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Credit: Nick Romanenko
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Staff Spotlight: Ed Oksienik
Position: Manager, Rutgers-Newark Machine Shop
Length of Service: 17 years
Residence: Clifton
What he does: For the past 17 years, Oksienik has filled orders from researchers on the Newark campus ranging from the offbeat to the mundane – all in the name of science. Oksienik, who designs and creates machinery and devices used in scientific and medical research projects, produces everything from vacuum components to laser-guided microscopes. He recently helped the university’s geology department design a system for testing soil core samples to be used in the building of Xanadu, the multifaceted sports and entertainment complex under construction at the Meadowlands. He also assisted physics researchers with developing a high-vacuum laser system that measures trace amounts of carbon 13 in the atmosphere, as well as new high-efficiency output ultraviolet lamps.
How he learned the business: Oksienik started in the toolmaking trade in the late 1960s and operated a tool and design business for 25 years. After serving a four-year apprenticeship at Union County Technical Institute as a tool maker, he opened his own business designing and building special custom equipment, prototype machine components and assembly lines for major electronics firms. At one time, he employed 20 full-time workers. In the 1970s, Oksienik entered the high-performance-engine building business and designed engines for many of the top drag racers on the circuit. He launched his own racing team, Exact Performance, and in 1974 the team captured the coveted Summer Nationals at Englishtown’s Raceway Park. Over the next decade, Oksienik moved on to build custom aerospace components and assemblies, with the business becoming a prime supplier of parts for the lunar landings and Galileo space probe expeditions. Oksienik eventually sold the business in 1988 and brought his expertise to Rutgers-Newark.
What he builds: Oksienik’s 2,000-square-foot shop is in the basement of Rutgers-Newark’s Smith Hall. His customers represent a cross-section of scientific disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, neuroscience and geology. He has developed everything from experimental ultraviolet lamps to implants used to study brain function. He also can produce items such as biological and chemical handling equipment, glass cutting and special optical mountings, laser support components, and high-vacuum components and assemblies.
A passion for the job: Oksienik has nearly four decades of experience in the machine fabrication business and believes his seasoning and personal approach to the craft set his outfit apart from other machine shops. Developing one-of-a-kind parts from little more than ideas can be nerve-wracking for some, but Oksienik relishes tackling any puzzle. “Every day brings a new challenge,” he says. “There’s not a job that has come in here that I haven’t been able to accomplish.” He also takes pride that his personal signature is on each component design that originates in his shop. Some researchers come in with formal sketches, others only with ideas. “I will personally design and develop the concept. Many other machine shops won’t get involved; they want to see a final blueprint.”
Sidelights: When he isn’t at work, Oksienik enjoys weightlifting and gardening. He won a Rutgers-Newark Staff Excellence Award in June 2005.
Special thanks: Oksienik credits his success to his wife, Lauren, a source of tremendous support, and his supervisor, Thomas Lu, assistant dean of budget management, who, he says, “helped me bring this machine shop to the next level.”
Know someone who deserves to be in the spotlight? Contact Focus editor Carla Cantor at
ccantor@ur.rutgers.edu.
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