Since graduating from the IMSEI in 2018, Aman Patel has found opportunities across the country. He has embodied his advice to make the most of IMSEI’s flexible program. By carefully choosing different classes and experiences to match his interests, Patel’s preparation has led him to his passion.
“Make the most of the flexibility provided by the IMSEI program to tailor your educational career to match your interests and gather a wide variety of skills,” Patel stated. The freedom he had to take various courses allowed Patel to be a part of a NASA project where he worked on developing part of a Martian water extractor.. “This experience allowed me to put a lot of my academic learnings into practice to solve real-world problems with real-world constraints,” he recalled.
IMSEI’s flexibility was also necessary during his co-op experience where Patel worked with John Deere Turf Care in Fuquay Varina, NC. Here he worked as an automation engineer and continued to broaden his skills. “Leverage the co-op opportunities and use them to gain industry experience and figure out what you really enjoy working on,” Patel explained, “and steer your career in the most suitable direction from there.”
After graduation, Patel moved to the Bay Area in California, to work in the modular construction industry with RAD Urban. Here Patel learned that he genuinely enjoyed this type of work and wanted to stay in this industry. Patel now works at Crate Modular, an industry leader in modular steel construction, as the Director of Manufacturing Engineering, solving problems around the construction of multifamily housing, educational facilities and commercial and hospitality spaces. “I think solving the housing crisis is an issue that needs a lot of engineering effort,” Patel explained. “The construction industry has not evolved at the same pace as most other industries.” This lack of innovation means the rate of new housing development needs to catch up, especially in highly populated areas like California. A lack of construction leads to high housing costs and a lack of housing in lower-income populations. “New methods of construction like modular and off-site construction have demonstrated ways to improve speed, cost and quality of projects by taking pages from the manufacturing playbook,” stated Patel.
So far, Patel is proud of his impact on the construction industry including implementing manufacturing principles, systems and methods at multiple modular construction start-ups. “These steps have been extremely fruitful and have allowed me to achieve multi-fold improvements in design and manufacturing operations,” he stated. However, he knows that there is still more work to be done and wants to continue to move forward with his passion. “Over the course of my career, I would like to make a major impact on the construction industry and bring manufacturing level efficiencies to the industry, which will allow for improved cost, speed, and quality of construction projects.”