Meet Our Staff

Kim Swiss, Manager of Certification Administration

Kim Swiss joined Quality Management Company, LLC in July 2004 as Manager of Certification Administration. Kim works with AISC Certified companies and the field auditors to schedule audits. She is always available to assist clients in knowing where they are in the certification process, and to make the procedure run as smoothly as possible.

Kim's introduction into the steel industry was in Rock Island, IL for the steel service center Steel Warehouse Company, Inc., in 1999. She was an inside sales account manager to the agricultural, automotive, appliance, truck/trailer and commercial industries. In 2001, she established a similar position in the paint and coatings trade for The Valspar Corporation in Moline, IL, where her focus was on the automotive, furniture, agricultural and appliance industries.

In early 2002, she worked for AISC as the Coordinator of the Steel Solutions Center, a position she held until joining Quality Management Company, LLC. Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa.

Dan Kaufman, Manager--Operations

Dan Kaufman has conducted on site audits for QMC since October 2002. Two years later he joined the QMC Chicago staff as Manager of Operations. Before working for QMC, Dan spent 30 years in the steel production industry, progressing from part-time laborer to the head of the Quality and Product Metallurgy departments. Dan's duties included ensuring the quality of all kinds of steel products, from beams to paper clips, and ingot rolling to continuous casting.

Dan learned a lot about quality systems along the way, starting with Nuclear Qualification Procedures back in the '70s. His later training included Pre-ISO Quality Manuals, ISO training at DePaul University in Chicago, and QS 9000 work. Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Having worked in Production as well as Administration, Dan has no problem relating to the daily problems faced by AISC Certified companies. His new job is to make sure the certification process goes as planned, and to help continuously improve the process for QMC customers.

Craig Myers, Certification Administrator

Craig Myers joined Quality Management Company, LLC in January 2005 as a Certification Administrator. At QMC, Craig receives and reviews incoming applications for certification and assists companies in understanding the procedures to AISC Certification. Craig also manages the Corrective Action Request (CAR) program, Metal Building program and the call list. Craig can always be found providing clients exceptional customer assistance on a daily basis.

Craig has recently moved to Chicago to enjoy a hot summer with the Cubs and whatever else the city has to offer. He contains an associate degree in Liberal Arts from Elgin Community College, and is working towards an undergraduate degree in criminal law and public relations with a strong emphasis on working with troubled children of the law.

Sheila Alegria, Certification Client Services Coordinator

In addition to providing exceptional customer service to Quality Management Company’s clients, Sheila is also responsible for the monthly invoicing, processing program certificates, organizing expense reports and overseeing their process time. Additionally, Sheila performs documentation audits and assists with meeting Quality System project objectives for the AISC Certification Program. Often, you can find Sheila reviewing erector and fabricator certification materials and sending completed material packets to on-site QMC auditors. Sheila brings knowledge to QMC from her experience working with an ISO registrar and obtaining her certification through the ISO 9000 ANSI-RAB Accredited Lead Assessor Course.

Brian Raff, Manager – Certification Business Development

Brian Raff joined AISC in June 2005 as Manager of Certification Business Development. Brian’s responsibilities include educating engineers, architects, and owners about the added value that certified steel fabricators and erectors bring to construction process. Additionally, he devotes time to the “No More Waivers!” program to ensure that certification remains a requirement for construction projects nationwide.

Brian came to AISC from OWP/P Structures in Chicago, where he worked as a structural engineer. At OWP/P, Brian had the opportunity to design many new structures within the education, health care, and corporate markets as well as investigate, and implement designs for existing building renovations and tenant build-outs.

Having received his Bachelor degree in Architectural Engineering from Penn State University (GO LIONS!), Brian has an appreciation of all the parties involved in a construction project, and how they interact.

Pat Thomashefsky, Lead Auditor

As Lead Auditor for QMC, Pat Thomashefsky has prime responsibility for auditor training and calibration in order to assure audit consistency for AISC Certification Programs. She interprets challenging field cases for auditors and is instrumental in resolving sensitive post-audit interpretation issues. In addition, Pat collaborates with the QMC Operations Manager to address field issues relating to the auditing process. She is instrumental in the development of new AISC certification programs and conducts beta audits with AISC’s Standard Development Manager to help establish practical audit criteria.

Her experience in the fields of quality, manufacturing, training, auditing, program management and customer technical services, has been relied upon by senior decision makers in the manufacturing and steel fabrication and erection industries for nearly 20 years. Her leadership in quality management includes roles in a self-directed team steering committee, process capability studies, statistical process control, designed experiments and ISO-9001-2000 and AISC certification efforts.

Pat holds certifications from the American Society for Quality including Certified Quality Auditor (ASQ-CQA), American Welding Society, Certified Welding Inspector (AWS-CWI), American Society for Non-Destructive Testing ACCP-Level-II Ultrasonic and Magnetic Particle testing, and RAB/QSA Lead Auditor (PA).

Brian Miller, Director of Certification

Brian Miller joined the AISC Certification team in July of 2005 as Manager of Certification Standard Development. Brian works with industry representatives to assess needs pertaining to quality and to develop certification standards, supporting technical information, and resources that contribute to the quality of fabricated structural steel. He also serves as a resource to the Quality Management Company Staff and collaborates with AISC technical committees on issues pertaining to AISC Certification Programs.

Before joining the Certification team, Brian was the AISC Marketing Regional Engineer in New England where he served since 1998 working to make structural steel the material of choice for owners, designers and contractors.

Brian Miller graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree Civil and Environmental Engineering.