NRI Pulse Staff Report
Atlanta, GA, September 5, 2019: Indian American Chemical Engineer Dr. Raj Shah has been inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Measurement and Control. He is the first ever Indian American engineer to achieve this honor.
The Institute of Measurement and Control is recognized by the Royal Charter as the professional body for scientists and engineers working in measurement, automation and control. Founded in 1944, its members’ original priority was to maintain the national infrastructure and support wartime logistics. During the post-war reconstruction years, attention shifted to developing new major infrastructure programs including nuclear power, oil and gas, the transport network and major industrial and chemical facilities. Dr. Shah was indicted into its hall of Fellows (its highest honor ) this week.
Currently the members of INSTMC are still involved in all the above areas, but the digital age has opened a new sphere of involvement in the area of sensors linked to intelligence. This includes the Internet of Things, cyber security, smart cities and transport networks, driverless cars, personal health monitoring and astronomical exploration. It is indeed a very unique and singular honor for Dr. Shah to be honored as a fellow by this prestigious institute.
Dr. Shah is no stranger to distinction. Just a few months he was named a Fellow at the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK which boasts such historical members as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has over 54,000 members and is one of the largest professional bodies for chemical scientists, supporting and representing our members and bringing together chemical scientists from all over the world. The Royal Society of Chemistry was founded in 1841 and incorporated by a royal charter in 1848, and its main patron is her Majesty the Queen of England.
A not-for-profit organization with a heritage that spans 175 years, The Royal Society of Chemistry has an ambitious international vision for the future. Around the world, they invest in educating future generations of scientists and partner with industry and academia, promoting collaboration and innovation. The Royal society of Chemistry also advises governments on policy and promote the talent, information and ideas that lead to great advances in science.
Dr. Shah was inducted as a Fellow into this Society recently and when contacted by us at that time, he was extremely grateful and said he accepted this honor with great humility on behalf of his colleagues and his family.
Dr. Shah was also honored recently by the Energy institute with the title of a Chartered petroleum engineer this summer . He si the first Indian American scientist to achieve this distinction as well. The Energy Institute (EI) is the largest professional membership body that brings global energy expertise together. The global energy industry, the people working in it and wider society all benefit from the EI’s work. Election to the status of a chartered petroleum engineer so far has been limited to just 7 people in the United States. Dr. Shah is the first Indian american engineer to be conferred this honor.
Dr. Raj Shah is widely recognized worldwide for his contributions to the field of Fuels, Lubricants, and Greases. His specialization is in the development of laboratory analytical instrumentation used primarily in the petroleum laboratory. He has been recognized for his inventions and his efforts in creating standardized test methods for use worldwide by the American standard of testing materials ( ASTM International ) with three awards of Excellence and an ASTM Eagle award (a sui genres distinction) . He is the currently the Director at Koehler Instrument Company, Inc. based in Holtsville, NY and he currently serves, or has served on the Board of Directors/ Advisors of various institutions such as the Department of Chemical Engineering , State university of New York, Stony Brook, NY, The School of Engineering, Design, Technology and Professional Programs (SEDTAPP) at Penn State University, PA, the Foundation Board at Developmental Disabilities Institute in Smithtown, NY until 2009, and he served on the board of directors of the National Lubricating Grease institute for almost 2 decades.
Dr. Shah is now an elected Fellow at STLE, NLGI, AIC, RSC, InstMC and EI a singular honor that is indeed unprecedented worldwide.
A recipient of multiple awards at ASTM over his career, more recently he was awarded the PM Ku medal ( the youngest recipient of this medal ), and prestigious John A. Bellanti Sr. Memorial Award as well.
Dr. Shah has also been conferred the distinguished alumni award from the Institute of Chemical technology, Mumbai (ICT). In conferring him this honor ICT Mumbai, stated ” Dr. Raj Shah, a professional par excellence due to his high degree of integrity , commitment and professionalism has been responsible for the high esteem in which his alma mater , the Institute of chemical technology is recognized ” More recently National Certification Commission in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Washington, DC honored Dr. Raj Shah with inducting him as a Certified professional chemist and Certified Chemical engineer.
Dr. Shah is also an elected Chartered Engineer from the Engineering council in the UK, a Chartered Chemist from the Royal society of chemistry and a Chartered Scientist from the science council, all of these combined are exceptional honors within the scientific community. Dr. Shah is the only person in the chemical industry worldwide who now holds all 6 of these elected certifications namely CPC, CCHE, CEng, CSci, CChem, CPEng.
Dr. Shah’s other interests include kayaking, mixology and mobile photography. He lives currently in Long island , NY with his wife of 22 years Dr. Niloufar Faridi and their son Kian. They are active in the special needs and paddling communities and enjoy participating in various philantropic community events.
