Wilbur G. Williams

Kite, a Gilead Company
Director Quality Engineering (QE)
Wilbur Williams has been an industry professional in clinical laboratories, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals for more than 17 years. He started his engineering career as a project manager for an industrial machine shop in Puerto Rico, then moving into the pharma/biotech space as a Validation Engineer supporting major capital projects and new facility startups for companies such as Lilly del Caribe, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and Amgen. After relocating to Maryland in 2008, Wilbur became the CQV Lead for the construction and startup of AstraZeneca’s biologics bulk facility in Frederick, Maryland, formerly known as MedImmune Building 633. The complex nature of the project, short timeline, and novel approach to startup, CQV, and ops training earned the project ISPE Facility of the Year award category winner for Project Execution, later receiving the overall 2011 Facility of the Year award.
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After this, Wilbur moved to AZ Biologics HQ in Gaithersburg were he built an ISO50001/ANSI MSE-50021 certified energy management system making his site the first Bio/Pharma site to be certified by ISO and the Superior Energy Performance program from DoE. Once more, Wilbur’s CQV expertise was needed and he rejoined the AstraZeneca Global Engineering Organization as a CQV Lead were he planned and oversaw major Global Capital Projects that spanned from small scale biologics facilities to large aseptic vial and syringe filling operations.<br/><br/>
In 2018 Wilbur joined Kite as the CQV Lead for Global Quality Engineering, helping out plan and deliver several CGT facilities in 2019, including the early concept and planning of the Cell Therapy Operation commercial operation being built in Maryland were he now leads the Quality Engineering organization. Wilbur holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University in Puerto Rico, and is an active member of ISPE, among other professional organizations.