Title: Principle Lab Mechanician
Company: University of California, Berkeley
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Eric Dukatz, principle lab mechanician of the Berkeley Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Engineers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in mechanics.
With over three decades of experience to his credit, Mr. Dukatz has built a successful career in engineering, specializing in mechanical engineering. He currently excels as the principal lab mechanician and technical staff at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he has held since 2021. He has extensive experience training mechanical engineers in machine tool operation and guiding them on design and manufacturing processes, including material selection. Recently, he served as a faculty advisor for CalSol, UC Berkeley’s Solar Car Team, which successfully designed and built a solar car, achieving impressive results at the 2024 Formula Sun Grandprix. His prior experience includes roles as RF systems test engineer at Loon LLC from 2015 to 2021, hardware test engineer at gChips, Alphabet from 2012 to 2015, senior staff engineer at Qualcomm-Atheros in 2011 and 2012, RF engineer at Atheros Communications Inc. from 2004 to 2011, RF engineer at Berkana Wireless from 2002 to 2004, and RF engineer at Intel Corporation from 1997 to 2001.
Mr. Dukatz has achieved various accomplishments throughout his career, including contributions to the Sempervirens Fund, Peninsula Open Space Trust, Doctors Without Borders, and the Red Cross. He holds a patent for a single-chip CMOS direct-conversion transceiver for 900MHz spread-spectrum digital cordless phones and presented at the 1999 IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers, Vol. 42. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Reflecting on his path, he laid a solid educational foundation by earning a Bachelor of Science in engineering technology, summa cum laude, from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo in 1991, along with an Electronics Technician Certificate. Reflecting on his path, he began his career in high school, gaining metal shop experience that led to a machinist job after graduation, where he worked for five years. He then returned to school to study electronics while working part-time as an automotive machinist, initially aiming for a technician certificate but ultimately earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
After accumulating approximately five years of experience as a machinist, Mr. Dukatz transitioned to work as an electronic engineer in Silicon Valley for around 30 years. However, in 2020, after his division closed, he considered retirement, but a chance encounter with a former boss led him back to UC Berkeley. He takes great pride in co-authoring a patent, which he considers one of his greatest achievements as an electronic engineer, and he attributes his success to his ability to adapt and continuously learn. Recognizing the importance of evolving with engineering requirements and staying updated with advancing technology, he is eager to expand his skill set in the coming years, particularly in CNC machining, sheet metal work, and welding, with the goal of applying these skills toward building his own bicycle or motorcycle. In addition to these new endeavors, he intends to maintain his role as a faculty advisor for the CalSol Solar Car Team and has been providing assistance to a student rocket team with machine work and radio technology.
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