Marilee enhances the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen user experience by developing and improving administrative processes and procedures and building upon the collaborative culture among staff, faculty, and students.

As part of the OEDK Leadership Team, Marilee works closely with the Director and Director of Strategic Initiatives to make the OEDK the premier academic makerspace in the US. She works to develop the OEDK’s diversely talented administrative staff, manages the department’s Human Resources transactions, and oversees the administrative needs of the facility, programs, and events. In addition to the admin team, she works closely with the technician team to support their administrative needs. Marilee’s goal is to facilitate experiences that enable OEDK users and collaborators to accomplish their educational, teaching, and professional goals.

Marilee has a knack for helping others and enjoys building relationships within the Rice community and beyond. One will often find her chatting with staff, faculty or student workers or capturing photos and videos around the OEDK to add to the OEDK’s extensive collection. Marilee finds joy in documenting the OEDK’s history through photography and videography and sharing what OEDK life is like through the department’s growing social media presence.

Marilee is a founding member of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing Staff Council. She is passionate about providing opportunities for staff to get to know each other away from the computer, break bread (or tacos) together, and have a fun sense of competition all in the name of building a stronger sense of community, trust, and increasing morale.

Marilee joined Rice in 2008 in the, then, George R. Brown School of Engineering Events Office where she started as the Events Assistant helping all engineering departments, institutes and centers coordinate all logistical aspects of their conferences and major events. In 2012, she assumed the role of Events and Building Coordinator for Duncan Hall. Later in 2012, she joined the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen as Department Coordinator and continuously developed her skills to become Program Administrator in 2017. In 2022 Marilee was promoted to the role of Assistant Director of Administrative Operations.

Marilee is a Filipina-American and native Houstonian. She holds a BBA in management from the University of Houston and is a member of First Methodist Houston. She is also an Academic Event Professional Fellow. Throughout her career, she has had the honor supporting over 1,500 engineering design teams, planning and executing over 400 academic and private events and capturing over 500,000 photos and videos. She has an amazing husband and is the proud mother of a fourth-grade critical thinker. She is the world’s most okay tennis and pickleball player and is always down to play!