Staff Spotlight

Sharon Knox recently joined the College of Engineering as the coordinator for strategic initiatives in the Dean’s Office.

In this role, Sharon will help coordinate special projects related to the college’s strategic research and educational visioning processes and implementation of those visions thereafter.

In this edition of the College of Engineering’s Staff Scoop, we get to know more about Sharon.

Sara Mitchell recently joined the college as the executive assistant to the chair and academic personnel for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In this role, she independently provides leadership, oversight and office support for academic personnel. She is responsible for academic personnel functions, including policy interpretation, recruitments, appointments, the academic personnel advancement and promotion process, visa processing and oversight for the department. 

Dawn Strickland is the administrator of the Student Startup Center, based in the College of Engineering, and is responsible for the center’s operations, marketing and outreach. She also serves as lecturer for "Launching a Company" (ENG 080), a class in which students use modern startup-building methods to launch their own startups.

Cindy Alvarenga recently joined the College of Engineering as an academic advisor in the College of Engineering Undergraduate Office.

In her role, she provides academic advising and support for undergraduates and department academic advisors. Cindy is a first-generation American and transfer student and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from UC Davis and a master's degree in leadership from St. Mary's College of California. She previously worked in the College of Letters and Sciences before joining the college on May 3.

Lauren Worrell is the graduate program coordinator in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and has been a staff member in the college for about six and a half years.

Her main responsibilities are focused on helping students from pre-admission to graduation. Lauren does advising, but also works with funding, policy and procedures, student milestones, recruitment, admission and anything related to the graduate program and graduate student experience in CEE.

Stacey Cook recently joined the College of Engineering as the Director of Undergraduate Affairs in the College of Engineering Undergraduate Office.

As part of her role, she provides leadership and strategic planning and participates on various committees. Managing and supervising also comprise about 90 percent of Stacey's major job functions and responsibilities. She started her career at UC Berkeley, has held many roles in the community college system and brings 32 years of higher education professional experience to the position.

Alin Wakefield is the Research and Graduate Studies Development Coordinator in the College of Engineering. His duties focus on developing strategies to expand recruitment and retention efforts, project management, faculty development and student coaching.
 

John Orawiec is joining the College of Engineering this fall as the Director of Strategic Change in Safety Culture and Programs.

John has spent fourteen years specializing in designing and implementing safety management systems including managing complex multi-disciplinary academic research safety, developing and delivering safety training, auditing for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance and general injury prevention. 

Megan Villasenor recently joined the College of Engineering as the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s (BME) Chief Operations Officer.

As part of her role, she provides leadership, oversight and management to the large and complex academic and translational research environment for the BME department. She has been with the University of California since 2006, and has spent time working at both the Davis and Berkeley campuses. Megan is also a passionate volunteer on campus and in her community.