Ed Crown

About Ed Crown

I’m a process guy!As a teenager, I’d take my summer job money and spend it on baseball cards. At the age of 14, I developed a process and just by looking at the top and bottom card in a pack, I knew all the other cards in-between. I’d sit on the floor at the stores in my town, go through every box and cherry pick the packs that had all the good rookie cards.I took this passion for problem solving, math and processes into high school where I doubled up in math and eventually got my degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.Over the next 8-1/2 years, I had various engineering roles in various industries (injection molding, reverse engineering, automotive, fiber optics and microwave filters) where I would develop processes, problem solve or design solutions to meet customers’ requirements. During this stage, I worked at one company for 3-1/2 years as a product engineer. Due to significant competition from overseas, we went from 350 employees to 26 employees (9 rounds of downsizing). After each restructuring, we had to revamp our process/train our remaining employees without sacrificing the customer requirements, timeline or quality.Based on bonds I forged at that company, I switched to quality and joined them at K2M, Inc. in the medical device industry. I then spent the next 14 years in management, developing, evolving and maintaining a Quality Management System that was compliant in 40+ countries. My past experiences taught me to constantly challenge/reinvent myself along with the processes for which I was responsible. These improvements contributed to double digit growth which resulted in a successful acquisition by Stryker in 2018 for $1.4B.My commitment to my employees is equally important as my commitment to quality. This has resulted in an ~80% retention rate as well as highly engaged and productive teams. I understand the importance of hard work, teamwork and communication - I’ve carried this over to my personal life where I’ve coached my kid’s soccer teams for the past 11 years and hence, we’ve won 16 championships.I’m looking for a company culture where:(1) “not my job” is taboo,(2) quality is owned by everyone and (3) high quality outcomes are achieved in an environment where process efficiency is valued.

Experience

1. VP of Qa Ra

   LKC Technologies

   Dec 2025 — Present · Germantown, MD, US

   Senior executive responsible for the strategic direction, implementation, and oversight of all quality management systems (QMS) and global regulatory compliance efforts to ensure product safety, efficacy and market access.

Education

• University of Maryland

  Bachelor of Science (BS), Mechanical Engineering