consultant, and designer of Minitab Statistical Software, Cheryl is immersed in the day-to-day problems faced by quality practitioners. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in teaching, statistical consulting, and software development, Cheryl aims to provide the sound statistical strategies and software tools that professionals need to solve the real-world problems they face on the job. She has worked on the project teams that developed many of Minitab's most popular features, including the Assistant, Design of Experiments, Gage R&R, Reliability, Machine Learning, and Predictive Analytics. She was also one of the developers of Minitab’s online learning solution, Quality Trainer.

In addition to her work with Minitab, Cheryl has provided statistical consulting for research labs, major corporations, and universities. Her employers include Vespa Labs, where she developed a new sampling technique for quantifying indoor allergens; Merck Research Labs, where she worked with researchers in pre-clinical drug development; and Penn State University, where she worked as a statistical consultant in the Department of Food Science and as an instructor for courses in statistics and introductory biostatistics.

Cheryl's goal as a Minitab Trainer is to give attendees the statistical knowledge and tools they need to solve the real-world problems they face on the job. "My philosophy is that information has to be practical to be useful," Cheryl says. "I love the 'aha!' moments that occur in class when our customers see how they can apply the skills they're learning to their own projects and help their companies improve quality."

In addition to Six Sigma Black Belt training, Cheryl has a B.S.E. in Mathematics from Truman State University, an M.S. in Statistics from the Pennsylvania State University, and additional graduate-level coursework in Data Mining and Machine Learning from Stanford University. She has been a presenter at several seminars and conferences, including the American Society for Quality’s World Conference, Fall Technical Conference, and Service Quality Conference. In September 2013, Cheryl’s work was highlighted in the American Statistical Association’s publication, Amstat News, in an article entitled “A Statistician’s Journey.”

Technical Training Specialist

Dave Osborn

Dave joined Minitab in 2019 as a Technical Training Specialist and is located in West Michigan. In this role, Dave’s goal is to ensure sound understanding of statistical fundamentals, data-based decision-making and the proper application of both to solve real-world problems using Minitab Statistical Software.

Prior to joining Minitab, Dave worked for Yanfeng Automotive Interiors as a Senior Six Sigma Master Black Belt. In this role Dave trained, coached and led Product, Process and Quality Engineers as well as Leadership in both DMAIC and DFSS (Robust Engineering) methodologies, data analysis and problem-solving. Applications ranged the entire product life cycle: product ideation, product design, program launch, production and warranty.

Dave also worked as a Continuous Improvement Manager, Six Sigma Black Belt and Master Black Belt and Quality Engineer at Johnson Controls from 2000 to 2015. In these roles Dave led and/or was part of a multitude of process improvement efforts in a wide variety of manufacturing industries: automotive interiors (assembly, thermoforming and injection molding), heavy fabrication of large tonnage chillers and compressors (machining, welding, assembly, testing) and automotive lithium-ion batteries (mixing, coating, calendaring, winding, assembly, formation and pack assembly).

Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1994. He earned a Master of Science in Applied Statistics from Western Michigan University in 2008. Dave also was an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, has Master Black Belt certifications in DMAIC and DFSS, practitioner certification in Kepner Tregoe® Problem Analysis and is a certified Shainin RedX® Apprentice.

Technical Training Specialist

Dennis Corbin

Dennis is a Technical Training Specialist at Minitab, LLC., the world’s leading provider of software and services for quality improvement and statistics education. Dennis is responsible for helping businesses develop competent statistical analysis to incorporate meaningful changes to meet company goals. In this role, his responsibilities include concise and informative trainings that incorporate businesses’ specific needs.

Prior to joining Minitab, Dennis worked at Northern Illinois University as an instructor in the Statistics Department. His main duties were teaching varying ranges of statistical courses. He has five years’ experience teaching statistical software throughout multiple disciplines on campus.

Dennis earned his BS in Sociology, which was the introduction to applicable statistical tools and software that pushed him to acquire his MS in Applied Statistics and Probability.

He is based in the Chicago office of Minitab, LLC He also volunteers at local organizations; museums, health clinics, and Chicago’s Architecture Foundation. He is also a budding Chicago bicyclist.

Technical Training Specialist

Eric Heckman

After earning his B.S. in Biostatistics from Penn State University, Eric joined Minitab in 2012 as a member of the Technical Support department helping customers use the software and understand their statistical output. He was also a regular contributor to the Minitab blog, using real world scenarios to demonstrate statistical concepts related to quality improvement and software use. Beginning in 2016, Eric began working as a trainer of Minitab Statistical Software.

Eric brings experience from a number of different fields, as he has done statistical work in areas including biostatistics, sports analytics, and political science. He has always enjoyed teaching and working with students individually in a variety of disciplines, including Statistics, Mathematics, and Economics. While attending school, Eric worked to develop and expand a Math tutoring center at a Penn State branch campus to provide specialized help for statistics and math students. In addition, he worked as a Teaching Assistant for several Economics courses including Microeconomics, and Econometrics classes.

With the explosion of data in the world today, he enjoys working with different users and seeing the different ways people in various industries are utilizing their data. While anyone can use software available today to click and get results, as a trainer, Eric hopes to bring a deeper understanding of statistical tools, so that accurate decisions can be made. Eric has also completed coursework towards an M.S. in Statistics, also at Penn State University.

Technical Support and Training Specialist

Erin O’Shaughnessy

Erin O’Shaughnessy joined Minitab in 2013 as Technical Support Specialist after completing a bachelor’s degree in Applied Statistics from The Pennsylvania State University. As a Technical Support Specialist, she works one-on-one with customers from every industry to help them utilize Minitab’s vast statistical toolkit to come to informed decisions to resolve their day-to-day problems.

Prior to working at Minitab, she worked at The Pennsylvania State University to help students learn the concepts of elementary statistics and the use of Minitab. During this time, Erin became attuned to understand that people come from a wide variety of disciplines, and not everyone will understand a topic using the same delivery or same level of technical communication. When the opportunity arose in 2016 to become a Minitab trainer, Erin was thrilled to continue to share her knowledge of Minitab and statistics in an additional role.

Erin specializes in Minitab macros and has written custom scripts that solve customers’ unique problems, such as automating tasks or creating a new feature. She knows that not everyone is a programmer, so she appreciates Minitab’s command language being just as easy to conquer as navigating its user-interface. She has been a presenter at conferences and webinars to help users get started or improve their macros.

Technical Training Specialist

Gillian Groom

Gillian joined Minitab in 2014 as a Technical Training Specialist from the University of Southampton. Throughout her career she has been applying statistical analysis to guide informed management decisions on business opportunities or problems.

For many years Gillian has specialised in Financial Services both in UK and Europe, focusing on the development and use of statistical analyses for the improvement of credit risk decisions.

Gillian is an active member of the Operational Research (OR) Society, assisting them to promote OR, as the discipline of applying the right analytical methods to help organisations make better decisions via membership of their General Council and supporting their regional events.

“I am excited to join Minitab and have the opportunity to demonstrate how good data analysis together with process knowledge can lead to informed decisions that make a real difference to business performance”.

Gillian has a Masters Degree in Probability and Statistics from Sheffield University.

Technical Training Specialist I

José Padilla

After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University in 2005 with B.S. degrees in both Mathematics and Statistics, José joined Minitab in 2007 and began sharing his expertise in quality statistics and Minitab Statistical Software as a sales representative.

As a Minitab trainer, José draws on his experience presenting statistical concepts to professionals in numerous public and on-site training courses, webinars, and workshops, and continues to build and maintain relationships with customers.

José ensures customer satisfaction with his ability to communicate technical and business concepts both in Spanish and English. “My goal is to help customers achieve success,” he says. “Applying statistical concepts to their businesses can lead to good decision making, but only if they understand the tools they are working with.”

Technical Training Specialist / Technical Support Specialist

Ming Dong

Ming has been proudly supporting Minitab customers since Minitab Pty Ltd opened in 2007, first as a Technical Support Specialist and now as Minitab’s first Technical Training Specialist in Australia.

As a member of Minitab’s technical support team, he gained firsthand experience resolving the challenges Minitab users face when trying to choose the right method and analyze their data.

He also brings a great deal of industry experience to his training courses. He has worked as a Statistical Research Officer for Macquarie University and a Software Engineer and Project Coordinator for Toshiba, OzEmail and National Computing Systems Singapore.

One of the things Ming enjoys most about being a Minitab trainer is helping a wide range of clients effectively use statistics to improve their processes.

“My goal is to make my courses practical and relevant for professionals from all types of businesses,” he said. “I want training participants to leave with a 'statistical toolkit' they can take back to their jobs and use immediately and regularly.”

Ming has had several papers published in the field of Bioinformatics statistics research. He has a Masters of Computer Science from the University of New South Wales, and a Masters of Applied Statistics from Macquarie University.

Technical Training Specialist

Nick Jones

Nick Jones, a trained Statistician, has been with Minitab for over 10 years. Nick's international support and training expertise has brought him to advise, train and consult companies and Minitab's business partners around the world; he has helped leading businesses from various industry sectors to deliver valuable insights based on their data, driving quality and innovation as well as helping them to set up their continuous improvement initiatives. Nick has trained personnel through all ranks - from beginners to advanced practitioners, including Master Black Belts - as well as advising Senior Management on their Quality Programs. Nick is an expert for Minitab Statistical Software, Companion by Minitab and Quality Trainer.

“Training offers a fantastic opportunity to share my knowledge and experience around the acute challenges that businesses face in the quality management, process and product improvement arena; to provide companies and business partners with the right approaches, tools and skill sets, using Minitab's wide range of solutions, is very rewarding for me.”

Technical Training Specialist

Robert Collis

Robert joined the Minitab team in May 1997 after completing a Marketing Masters degree from Coventry University. The statistics degree that Robert attained from the University of London along with his linguistic talent (bilingual French-English), gives Robert a good head start in understanding what our customers need.

Robert offers technical support and also delivers on-site training courses to Minitab customers to both French and English speaking customers."

"I enjoy drawing on my real-life experiences of using statistics when teaching courses in the European company environment. I try to make our Minitab training courses practical, accessible and memorable. My role as a trainer is made all the more interesting as I am able to roll out the same training programme in both French and English for our customers with multiple sites across Europe."

Robert has trained many influential companies throughout France and North Africa. Robert has also been instrumental in providing training courses to those companies who are working to implement Six Sigma quality initiatives.

Technical Training Specialist

Sami Chaabi

Sami joined Minitab in 2000, where he started by developing and increasing his knowledge of the Minitab software package through the Technical Support department, in which he still works, before giving training on the software as well.

The two departments complement each other significantly, and this allows Sami to better meet the expectations of the various users; their complementary nature also enables him to pay particular attention to the problems that users encounter most often with Minitab, which allows him to give them more confidence in using it.

Like the other Minitab trainers, Sami has several years of experience in training at companies that deploy the Six Sigma methodology or those that would like to make their employees aware of statistical data analysis available in the company.

"The trainer position is highly stimulating as it requires constant adaptation to the needs of the individual companies where I am training, and allows for a significant exchange of ideas between clients."

Technical Training Specialist

Scott Kowalski

Scott joined Minitab to help professionals to appreciate and harness the power of statistics in using data to solve problems, no matter what industry they're in. He gets a real sense of accomplishment from helping people from different disciplines and technical backgrounds come together to find solutions to important business problems.

His interest in helping people understand and apply statistical power was sparked during the two years he spent as a consultant in the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. These projects involved the use of designed experiments as well as reliability, control charts and regression analysis. By helping the institute's clients collect and analyze data, Scott saw first-hand the value that applied statisticians add to solving real-world problems.

Scott earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Florida, where he taught several courses and concentrated on design of experiments and response surface methodology. His goal in earning his doctorate was to develop theory for problems already being encountered by practitioners, and his dissertation focused on designing industrial experiments with hard-to-change factors.

After completing his education, Scott worked for one year at Stetson University and for one year at the University of Central Florida, where he continued to consult and served as the associate director of the university's Statistics Institute.

Scott has published articles in many journals: Quality Engineering, Journal of Quality Technology, Quality Reliability Engineering International, Quality Progress, and Technometrics. He was awarded the 2005 Lloyd Nelson Award by ASQ for the paper having “the greatest immediate impact to practitioners.” In addition to his extensive teaching experience, he has delivered presentations and seminars at meetings of professional organizations including the Lean Six Sigma, American Statistical Association, the Fall Technical Conference of the American Society for Quality's Statistics Division, and many Six Sigma events in Asia.