Davidson School of Chemical Engineering graduate student Mihit Parekh, recipient of the 2020 Chemical Engineering Excellence in Safety Award.

Davidson School of Chemical Engineering graduate student Mihit Parekh is recipient of the 2020 Chemical Engineering Excellence in Safety Award. This award recognizes a graduate student who excels in maintaining and improving safety practices for the School.

Parekh has been a member of the Chemical Engineering Safety Committee since August 2019 and is currently in the ViPER research group advised by Chemical Engineering Associate Professor Dr. Vilas Pol.

Before coming to the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Parekh gained a wide variety of experiences from laboratory work in an industrial plant.

“These experiences taught me a lot about handling dangerous chemicals like bromine and amine gas, how to handle solvents with extreme caution, and adhere to all the necessary safety protocols ,” says Parekh, “Minor mistakes could cause major losses for everyone involved.” A saying that Parekh always keeps in mind is, “Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless.” By applying this philosophy to his work, Parekh has been able to make a big impact on ChE.  

While working in the ViPER group, Parekh displayed a high standard of work ethic and safe work practices, ultimately increasing the safety culture of both the research group and the Purdue Chemical Engineering community. He was also a member of the organizing committee for the Chemical Engineers for Safety Seminars (ChESS) for the 2018-2019 academic year. ChESS is a graduate student-led safety education program geared toward increasing safety awareness within the ChE community through informal discussions based on safety webinars material and organized seminars with invited speakers. The School deals with a variety of chemicals and equipment, making it essential to ensure a safe working environment. This starts with maintaining records of the chemical inventories, reporting safety incidents, correcting safety deficiencies in the laboratories, and maintaining laboratory instruments to avoid any incidents.

“Winning this award is quite important as it inspires and motivates me and my fellow colleagues to work harder towards realizing a safe environment for the School,” Parekh explains. “I intend to continue to improve my safety practices in the future, especially as safety and security of the laboratories are going to be of prime importance in the time that lies ahead of us.”

Read more about the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE

Read more about the ViPER Group: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ViPER/index.html

Source: Dr. Gabriela Nagy, nagyg@purdue.edu

              Mihit Parekh, parekhm@purdue.edu

Writer: Heidi Cervantes, hcervant@purdue.edu