Upcoming course
April 28–September 5, 2025
(in-person April 28–May 2)
$5,500.00
(Early bird special: $4,200 by Nov. 30, 2024)
*Registration closes April 21, 2025
Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification
Overview
Want to become an elite leader in process improvement and strategic change? Enroll in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering’s Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification and elevate your career to the pinnacle of excellence. Gain expertise in Six Sigma methodologies, mentor Black Belts, and spearhead significant transformations across diverse industries. Become the driving force behind organizational success and a distinguished authority in operational excellence.
Empowering Learners for Success
The Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification is a comprehensive program that includes a five day in-person training followed by four months to complete a White Paper. During this course, you’ll learn:
Technical Skills
- Advanced Six Sigma Tools: Proficiency in sophisticated Six Sigma methodologies.
- Statistical Analysis: Advanced skills in statistical inference and data analysis.
- Advanced Design of Experiments (DOE): Proficiency in designing and analyzing experiments.
- Regression Analysis: Advanced techniques in building and interpreting regression models.
- Forecasting and Time Series Analysis: Proficiency in forecasting and analyzing time series data.
Leadership and Management Skills
- Operational Excellence Leadership: Mastery in leading organizational excellence.
- Strategic Leadership: Capability to align Six Sigma with strategic goals.
- Change Management: Expertise in driving and managing change effectively.
- Creative Problem Solving: Developing innovative solutions to complex challenges.
- Process Optimization: Skills in optimizing processes using response surface methods.
The in-person training will include networking dinners, allowing connections with peers and experts.
Industry Recognized Credential
As one of the world’s top-ranked engineering schools an ASU Certificate is recognized globally as a premier qualification.
To earn your Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certificate:
- All participants must attend the five day intensive training. This training is held in-person at ASU Tempe.
- All participants must complete a White Paper (maximum of 20 pages). The white paper is a strategic planning document that can be used in the participant’s organization, addressing questions such as:
- How is Lean and Six Sigma used in the organization?
- What are the opportunities for Lean Six SIgma and their associated gaps?
- How is your role of Master Black Belt defined and what are your responsibilities within the organization?
- How do you plan to leverage the information learned in the course to improve deployment and impact of Lean and Six Sigma in the organization?
With this certification you’ll also qualify for Continuing Education Units (CEU) and Professional Development Units (PDU).
Who Should Enroll
This program is aimed at senior and mid-level level leaders and other professionals certified as Six Sigma Black Belts, with 3+ years of black belt experience and 3+ documented projects.
Pre-requisites
Participants should be well versed in the concepts and methodologies of Six Sigma and have current working knowledge of the Six Sigma statistical tool-set. The following two credentials are required for acceptance into the program:
- Certification from a project based, Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Program
- Completion of at least three Black Belt level projects using DMAIC
We ask that candidates submit basic credentials for review prior to acceptance into the program.
Instructional Team
The program is crafted by a collaborative team of faculty members, industry professionals, instructional designers, and Lean Six Sigma experts. The program is taught by a team of Master Black Belts, led by Lisa Custer.
Lisa Custer
Lisa has over 25 years of working experience in all aspects of process management and continuous improvement. Her work spans Six Sigma, Lean, Design, Total Productive Maintenance, and Total Quality Management. Prior titles include Principal with Accenture, Director with George Group Consulting, and Director of Quality in the semiconductor industry. She holds a Ph.D. and MSE in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University and a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dan Shunk
Dan L. Shunk is the Avnet Professor of Supply Network Integration in Industrial Engineering in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering at Arizona State University. He is currently pursuing research into collaborative commerce, global new product development, model-based enterprises and global supply network integration. He won a Fulbright Award in 2002-2003, the 1996 SME International Award for Education, the 1991 and 1999 I&MSE Faculty of the Year award, the 1989 SME Region VII Educator of the Year award, chaired AutoFact in 1985, and won the 1982 SME Outstanding Young Engineer award. Shunk studied at Purdue where he received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering in 1976.
Dr. Dan McCarville
Dan is a Professor of Practice in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University. He received his master's degree and doctorate from Arizona State University in 1994 and 1999, respectively. His research interests are in quality engineering, industrial statistics, and engineering management with a general focus on continuous improvement methodologies.
Prior to joining the ASU faculty in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, McCarville worked 27 years in the semiconductor industry for Motorola and Mindspeed Technologies where he led teams through the development and implementation of large-scale quality systems and complex manufacturing processes.
Clayton Taylor
Clayton is the Director of the Business and Finance Organizational Performance Office in the Office of the Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer at Arizona State University. His office consults with nine diverse Business and Finance operational areas to lower costs, improve operational efficiency and provide the highest quality customer experience to internal and external customers.
Mickey Mancenido
Michelle (Mickey) Mancenido’s research focuses on the design and analysis of statistical experiments in engineering, scientific, and industrial applications. Mancenido's expertise is in optimal experimental designs, statistical modeling for chemical and mixture experiments, and sensory experiments. She’s an advocate of well-designed experiments as the key to robust scientific conclusions, user-centric product design and efficient industrial processes. She joins the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences as an assistant professor of statistics.
Douglas Montgomery
Douglas Montgomery is a Regents Professor of Industrial Engineering and Statistics. His research interests are in industrial statistics. He is an author of 16 books and more than 200 technical papers. He is a recipient of the Shewhart Medal, the Brumbaugh Award, the Hunter Award, and the Shewell Award, and the Ellis R. Ott Award. Montgomery is also a recipient of the George Box Medal from ENBIS (European Network For Business and Industrial Statistics).
Montgomery is a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the American Society for Quality Control, the Royal Statistical Society, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute.
Jim Boblett
Operational Excellence and Lean Six-Sigma Master Black Belt with more than 20 years of extensive experience in all forms of engineering, management, quality leadership and reshaping culture. Jim is known for recognizing and acting on opportunities to improve processes and workflows, and for solving complex problems with both processes and personnel. He has expert skills of engaging and empowering teams to develop solutions leading to successful outcomes, while simultaneously building highly effective and productive relationships of trust with internal and external customers.
Jim learned the Toyota Production System and Lean Six-Sigma (LSS), while working at Rubbermaid Incorporated in the early 1990’s, has used these methodologies and earned his Master Black Belt certification from Arizona State University. For the last 20+ years, he has been instrumental in rolling out Lean & Six-Sigma (Operational Excellence), in a variety of companies in China, UK, Ireland, France, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and throughout the United States.
Jim has hands-on experience implementing LSS principles in other industries, including medical, drug delivery device, surgical equipment, healthcare, construction, retail, telecommunications, consumer products, technology, government and software. He has trained and lectured with organizations worldwide, in all, he has trained and certified over 300 people in LSS.