Administrative

Victoria Garcia
Director of Operations
The Director of Operations reports to the Chair and is the highest-ranking non-academic authority in the Department and is responsible for performing the highest level of administrative and policy analysis on a broad range of issues for the Chair. Independently responsible for the overall administration of the Department, the Director of Operations provides leadership and management direction within Mechanical Engineering. The Director of Operations is accountable for the following major areas of responsibility: Managerial Leadership, Strategic Planning, Budget & Finance, Academic Administration (including Student Services), Technical & Instructional Support (including IT), Human Resources & Administrative Management, Space & Facilities, and Special Programs.

Debra Chin
Academic Personnel Analyst
Serves as the Academic HR Supervisor and Liaison for all matters of academic personnel management and administration for the ME Department. Assists the Department Chair, Manager, and Committees in formulating short- and long-range plans involving the academic personnel needs of the Department. Oversees and facilitates the academic personnel process for all academic titles including ladder rank faculty, adjunct appointments, emeritus, recall, professors of the graduate school, lecturers and joint appointments. Manages the faculty recruitment process. Coordinates and processes faculty summer salary appointments. Monitors award announcements, organizes material, and manages submissions for faculty awards. Contact for Human Capital Management (HCM) and APBears transactions for academic personnel.

Emily Higgins
Communications Specialist
Provides general administrative support for the department, and manages the department website, communications, and various events.

Irma Paz-Viray
Assistant to Department Chair
Main Office Administrator
Provides general administrative support for the department chair, and manages the department chair’s calendar. Responsible for event coordination, conference rooms/breezeway reservations, department visitor parking, ERSO Visiting Scholar requests, and card key checkout for conference room reservations.
Facilities

Jairus Chappell
Facilities & Project Manager
Responsible for any facilities, lab, or office issues; safety issues; keys/card keys; use of the Etcheverry breezeway and/or roof top.
Financial

Sheila Caguiat
Financial Analyst
Responsible for all financial transactions for Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation which comprise the financial cluster. Performs BFS and BearBuy reviewer duties as appropriate. Insures that all documents are in compliance with Department, College and Campus policies and procedures. Analyzes and resolves non-routine accounting problems. Serves as primary liaison to department personnel, other campus departments and outside vendors. Researches and resolves all payroll problems.

Ana Preza-Gregg
Financial Analyst
Responsible for financial transactions for Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering and Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. Performs reviewer duties as appropriate. Insures that all documents are in compliance with Department, College and Campus policies and procedures.
Information Technology

Rene Viray
Information Systems Analyst IV
Principal IT technical architect at the Mechanical Engineering Department, with the responsibility on the design, implementation, management and future technical direction of the department’s instructional and administrative computing environment.
Student Services
Office Location and Hours
6189 & 6193 Etcheverry Hall
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 9am – 12pm & 1pm – 4pm
Thursday: 1pm – 4pm only

Yawo Dagbevi Akpawu
Assistant Director
Assistant Director of Student Services for Mechanical Engineering. Work closely with the Vice-Chair of Graduate Studies. Professional academic counselor in all areas of academic advising to current graduate students and applicants to our graduate program. Assist students in interpreting policies and procedures regarding the preliminary and qualifying exams and progress towards completion of their degrees.

Isabel Blanco
Assistant Director
Assistant Director of Student Services for the Mechanical Engineering Department. Work closely with the Vice-Chair of Instruction and the Vice-Chair of Graduate Studies. Responsible for course scheduling and the coordination of the GSI/Reader hiring. Serves as the primary graduate student services adviser and admissions processor for the M. Eng students/applicants. Advises prospective graduate students and assists with M.S., Ph.D. and bachelors student administrative tasks as needed.

Patrick Civello
Student Services & EDI Advisor
The Department of Mechanical Engineering Student Services Advisor (SSA) serves undergraduates and advises the Vice-Chair of Instruction in all aspects of the program, including curriculum planning and undergraduate student affairs. The SSA is an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) advisor and collaborates with the Vice-Chair for EDI to plan, develop, and administer specialized programs designed to enhance student success. The SSA serves graduate students, and advises the Vice-Chair for Graduate Study and is the admissions processor for 5th year master students/applicants.

Karren Bautista Tanisaki
Student Services Advisor, Aerospace Engineering
Student Machine Shops
ELECTRONICS SHOP
31 Hesse Hall | 510-664-9107
Staff members in the Electronics Shop provide resources and guidance to ME students involved in project-based mechatronics classes.

Ben Barron
R&D Engineer II

Tom Clark
R&D Engineer II
ETCHEVERRY SHOP
1166 Etcheverry Hall | 510-642-4006
Staff members in the Student Machine Shop provide safety training and technical guidance as well as machine operation instruction for the purpose of providing hands on experience which seeks to balance and compliment the strong theoretical education here at UC Berkeley.

Scott McCormick
R&D Engineering Manager
(Etcheverry & Hesse Shops)

Eric Dukatz
Principal Lab Mechanician

Katherine Hom
Senior Lab Mechanician

Alex Jordan
Principal Lab Mechanician

Dennis Lee
Principal Lab Mechanician
HESSE SHOP
31 Hesse Hall | 510-642-3427

Michael Neufer
Principal Lab Mechanician

Daniel Paragas
Senior Lab Mechanician