Twenty-one-year-old Edul Patel of Nagpur, who recently appeared for the fourth year of the dual degree examination in metallurgical engineering and material science at Powai’s prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay, is at present in Germany working on a research project titled "Separation and Characterization of Plasma Enhanced Functional Surfaces.” He was selected to work on this project at the University of Cologne on the basis of his excellent academic performance. On his return, Patel will start work on the final year of his MTech studies.
Coming from a family of modest means and without contacts in high places, Patel, son of Yasmin and Meher-nosh, made news when he gained direct entry to IIT, Powai on the basis of his high percentage in the IITJEE (see "Secret to success,” Parsiana, October 7, 2006). Armed with intelligence, integrity and determination, Patel’s achievements are the result of his own hard work and the values instilled in him by his parents.
Edul Patel: research and experience
Since the beginning of May this year Patel has been engrossed in his research work under the guidance of his mentor, Prof Dr Sanjay Mathur, head of the department of inorganic and material chemistry, University of Cologne. Though language does pose a problem, the farsighted Patel had been taking lessons in German even before his going to Cologne had been on the cards as "German is an important language in the engineering field. I anticipated that I would need to know it, sooner or later.”
With a research assistantship of 600 Euros per month provided by the University, Patel lives in an apartment close to the campus, grabbing a bite for lunch from the college cafeteria and stopping by in the evenings at the supermarket for food which he cooks at home for dinner. "Tarapori patio and lagan nu achar taken from India supplement his supermarket dinner,” his mother Yasmin reveals. Armed with a Schengen visa and a Eurail ticket, Patel has visited Italy, Austria and the Netherlands. One long weekend was spent exploring Paris, and more such forays into countries around Germany are on the anvil.
With definite ideas on how he would like to chart his future, Patel says: "I am not really interested in campus recruitment. After my MTech I would like to go in for research or then be an entrepreneur and set up my own business, putting to use the knowledge I have gained.”
Dilnavaz E. Bhagwagar