Faculty and Staff
Kirk Engel - Director
Kirk began working in higher education administration in 1996 as the Director of Education for the Denver Institute of Technology in Denver, CO. He was promoted to Executive Director of the school’s first startup branch campus, which was renamed Westwood College. Later, he served as Corporate Director of Student Finance for the Westwood College group, which had grown to 17 campuses in 6 states. He subsequently joined Ex’pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA where he worked for nearly 8 years, most recently as the CFO.
Prior to working in higher education, Kirk served in the U.S. Navy. He flew on board P-3 aircraft and logged over 2000 flight hours, many of them hunting for Russian submarines. He qualified as a navigator, tactical coordinator, and mission commander and also served in various instructor, evaluator, and flight scheduler roles.
Kirk earned a Masters degree in Education Administration and a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford. His Bachelor degree is from Cornell University in New York. He and his wife have two teenaged sons and live in the East Bay.
Cameron Maharaj
Cameron Maharaj is a Northern California native who grew up in South San Francisco, California. His interest in music began during the late 90's and early 2000's. While continuously working behind the scenes, he has been focused on the engineering aspect of music. He spends his time in the studio mixing and mastering, and has worked on projects that have been featured on MTV, Complex Magazine, and HipHopDX . He is currently majoring in Finance and will begin studying at San Francisco State University in 2013 while also working as the Head Studio Manager at SAE San Francisco.
Eswar Venkatachalam
Eswar is music professional from India with over 20 years of experience as a composer, singer, percussionist as well as a recording/mixing engineer.
He came to the United States of America in 2011, with a passion for recording and mixing and his sight focused in the recording industry. He graduated from SAE, San Francisco and furthered his experience by interning at Faultline Studios and Studio Trilogy, located in the creative heart of San Francisco. In 2011 he established his own private company called Eswar Audio as a freelance recording & mixing engineer. He also has to his credit, numerous Indian musical and theatrical pieces that have been published into records and distributed all over the world.
Paul Savio
Paul Savio has been working in the music industry for over 25 years.
He has worked on movies such as Hellboy II and Playing for Change:
Peace Through Music. He has also worked as the Computer
Tech/Specialist on live national touring acts such as Hannah Montana,
Christina Aguilera, and New Kids on The Block. Not one to rest on
past achievements, he is now researching and mixing in surround sound
as an Integration Specialist for GenAudio and other new technology
companies.
Caleb Fink
Caleb Fink is an audio engineer with experience in many different disciplines throughout the field. He is originally from Alaska, where he studied music. He has been playing in bands and working with recording equipment over 10 years. He is currently working as a freelance audio engineer and is working on a degree in Applied Physics with emphasis on the study of acoustics. He is also an SAE San Francisco Alumni
Brian DeLizza
Brian lives, sleeps, and breathes audio. In fact, he is probably recording something right now!
With an insane passion and dedication for his craft, combined with an extensive knowledge of music production, Brian brings the best out of every project that he touches. He has a deep understanding of music production using analog and digital systems, and as a multi-instrumentalist and producer can bring an artists perspective to the creative process.
He holds a BS in Entertainment Business, and an AS in Recording Arts, both from Full Sail University. Brian is co-owner of FreqLab Recording in San Francisco, and has worked with many artists, from unsigned to award winning, in a number of genres. He has also done sound design on several video game releases for major studios such as Disney and Electronic Arts.
Bruce Mac Vaughn
My musical interest started around age 4 when I discovered the piano. At age 14, I taught myself how to play bass guitar, and took a position playing upright bass in the school Jazz band. I continued to play upright and electric bass throughout high school and college in Jazz band, and in an alternative rock band called Clockwize. Clockwize was my first experience composing music.
In 1997, I started DJing and started the first electronic club in my hometown dedicated to trance and techno. My night was a featured night at El Hefe’s, which was owned by the punk band NOFX’s Aaron Abeyta. Shortly after, I moved to San Francisco and held a successful career as a full time DJ until 2004. Playing all across the United States with some of the biggest electronic artist and DJ’s in the world including The Black Eyed Peas, Boy George, Shpongle, Infected Mushroom, BT, and Richie Hawtin to name a few, inspired me to start composing music as my full time career.
Over the years I have built a professional music studio from the ground up for the sole purpose of producing, composing and sound design. I have produced music for web sites, advertisements, video games, house and techno labels, remixes, commercials and have also done some voice over work for a television show. My latest clients include University of Phoenix, Pereira & O’dell, Laundry, MRM Worldwide and West One Limited
Ivo Ivanov
Ivo Ivanov has been an audio engineer and musician since the mid-1980s. In the years prior to earning a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Audio Engineering, Ivo worked on a multitude of audio and music projects, including touring as a professional keyboard player with Reprise Records’ band Snake River Conspiracy.
He has built custom hardware synthesizers for a variety of established artists and engineers including Richard Devine, Trent Reznor, and Justin Meldal-Johnsen to name a few. Ivo’s work has been featured in publications such as Keyboard Magazine, Electronic Musician, and SOMA Magazine, and his instruments have been used to design sounds for a variety of commercial products from companies such as Sony and Toontrack.
In 2010, Ivo started to work as a sound designer with Twisted Tools. He worked on 8 commercial products with the company, among which is his full Glitchmachines sample library, Elements, which has garnered praise across the globe.
Today, Ivo continues to work in the Industry as a Lead Sound Designer with his own sound design company; Glitchmachines. Ivo has released several commercial sound effects libraries, including the critically acclaimed Sci-Fi library, Biomorph.
Henrik Thevissen
Originally from Germany, Henrik studied at SAE Cologne and received his SAE Diploma. Having a firm background in audio engineering and electronic music, he continued on to earn his BA Degree at SAE Institute Berlin. He has recorded and produced numerous songs for bands as well as working on developing his own music for commercial release.
Carol Knox
Carol is the Financial Aid Administrator with SAE - San Francisco. She has been with SAE since May 2012, and greatly enjoys working with students and their families. Carol has been an active member of the Financial Aid field since 2007, and finds it gratifying supporting students to afford a quality education. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Sonoma State University, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Higher Education from Capella University.
Allison Agbeniyi
Mrs. Allison Agbeniyi, a social worker and counselor by vocation, is currently the Student Accounts Administrator at SAE SF. Her previous experience includes Director of Social Services, High School Counselor and Education Coordinator in various educational and medical institutions. Mrs. Agbeniyi attended San Francisco State University, earning a degree in Social Work in 2005.
Growing up with a musician father and vocalist mother, Mrs. Agbeniyi understands the intricate nature of audio recording. She has developed a deep appreciation for the hard work, detail and effort our students must exhibit during the course of their study and has devoted herself to the overall success of each student and SAE as a whole.
Tien Huynh
Tien is our Receptionist/Administrative Assistant. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from San Francisco State University, she has an eye for detail. Outside of Receptionist duties she has become one of our in-house graphic designer for advertisements/events. Working in retail for 7 years, Tien has an extensive background in customer service working with people of all ages and backgrounds. During her undergrad interning at San Francisco State University, Tien had the chance to work with students so coming on board with SAE SF she knew that she would enjoy working in an educational environment. Tien has been with SAE SF for over a year now and still enjoys interacting with students and guests on a daily basis.
James Cortes
James Cortes was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. When it comes to music, James was some what of a late bloomer. Not until age 23 is when he got involved in songwriting and music production. At the age of 24 James moved to Los Angeles to attend the Audio Technology Program at SAE Institute. Upon graduating the ATP course, James moved back to the S.F Bay Area to help with the development of the newest SAE S.F campus in late 2008. Since the opening in 2009 James has been working on the administrative staff, developing relationships within the local and national audio/music communities. From event coordination and promotion, to running his own independent label James in another small fish in the big pond of the audio world.
