Gene Jakobowski is the laid-back chief engineer of the dilapidated Starbase 80, who sends Captain Freeman and Commander Ransom on a runaround before trading them a navigation processor for help with a bat infestation.
Jakobowski appears in Starbase 80?!, in the fifth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, when a failed navigation processor forces the USS Cerritos to limp to the least loved station in the fleet for a replacement.
He keeps the base running with obsolete parts and no great sense of urgency. Carol Freeman and Jack Ransom, who need the part from him, are sent on a runaround through the station and finally track him down in its arcade. He agrees to hand over the processor only if they help him deal with a bat infestation, and Freeman accepts.
Along with the liaison officer Kassia Nox, he gives a face to the station's crew of misfits, who turn out to be more capable than their reputation suggests. Jakobowski is voiced by Stephen Root.