Lokhandwala is a third-year PhD student in Purdue IE. From Pune, India, he earned a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering - Pune, began an MSIE at Purdue in 2015, then switched to the direct PhD program in the Spring of 2017. He is a member of Dr. Hua Cai's Urban Sustainability Modeling & Analysis Research Team (uSMART), working on analyzing sustainable systems that involve the use of large-scale simulations and statistical modeling. His research uses simulation and data analysis to study the sustainability of ride sharing systems.

"This scholarship will help me focus on research and writing my dissertation during the final year of my PhD degree," says Lokhandwala.

He spent the summer of 2017 interning at Disney World. "My team was an internal consultant to all other departments for the Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts," he explains. "I built simulation models and optimization models for various departments to streamline their processes."

Besides applying IE principles to the internship, he learned other valuable lessons at Disney. "I learned a lot about American work culture from the internship," he says. "As an international student it was difficult to secure my first internship. Sometimes the simplest things work. Make a solid resume, don`t give up, and be your best during the interview."

The Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship provides support to outstanding Ph.D. candidates in their final year of doctoral degree completion. Bilsland Fellows are expected to devote full-time effort to the completion of all doctoral degree requirements to receive the doctoral degree at the conclusion of the fellowship tenure. It is administered by the Purdue Graduate School, upon recommendation of the student's school/department.