Sanford Lab welcomes QA/QC manager

Last month, Scott Meyers joined the Environment, Safety and Health Department (ESH) at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Sanford Lab) as the quality assurance manager.

“Please join me in welcoming Scott to the Sanford Lab team,” said Larry Jaudon, ESH director. “Scott comes to us with an impressive level of experience in quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), and his skill sets will be instrumental in raising our team’s capabilities.”

In this position, Meyers will work with the ESH team to develop a QA/QC position that details Sanford Lab’s commitment to quality assurance best practices, ensuring the work done is safe and reliable.

“Once the quality assurance program is in place, the proof of the program will be in the quality control piece—in the safe and reliable execution of individual projects,” Meyers said.

By developing this program, the ESH team will be better equipped to synchronize the efforts of the many groups working at Sanford Lab, including science collaborations, contractors and sub-contractors. “We are all striving for the same goals,” Meyers said. “There are a lot of moving parts at work and finding alignment amidst all the groups that impact us directly will give us better insight into the QA impact.”

Future goals include expanding the QA/QC team and becoming ISO-certified by adhering to quality standards set by the International Organization for Standardization.

Meyers’ career spans 38 years in both military and civilian organizations and dedicated to QA/QC in technology, telecommunications and engineering. After eight years in the Air Force working on missile systems, satellite communications systems and underground launch facilities, Meyers accepted a position with a civilian telecommunications company in Washington, D.C., then known as GTE Spacenet. As a field engineer with GTE Spacenet, Meyers’ work spanned energy, banking, military and agriculture industries; it also included projects with the Secret Service and presidential communications. From there, Meyers accepted a position with Cargill, Incorporated, a privately held global corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.  Scott has degrees in Electronics Engineering, Business, and an MBA in Technology Management.

“I worked for Cargill for 25 years, supporting telecommunications and information technology,” Meyers said. “My work in technology and QA/QC focused primarily on biofuels and underground salt mines, as well as many other aspects of the agriculture business.”

After years working at subterranean missile launch sites and underground salt mines, Meyers is looking forward to applying this underground experience to the science efforts taking place at Sanford Lab.

“I’m not a scientist, but from a technology perspective, I find the work being done here fascinating,” Meyers said. “I’m glad to be contributing to the ‘house’ where this science is happening, by making sure we provide a quality environment with good support for the functions of science to take place.”

“Scott is already actively engaged in developing his understanding of our current Quality Management status and has been developing relationships with Sanford Lab staff and our stakeholders,” said Jaudon. “It’s a pleasure to have him on board, and we’re excited to formalize our Quality Management program.”