Employee Spotlight: Darshan Patel

Darshan Patel is a Mechanical Designer in our Chadds Ford office. Darshan joined Arora Engineers as a CAD Technician in 2014 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University in 2015. Darshan’s experience emphasizes sustainable designs and calculating green energy solutions and potential savings, and he was recently recognized by Arora’s Value Recognition Program for “Customer Focus.”

How did you come to do what you do? Was this a lifelong goal?

I originally hadn’t planned to go into this field. When I moved from India to the US, I started to explore my options and became fascinated with the how and the why of everything around me. I thought about pursuing automotive engineering at first, but Drexel did not have that specialization. I began as a co-op at Arora and found an interest in mechanical work here.

What do you enjoy most about your job? What motivates you?

Arora feels like a big, fun family. I really enjoy the people I work with and the variety of projects we work on. It is fun to see the basic concept, pen and paper design, become a full-fledged building. With more complex buildings we are always trying to figure out how we can create a better design, what we can do to make our concepts more presentable, and how we can figure out the quirks of a complicated project. It is always interesting and exciting work.

What do you think makes you a valued member of the team?

My goal is to consistently make customer focus my top priority and to make sure everyone involved is satisfied with my work. I will work the extra time if needed to make sure that no one is held up because of me and that the team is successful overall.

What are your favorite types of projects to work on?

I prefer smaller design projects where you get to see the finished product within a year or so. You begin the project, design everything, and get to see the construction administration work. While these projects are not as complex, it is very exciting to see the whole process and the full design of a project all the way through within a shorter amount of time. Complexity is more interesting, but smaller projects are very satisfying to carry out.

What are your career goals?

I plan to work in the design field for a few more years, then transition into project management. I believe I can do that at Arora, which has always been a very supportive, accommodating company.