If you’ve ever been offered a fist bump while walking across the Greenway or were asked to join in on a selfie during an event, you likely met Saurabh (Shiv) Patel. He strikes up conversations with anyone who crosses his path and can often be found feeding the squirrels on campus.
Patel is involved in numerous activities, including the chess, ecology and chemistry clubs and WEBS (We’re Empowered by Science), as well as working as a chemistry stockroom aid, a teaching assistant in lab sessions and a chemistry tutor. Affectionately referred to as “Mr. Wilkes” by staff this summer, Patel has become a fixture on campus.
The senior chemistry and neuroscience major has also become a fixture in the School of Engineering, where he conducts research with Carole Emilie Baddour, associate professor of mechanical engineering and associate dean of the College of Business and Engineering.
Patel also finds joy in this graduate-level carbon nanotube research. “It’s not work, it’s fun,” he said. The research focuses on finding solutions to challenging, real-life problems. One possible application involves using nanomaterials for cooling applications that could improve thermal management in engines.
Baddour beamed about Patel’s accomplishments with this project, noting his love of learning and how he cleverly developed research that expanded beyond the lab and into practical applications. “His motivation, creativity and intellectual curiosity made the project run smoothly and successfully,” said Baddour. The culmination of this research will be a paper that Patel and Baddour will publish in the coming months in a peer-reviewed academic journal, giving him an opportunity to share his findings with a larger audience than he could have initially imagined.
The hardest part of this past summer for Patel? “Over the breaks, you don’t see a lot of Wilkes students, staff, or faculty, but the number of people on campus over the breaks has been growing over the past three years,” Patel said, as he eagerly anticipated the beginning of the semester. When school’s in session, he attends, supports and enjoys the majority of on-campus events and never hesitates to offer a helping hand.
So, why Wilkes? While Patel had a choice of some larger schools in the area and in other parts of the country, success stories of chemistry students from Owen Faut, professor emeritus of chemistry, piqued his interest. The incredible facilities, learning and opportunities at Wilkes and the immediate support he felt at first-year orientation cemented the choice. For Patel, the Wilkes campus has been its own kind of lab where he could propose ideas, experiments and protocols with faculty to foster his never-ending curiosity.
Wilkes has been his home away from home since his first year when he left India to study in the U.S.. “I have not had the privilege of seeing my parents and sharing a meal with them in three years…[they] are the best support system a student can have,” he said.
Though he faces challenges without his family close by, he has flourished with his Wilkes family. According to Patel, that includes anyone “who is associated with Wilkes, even the strangers who walk their dogs on campus everyday.”
He also credits Professor Sean Kelly and Professor Thomas Hamill of the English department for helping to improve his writing and speaking skills in the transition from high school to college. Patel’s friends also teach him new American slang and phrases all the time, so if you need to find out what goated or based mean, he can fill you in.
“Whatever I am today, it’s because of the environment at Wilkes. If people love me on campus, it’s how Wilkes sculpted me so far,” he said. Patel loves Wilkes so much, he added a second major in neuroscience and another year to his studies.
“At Wilkes, you will find and create endless opportunities,” said Patel.
