Dhaval Desai

When Dhaval Desai arrived at the College of Engineering, he was already passionate about solid mechanics and machine design. As a student, his favourite courses included material selection in design, controls of mechanical systems, fracture and fatigue mechanics, advanced stress analysis, advanced finite element methods, and optimisation and design of thermal systems.

“The coursework helped strengthen my skills and concepts in the field of solid mechanics and machine design,” he says. Desai’s research thesis was equally rewarding. Under the supervision and advice of Dr. Jenny Zhou, he explored the optimisation and simulation of fluid machines. Soon, he was even able to publish a few conference papers.

However, it was a paid internship — one of the two he took on — that helped him land a full-time job. “The courses and thesis research work I took during graduate study at LU helped me a lot in strengthening my resume and passing the interviews,” he explains. “Today, top employers are going to ask technical complex questions and skillsets for graduate engineers so we must be well prepared.”

Desai is currently working as a Senior Mechanical Engineer in Houston, Texas. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.