Martin Sanchez Sendiz (ME 19′) was born in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Martin immigrated to the U.S. when he was four years old, arriving in South Lake Tahoe. Martin’s mother and father both worked in the hospitality industry in the resort town. Martin’s mother cleaned hotel rooms and his father worked multiple jobs as a prep cook and laundry attendant in the hotel industry.
After attending Lake Tahoe Community College, Martin transferred to UC Berkeley’s Mechanical Engineering program. He lived in UC Village with his wife and three children while he attended Berkeley. Martin’s children are now 10, 7, and 5 years old. Martin’s wife is also a UC Berkeley alum who majored in Society and Environment.
Martin is currently thriving as an associate engineer for 44 Energy Technologies and Red Fox Resources. Red Fox Resources is a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) recycling business. DPFs and DOCs that cannot be serviced are recycled for their precious metals, which are used as catalysts in the emissions control device. 44 Energy Technologies is a consulting and technology development company focused on the effective use of energy resources to generate economic and environmental benefits in rapidly evolving markets influenced by air pollution and climate change regulations and policies.
At Berkeley, Martin enjoyed his project based courses, namely his Mechatronics Design course with Dr. Kazerooni and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles course with Dr. Mueller. Martin and his team won the first prize for his senior project, the robotic beach cleaner, was named “Dunne-Bot”.