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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline FEBRUARY 23, 2024 | The Indian Eye 28

NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

Selected stories about Indian diaspora from our website www.theindianeye.com

BHAVINI PATEL FARHAN GANDHI

Democrat to run for the Professor appointed at

Congress in Pennsylvania NC State University

arhan Gandhi, world-renowned for his research contributions to the
field of eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft technol-
Fogies has been named as the newly established Hassan A. Hassan Dis-
tinguished Professor at the NC State University, Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering, MAE. He was selected as somebody who could
ndian American Bhavini Patel, 30, is now running for US House of Rep- be as capable as Hassan A. Hassan, the late titan of the MAE department and
resentatives for Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. It is located in legend in the field of aerospace engineering.
Isouthwestern Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh and much of Allegheny Gandhi will play an important role in carrying out that legacy in the MAE
County, as well as some of Westmoreland County. Department and at NC State University as a whole. Gandhi obtained his
From helping her single parent mother running a food truck ‘India on BTech in Aeronautical Engineering from IIT-Bombay in 1989, and his doc-
Wheels’ in Pittsburgh to launching a tech startup after completing her educa- toral degree in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Maryland’s
tion from the Oxford University, Ms Patel, last year announced her decision Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center in 1995. After 17 years on the Penn State
to run for the Congress from the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, Aerospace Faculty, he moved to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2012 as
which is currently held by her Democratic party colleague Summer Lee. the Redfern Endowed Chair Professor in Aerospace Engineering.
Preparing for her first hurdle of the primary, scheduled for April 23, Ms With an academic career of more than 29 years, Gandhi has published
Patel has raised over $ 310,000, of which she says roughly 70% has been around 360 technical papers in journals and major conference proceedings
raised from within the State. and has advised 29 PhD students to graduation. He currently leads a vibrant
“It’s truly emblematic of the community and the needs of the community. research group comprising two research scientists and eight doctoral students.
We’ve earned several labour union endorsements including support from the In 1962, Professor Hassan joined North Carolina State University as a
steamfitters, the operating engineers, and SMART, which is a railroad trans- full professor and spent 53 years at NC State before beginning his phased re-
portation union. When we think about support from the unions, that’s a really tirement in 2015. Professor Hassan died at the age of 87 in 2019, but through
big deal, especially coming from Western Pennsylvania where there’s such a a his massive contributions to the field of Aerospace Engineering, and his es-
strong history of the power of the labour movement,” Ms Patel said. tablishment of both the Dr. Hassan A. Hassan Distinguished Professorship,
In addition to that, she has also got endorsements from roughly 33 elect- the Hassan A. Hassan Distinguished Lecture Series, and many more lasting
ed officials, including mayors of small towns as well as members of council in contributions to the department, his legacy lives on.
those areas. Continued on next page... >>

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