Ben Campos is the Administrative Manager of the Mechanical Engineering Department.
Please tell us about yourself.
I am currently the Administrative Manager of the Mechanical Engineering Department and have been with UTSA since 2003. My previous positions were in Research Administration with the Office of Sponsored Programs and Center for Simulation, Visualization & Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT).
In my free time I enjoy a variety of things such as spending time with my family when possible, catching a movie or a good documentary, and joining good friends for a casual evening. I have nine nieces and nephews who I am extremely close to and make my best effort to stay connected with them, which apparently also requires an appearance in their TikTok videos. 🙂 I am also a huge fan of DC superheroes – Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman were what I grew up with.
What is your job title and what do you do?
I am currently the Administrative Manager of the Mechanical Engineering Department and, in general, my overarching responsibility is to oversee the day to day functions of the department. More specifically, I assist faculty and students with their questions or challenges and help guide them to a solution, coordinate TA’s and Grader positions for each semester, manage the annual inventory, assist in the hiring of both TT and NTT faculty, process workload reports, track and update department office and lab space, assist the department chair with budget related issues, process H1B Visa and Permanent Residency’s for existing faculty and post-doctorate fellows and maintain teaching supplies as well as other related things which may arise.
What is the best thing about your job?
Helping people and learning something new along the way.
What are three words that best describe you?
Honest, personable, and ethical.
Who was your most important mentor and why?
I never had one specific person as a mentor. I just let “LIFE” help me grow as a person through the good and bad experiences.
What is the most helpful advice you have received?
Learn to anticipate what your boss will want ahead of time.
If you could have dinner with one person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
So, I am going to break the rule here and say both of my grandfathers who passed away quite some time ago. The opportunity to see them one more time, have a beer and just thanking them for enduring so that I could have a brighter future than they did would be amazing.
If you could pick one superpower, what would it be?
Immortality.
