Hari Soni has been a quality professional and a Senior member of the Chicago section since 1994. He has served on the ASQ board in numerous roles but most notably as Proctor Chair, since 2003. Anyone who has taken a certification exam since then has probably seen Hari, been encouraged by Hari, or simply motivated by Hari’s incredible smile. As a proud quality professional, Hari is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer as well as a Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. His expertise spans much more than our own section. Hari has participated at the ASQ Corporate level to write questions for the CMQOE and CQPA exams. He has also served in the capacity to score the essay questions of the CMQOE exams and to serve as a regional judge for the IMEA (International Team Excellence Award).

After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1984, Hari worked as a Service Engineer for an electronic instrumentation company, as a Plant Engineer in a textile mill and then as a Project Engineer for a government-run electric utility company. With a can-do attitude and a strong desire to succeed and better himself and his family, Hari immigrated to the United States in 1993. He recognized the universal application of Quality Principles and the tools and techniques of our field. He recognized that they applied to all business forms and sought employment in the quality field. He has worked as a Quality Engineer and a Quality Manager for Chicago Extruded Metals Company and Champion Electronics; a manufacturer of Quartz Crystal Oscillators used in telecommunications. Currently, Hari is the Corporate Quality Manager at Solo Cup Company, a leading manufacturer of disposable dinnerware. In this role, he works with New Product Development, Sales and even Marketing to provide product solutions to customers like McDonald’s and Starbucks. He also manages the supplier quality programs.

Hari will tell you he enjoys his position as the proctoring chair as it gives him an opportunity to serve his fellow section members on a personal level. He loves to network and socialize with his fellow proctors. He and his dedicated team of proctors, to which he extends a HUGE ‘thank you,’ strive continually to improve the overall experience of the examinees. Those who have sat for an exam can attest that Hari and his team make the stressful event rather seamless and painless. Along with proctoring the regular certification exams four times a year, Hari and his team have proctored special exams held at Seminars and Exhibitions at the request of ASQ.

Hari has been happily married to his wife Vandana for 23 years. Vandana has a graduate degree in Chemistry, an undergraduate degree in education and works as a Para educator. They have two wonderful children; Jhanvi, their daughter, is a graduate student while their son Hiren, will be a freshman in high school next year. Having lived in India for 30 years, Hari greatly appreciates what the United States has to offer and is very optimistic about the future of this country and the economy. He enjoys good music, movies, reading and is a keen observer of current events. He loves his trips back home to India and looks forward to them every few years. It’s a time for family and to nurture and renew relations with friends and extended relatives in India. Two of Hari’s sisters and some of the extended Soni family, which is 300 strong and growing, live in the Chicagoland area.

On life mantra’s, Hari will tell you he strongly believes that we should never take anything for granted and enjoy each and every moment of our life. We should focus on what is good; never forgetting our roots, our friends and our family. A famous Indian saint by the name of Kabir once wrote “When I was born, the world smiled and I cried. However, I will do such deeds that when I leave, I will be the one smiling and the world will be the one crying.” Hari feels we all should lead such a life that when we die, others cry while we smile.