Daniela Leitner Named Berkeley Lab’s Next Engineering Division Director and Chief Engineer

The Engineering Division partners with research and development efforts and collaborates with science divisions in support of projects and programs across Berkeley Lab. As the Laboratory’s Chief Engineer, Leitner will report to the Laboratory Director, providing advice and ensuring the close coordination and advancement of Lab initiatives including safety, diversity, and recruitment. She will also facilitate strategies to develop new tools and capabilities that will benefit the labwide engineering community and their research and operations partners.

“The success of all of our big science projects relies on excellent engineering, and I count on the Chief Engineer to help us maintain that level of excellence across the Lab. Daniela has the perfect experience and expertise for this job, and I am looking forward to working with her in this new role,” said Berkeley Lab Director Mike Witherell.

Leitner plans to continue the Lab’s commitment to world-leading research and engineering expertise through the Division’s diverse, multidisciplinary teams. She is a strong advocate of career development and mentoring opportunities for all employees, empowering them to contribute effectively to novel project requirements and to facilitate world-leading scientific discoveries.

Berkeley Lab’s Engineering Division has an established history of leadership and innovation across all areas of the Lab’s research portfolio. Comprised of over 450 scientists, engineers, technicians, machinists, and operations professionals, the Division’s matrixed staff contribute directly as key collaborators to enable the success of many large-scale Berkeley Lab-led projects. The Division also builds specialized instrumentation for projects at Berkeley Lab and other national labs (including SLAC and Fermilab) and for international projects including ATLAS and the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN.

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to delivering solutions for humankind through research in clean energy, a healthy planet, and discovery science. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 16 Nobel Prizes. Researchers from around the world rely on the Lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.