George Washington University

Master of Science in Project Management

Spring 2011

Student Biography Book

Shehzad Ahmad Lahore, Pakistan. 720.401.6774, sheehzad@gwmail.gwu.edu I was working in the Department of Health, government of Punjab, Pakistan, as program officer. I was leading the Trachoma and Eye Blindness Project in Punjab. The job starts from planning, exe-cution, and, implementing the project plan to derive the required results from the identified poten-tial areas of the disease. Before joining the Department of Health, I was working in Nokia Siemens Network as a project coordinator. The job was to setup and expand the coverage of cellular base transceiver stations in the Punjab region. I received my M.B.A and M.P.A from Pakistan and M.P.S.H.R.M degree from the University of Denver.

Natheer Al Samarraie Washington, DC 734-972-1758, ntalib@gwmail.gwu.edu Natheer is currently dedicated to do the MSPM program with no work commitments. Before joining the program, she was working with Premiere Urgence , a French humanitarian non-profit organization. She was the general coordinator of their mission in Iraq. This organization was providing short-term and mid-term assistance to the victims of war all over the country. Natheer was responsible of super-vising the whole projects’ cycles from assessing the needs ending with evaluation the outcomes. Prior to working in the humanitarian field, she started her professional life as a chemical engineer then switched to software programming in which, she spent most of her working experience. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Baghdad in Iraq.

Karen Arter

Karen Arter is a Contract Management Specialist at Accenture, a consulting firm based in Reston, VA. Karen is part of a small team of professionals within the Legal department who are responsible for Information & Reporting. Karen's projects cover contracts within the Federal space, to include American Reinvestment and Recovery Act reporting, At-Risk reporting and information assurance in Contract Man-agement systems. Before joining Accenture, she served as a billing specialist on Federal contracts for Booz Allen Hamilton. Karen also has experience as a Student Loan officer, Insurance agent, administra-tive assistant for the U.S. Navy overseas and as an accounting intern for a wholesale business. She re-ceived her Associate in Arts from Trident Technical College and a B.S. in Business Administration from College of Charleston, in Charleston, S.C. She has three grown children, and enjoys staying active outdoors or traveling to new places.

Anthony Bone

Mr. Bone is a Project Management Consultant and Founder of Lexem Strategy LLC, a Northern Vir-ginia based consulting firm that specializes in the techniques of Earned Value Management. During his past several years at Lexem Strategy Mr. Bone has successfully managed a small team of consult-ants and professionals supporting several clients in the defense, transportation, space and even bio-tech industries. Previous to Lexem Strategy Mr. Bone held many positions in finance and information systems at organizations such as SAIC, TRW, and EDS. Mr. Bone has bachelors of science de-grees in Finance and Management of Information Systems/Decision Sciences from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Mr. Bone lives in Northern Virginia and is married to his loving wife Heather and has two wonderful children Alex and Emma. For recreation the family enjoys hik-ing, mountain biking, and skiing.

Jeffrey DeNeen, PMP New Port Richey, FL 727-698-8844 Jeffrey_deneen@jabil.com

Jeff DeNeen is a Business Unit Manager in the Jabil Defense and Aerospace Services (JDAS) division of Jabil, Inc., a leading tier 1 Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider with a multinational footprint. Jeff is responsible for planning, implementation, execution, P&L and overall account man-agement for the largest customer in Jabil’s St. Petersburg facility. Prior to his current role in JDAS, Jeff held various positions in Jabil for the last 10 years, including materials, manufacturing and corporate IT. He managed a wide variety of projects/programs, including global health and safety directives, in-ternational customer transfers and worldwide data center initiatives. He has completed multiple expat assignments in Mexico and the Netherlands. He received his B.S. in Business Administration and Span-ish from Central Michigan University. Jeff and his wife Martha have two children.

Elliott J. Collins Arlington, Va 703-499-2194, ejc@gwmail.gwu.edu Elliott Collins is a Senior Analyst for a consulting firm (RGS Associates Inc.) currently on a project for the OPNAV Division of the United States Navy, specializing in writing governance policy for the as-sessment and compliance of information technology assets. Elliott is responsible for planning, organiz-ing, and managing the implementation of various initiatives which allow the Navy to utilize its budget more efficiently in regards to IT spending. Before joining this contract, he was a Human Capital Man-ager for KFORCE Inc. responsible for the recruitment and placement of accounting and finance profes-sionals. He received his B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Norfolk State University and while at-tending was very active as a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Elliott is the eldest of three and enjoys competing in triathlons, among other things and is looking forward to completing his first Iron-man in Panama City, Florida in November 2011.

Esteban Enriquez

Esteban Enriquez is an Acquisition and Assistance Associate in USAID Iraq. He oversees execution of Contracts and Cooperative Agreements; drafts and prepares procurement mechanisms for the programs held by the technical offices; and oversees projects during field visits in Baghdad to corroborate results. Previously, as Procurement Agent for the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador, Esteban managed the portfolios for various U.S. Government Agencies heading up logistics coordination for humanitarian programs sponsored by the U.S. Military adjusting effectively to the budget of every program and project. He has a B.A. in International Business and Negotiation from the Universidad Catolica del Ecuador in Ecuador; and a M.S. in Local Development: Environmental and Territorial Strategies from the Universidad Internacional de Andalucia in Spain.

Leslie Ferus Concord, OH 440-463-8266, lferus@gwmail.gwu.edu Leslie Ferus is currently working at home raising her 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, with her husband Dan. She is very active in her children’s elementary school and school district. She has served on her PTO board as president for the past 2 years and treasurer for 1 year. She has managed multiple fundraiser events and committees for the school. Leslie has also been president of her homeowner’s association board for the past 2 years. Prior to her leave of absence from the work place, Leslie worked as an Account Executive for Marketron International. She traveled a 6 state territory where she sold, in-stalled, and trained clients on various proprietary computer software. Before Marketron, she worked for Nielsen Media Research in several client service roles. Leslie has a B.A. in Communications from the University of Iowa.

Luis Franzon, PMP Londrina, PR, Brazil +55 41 84011478, franzon@gwmail.gwu.edu

Luis Franzon is a Project Manager at Perkons S/A, the leading electronic speed control manufacturer in Brazil. Luis is responsible for managing the implementation of equipments, known as “electronic speed bumps”, throughout Brazil and Latin America. Before joining Perkons, he worked for 6 years in the telecommunications industry as Project Manager at Brasil Telecom which is now called Oi S/A, the largest carrier in Brazil. He also managed the Southern Regional startup for Algar Telecom, a mid-sized carrier. He received his B.S. in Telecommunications Engineering from INATEL - Instituto Na-cional de Telecom and his MBA in Project Management from FGV – Fundacao Getulio Vargas. He also holds a PMP credential, issued by PMI in March/2009.

Todd Grigsby

Todd Grigsby is a senior technical manager overseeing a portfolio of projects established to transi-tion/transform the USMC IT environment to meet the requirements of the 2016 environment. Per-forms analysis of inter-relationships and dependencies between multiple transition projects and multiple USMC organizations resulting in recommendations to achieve full USMC integration within the Marine Corps portfolio. Provides strategic integration guidance to Marine Corps Net-work & Integration Services leadership and project teams from both a technical and schedule per-spective. He was also a deputy director of Computer Sciences Corporation and the network opera-tions director for AARP for 12 years tasked with full responsibility for directing and coordinating all facets of network operations, including enterprise-wide strategic initiatives within 24x7 secured multi-vendor environment. He has a BS in Network Integration, PMP, ITIL v.3, and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified and a Masters Certificate in IT Project Management from George Wash-ington University.

Vimari Guglielmello Billings, MT, Vimari_acevedo@hotmail.com

Vimari Guglielmello has over 8 years of experience with the oil & gas industry. Prior to moving to Montana, she worked for Jacobs Engineering, CDI Engineering, and ExxonMobil in the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean. Her experience includes proposal management, project and process engineering. She received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Puerto Rico.

Bilal ‘Bill’ Hamdan Residing: Dubai, UAE, bhamdan@gwmail.gw.edu Bilal currently holds that position of Executive Vice President for a private property devel-oper in Dubai. There he is responsible for overseeing several departments within the organi-zation including Sales, Customer Service, Administration and Legal. During these financially difficult times, Bilal has specifically focused his energy on developing new and alternative strategies for Dubai’s real estate bubble. Previously Bilal spent five years with Prudential Fi-nancial. There he was exposed to the true need for financial planning on both a personal and business level. Business Succession planning allowed Bilal to coordinate and implement suc-cession strategies with seasoned investment bankers, estate planning attorneys and account-ants. He received his BSBA (Finance) from American University, Washington DC. Bilal now resides in Dubai and is getting married to his fiancé Diala in July.

Walker Heflin

Walker Heflin graduated from the University of Virginia. After graduation he interned at a Law Firm in Bethesda, Maryland, and later went on to intern on Capitol Hill for Congressman Van Hol-len first for his main office and later for Van Hollen's Assistant to the Speaker of the House office. On Capitol Hill he developed a greater understanding and passion for issues pertaining to renew-able energy and the environment. During this time he also began volunteering at the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, later becoming certified as an EMT in Maryland, a role he still does today. Soon after his internship he began working for Clean Currents, a renewable energy com-pany based in Rockville, Maryland. There he took on a number of different responsibilities work-ing in Operations and later in Business Development, selling solar panels to both home and busi-ness owners. Working there has certainly opened his eyes to the realitities of how involved con-struction projects can be, and saw the clear the advantages of gaining a stronger understanding in the discipline of Project Management.

John Hill Bethesda, MD 301-793-7340, johnhill@gwmail.gwu.edu John Hill is an officer in the U.S. Navy, and currently serves a “Requirements Officer” on the Chief of Naval Operations staff. John is responsible for the programming, administration, ac-counting, requirements delineation and resource allocation associated with a variety of mission systems. Prior to his current assignment, he served as a project officer at Naval Air Systems Com-mand, and directed the successful execution of eight projects to deliver improved mission capabili-ties. Additionally, he coordinated the development of more than 35 courses of instruction to pro-vide “just-in-time” training for operation of newly introduced systems. He has also completed a number of operational assignments during his naval career. He received his B.A. in Political Sci-

Mark E. Hoyle, PMP Beaver Falls, Pa, mhoyle@gwmail.gwu.edu Mark Hoyle is the Manager of IT Business Planning at Michael Baker Corporation, a 450 Million dol-lar Engineering Company providing professional engineering and consulting services. Mark is respon-sible for ensuring IT projects are planned, prioritized and aligned accordingly with the company’s overall business strategic direction. Additional responsibilities include managing merger and acquisi-tion activities related to Information Technology. Prior to working at Baker, Mark held several posi-tions in the Engineering and Information Technology departments for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Com-mission. He received his B.S. in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix and a Mas-ter’s Certificate in Project Management from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. Mark and his wife Darcy have a seven your old son named Josh.

Hamidreza Jadali Washington, DC Hamid graduated from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, with a B.S. in mechani-cal engineering in 1999. After graduation, he started his professional career in the field of oil, gas and petrochemical plants construction projects. He held various positions as project engineer, pro-ject site manager and for the last seven years as the project engineering manager at two petro-chemical plants for Hampa Engineering Corporation in Iran. He was responsible for all engineer-ing affairs during the design and procurement stages as well as the field construction and Com-missioning. Other aspects of his responsibilities as engineering manager on his last project in-cluded technical support and monitoring of 22 contractors and numerous industrial suppliers. Hamid, his wife and daughter speak Farsi (Persian). They immigrated to the United States in 2010

Manohar Kumar Manohar Kumar is the Project Lead at Ray Group International who delivers strategy, manage-ment, and IT solutions that leverage their clients’ strengths, minimize their risks, and meet their goals. Manohar is responsible for planning, controlling, monitoring, and helping execute the suc-cessful implementation of Enterprise level IT services in a System Development Life Cycle proc-ess. Prior to becoming a member of RGI, Manohar worked as Consultant for Booz Allen Hamil-ton where he led a massive Enterprise level IT Integration project for Alcohol Tobacco and Fire-arms (ATF). Hard work, honesty, and open communication are principles that Manohar lives by. He received his B.S. in Management Information Systems from George Mason University and his Project Management Professional certification (PMP) from Project Management Institute (PMI).

Charisse Moore Ridgeland, MS 917-386-5745, csmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu Charisse Moore is a bureau manager for the Mississippi Development Authority, the State of Mis-sissippi’s lead economic and community development agency. Charisse is responsible for the planning, implementation and execution of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) for the State of Mississippi. Prior to joining the Mississippi Development Authority, she was a project manager at Enfatico (a WPP company), who managed technology driven advertising for Dell. She was also an operations manager at Express and held various management positions throughout the Express east coast region. Charisse received her B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business from Florida International University. Charisse currently lives in Mississippi with her boyfriend Brian.

Sean Passmore Waldorf, MD 301-396-3869, gw_sean@gwmail.gwu.edu Sean Passmore is a Presidential Communications Officer in the White House Communications Agency. A Major in the US Army, Sean is responsible for providing direct service to the in-town mis-sion or on a travel team in support of the President, ensuring he can conduct business as Head of State, Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief at all times from any location. This requires managing teams and coordinating with multiple agencies to meet deadlines and accomplish tasks on short notice in constantly changing environments. He received his B.S. in Management Information Systems from Wayland Baptist University. Sean and his wife Mary have been married for 19 years and have four children.

Nomi Nouri

My name is Nomi Nouri, I’m a George Mason University Decision Science MIS graduate. I live in Falls Church Virginia with my wife Amy. We have been there for almost 4 years now and we plan to be there for the next 3-5 years. I’m a program manager for a company based in California called Vi-sionary Integration Professionals supporting the Department of Homeland Security in DC. I’m very excited to be part of this program and looking forward to working with other professionals in this field. I enjoy working with others and speaking in front of a group (preferably not too large of a group).

Kathi Phillips, PMP® Dallas, TX 214-663-8634, kjp0818@gwmail.gwu.edu

Kathi Phillips is an Information Technology Project Manager at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), an agency of the Department of Defense, with headquarters in Dallas, Texas and more than 3,100 facilities worldwide, in more than 30 countries, five US territories and 50 states. Kathi is responsible for initiating, defining, planning and executing multi-million dollar, cross-functional projects, from upgrading internal processes and systems to meet PCI compliance to developing new eCommerce solutions. Before joining AAFES, she was a senior program man-ager with Intuit and also held various positions with multiple credit card companies. She has a B.S. in Business Administration and is a PMP® certified project manager through PMI. She has one daughter, who attends UTSA.

Peter Phipps

Peter Phipps is a Systems Engineer with SAIC, a FORTUNE 500® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company. Before joining SAIC, he spent 8 years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer operating and commanding the P-3C Orion aircraft, completing two de-ployments to the Middle East and one to the Western Pacific. He will complete an MS in Sys-tems Engineering in May of 2011 at GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science and holds a BA in International Relations from Boston University. Peter and his wife Amy have two chil-dren.

Ed Reynolds Ellicott City, Maryland 443-631-0426, edward99@gwmail.gwu.edu

Ed Reynolds is a project manager in the Space Department of the Johns Hopkins University Ap-plied Physics Laboratory (APL). The Space Department develops space missions and space sci-ence instruments for sponsors like NASA. Ed is Deputy Project Manager for NASA's Solar Probe Plus mission scheduled to launch in 2018. Currently Solar Probe Plus is in the develop-ment and planning phase; many of the project's activities are related to risk reduction, schedule development, and subcontracting. Prior to Solar Probe Plus, Ed was project manager for NASA's STEREO mission responsible for spacecraft development, system integration, and mis-sion operations. Before taking positions in project management, Ed worked as a system engineer and a spacecraft integration engineer at APL. He received his B.S. In Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech. Ed and his wife Kate have three daughters.

Kristen Price

Kristen Price is currently employed at FannieMae as a Project Management Manager. On June 30th, 2009 she received her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. She began her career right out of college as a consultant for BearingPoint on the PMO team of a HR/Finance software upgrade for Sprint/Nextel. She was the lead in end-user training and manage-ment of key process flows. Kristen's current role is focused on program management and working to align existing technology to meet compliance requirements, for multiple divi-sions. She is responsible for planning, organizing and managing communications and training materials. Kristen has extensive experience with creating project documentation including busi-ness requirements, procedures, manuals and presentations. Kristen thrives on being the project liaison, understanding both the business and technology teams. Kristen received her B.S. in Management from George Mason University. Kristen is a native Virginian.

Vanessa Snider Washington, DC 202-586-5171, vsnider@gwmail.gwu.edu Vanessa Snider is a program analyst for Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Ad-ministration (NNSA), an organization within Department of Energy responsible for maintaining and enhancing the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. Vanessa oversees the preparation of budget allocations and proposals for Defense Programs, she identi-fies budget priorities, and provides budget justifications in support of program budget activities. Before joining NNSA, she held a position as a facility security officer at Webster Data Commu-nication and a security specialist at Kellogg Brown and Root. She also served in the U.S. Air Force for over 5 years as a personnel manager. Vanessa received her B.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from Park University.

Erin P.K. Thielman Helena, MT 406-465-3072, erinpkt@gwmail.gwu.edu

Erin Thielman is a Business Analyst with the State of Montana, Office of Public Instruction (OPI). She is working with the State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS), a federally funded project. The SLDS project is incorporating Data Warehouse and Data Governance activities into a K-12 educa-tional system and is embarking on an enterprise-wide data architecture system. Erin is also staff-ing the Data Governance Committee and the Data Privacy and Security Committee within the OPI. She has completed her Master’s Certificate in Project Management through ESI and GWU. Erin was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force from 1999-2004 and completed her B.A. in Economics at the University of Colorado. Erin and her husband, Jason, have one child.

Chad Van Damme Fowlerville, MI. 517-223-7222, vandamme@gwmail.gwu.edu Robert ‘Chad’wick Van Damme is a Project Engineer with ADC Telecommunications, which is now known as Tyco Electronics. Chad’s core responsibility is to manage the AT&T account for the Midwest region. In support of the AT&T account Chad designs and project manages the implementation and optimization of large distributed antenna systems (DAS) for major stadiums and hospitals. Before joining ADC, he was a DAS En-gineer for Sprint Nextel/Ericsson in the Michigan area. Prior to working as a DAS Engi-neer Chad spent 7 years in the United States Army as an electronics technician. He re-ceived his B.S. in Integrated Supply Chain and Operations Management. Chad and his wife Sue have 3 children.

Kimberly Woods Kimberly Woods is a SAP Tester & Trainer, partnering with the consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamil-ton (BAH). She is currently responsible for developing test scripts, tracking business requirements compliance and the delivery of training materials to support the implementation of the Vaccine Tracking System (VTrckS), an SAP solution designed to integrate the publicly funded vaccine supply chain for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Prior to joining BAH, she was a Business Analyst at The Washington Post and a lead coordinator at The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She received her B.S. in Management with a concentration in E-Business from Kaplan University. In her personal time, she enjoys working to publish her first novel, social media and trav-elling. Kimberly and her husband have two sons.

Mindy Zeidman Washington, DC 925-324-4316, mzeidman@gwmail.gwu.edu

Mindy Zeidman is a project manager at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Stu-dent Aid, working to ensure that all eligible individuals can benefit from federal financial assistance for a college education. Mindy is currently responsible for coordinating the business strategy for an integrated website consolidation project. Her work focuses on improving the student experience with Federal Student Aid programs. She recently received the Project Management Professional certification. She also has experience in federal acquisition administration. Mindy earned her B.A. in Communication from the University of Maryland.