Aakash Parikh

Result-driven R&D professional with 6.5 years of global experience in the life sciences sector, specialized in developing sustainable solutions. Expertise in stakeholder management, problem-solving, and utilizing analytics to drive strategic insights

Work Experience

Mirae Asset Management | Live Project | India

  • Analyzed text data from stocks annual reports using Natural language processing (NLP) to generate sentiment score.
  • Trained the model on historic data from 10+ US stocks with a focus to predict the sentiment on company’s dividend policy.

Genomatica | Process Engineer II | California, USA

  • Formulated a growth strategy with the business team for a specialty chemical, projecting a ~4% increase in market share.
  • Reduced laboratory setup cost by ~$20,000 through a modified hydrogen reactor and a custom vacuum system design.
  • Led the development of a sustainable palm oil alternative process and scaled it from lab (grams) to pilot scale (~1ton).
  • Identified process bottlenecks and optimized key unit operation performance at pilot scale to achieve ~95% yield.
  • Implemented a team planner system to streamline tasks of project members, reducing the number of weekly meetings by ~50%.
  • Mentored 3 associates on various aspects of the project ranging from laboratory development to scale-up activities.

Genomatica | Process Engineer I | California, USA

  • Led a 7-member task force to resolve a critical quality issue in the specialty chemical division, through effective budget management, resource allocation, and risk mitigation.
  • Directed the tech transfer for a specialty chemical at a UK manufacturer, improving operations thus reducing COGS by ~5%.
  • Conducted a trade-off analysis of outsourcing versus in-house production for 3 tons/year special grade chemical.
  • Steered research collaboration with two leading universities in US and Germany, resulting in 3 provisional patents for the company 
  • Simplified complex technical KPIs into actionable insights for monthly updates to senior management.

Genomatica | Associate Manufacturing Engineer| California, USA

  • Developed GTM (go-to-market) strategy with business team for a nutraceutical drink which now generates >$500,000 per year for the company with ~30% gross margins.
  • Averted ~$1 million revenue loss by managing due diligence for a Bulgarian contract manufacturer under a tight deadline.
  • Led client communications, delivering timeline and milestone updates that strengthened relationships and secured the retention of two global clients responsible for >80% of revenue for that business unit.
  • Evaluated feasibility of a $250,000 capital project at a contract manufacturing facility, using cost benefit and NPV analysis.
  • Conducted extensive trials to evaluate three new chemical treatment technologies, potentially reducing CAPEX by ~20%.

Genomatica | Associate Engineer| California, USA

  • Led market research efforts to evaluate 10+ companies in the EU to produce butanol from wood waste, for a global shoe brand.
  • Developed DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) models to assess the feasibility of multi-million-dollar plant.
  • Leveraged ML model to group 50 production batches of a chemical, leading to 10% reduction in customer rejection rates.

Genomatica | Process Development Associate II | California, USA

  • Developed regression models which linked odour quality to process parameters, extracting cost savings of ~$3000/month. 
  • Initiated the development of a PowerBI dashboard to consolidate manufacturing data, driving my team’s digitization efforts.
  • Formulated counterclaims for 3 competitor patents by conducting strategic experiments in collaboration with the legal team.

Edeniq | Research Assistant | California, USA

  • Led the revamp of a chemical assay to quantify ethanol biofuel from corn waste, aiming to reduce turnaround time by 50%.
Accomplishments
  • Published a thesis on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) resulting in 3 research papers published with combined 200+ citations.
  • Awarded the 2020 “US EPA Green Chemistry Challenge” for leading the world's first commercial-scale implementation of a sustainable bioprocess to produce 1000 tons of 1,3-butylene glycol from sugar.
  • Conducted undergraduate research on Alzheimer's disease, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR), with 21 citations to date.
  • Runner-up in the national Industry Defined Problem (IDP) competition, delivering a strategic solution to a healthcare industry challenge by designing an ergonomic CPAP machine that addressed both user experience and functional.
  • Promoted four times in the last 6 years for exemplary performance.
Education

BTech (Pharmaceutical Science and Technology), Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai

MS (Chemical and Environmental Engineering), University of California Riverside, CA

Certificates

Generative AI with Large Language Models, Deeplearning.AI

NLP: Twitter Sentiment Analysis, Coursera

Co/Extra-curricular
  • Elected core team member of Election Commission of IIMA PGPX Batch of 2024-25 amongst a batch of 158 students.
  • Led beach clean-ups initiatives at Genomatica with I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD), engaging 20+ employees.
  • Completed 3 half marathons (21.098kms) and 2 high altitude treks (>11500ft).

Quick Look

  • Work Experience: 6.5 Years
  • Previous Roles

    Genomatica, Process Engineer II

    Edeniq, Research Assistant

  • Function : Project/Program Management
    Research & Development
  • Industry/Sector: Pharma/Healthcare/Life Sciences
    Technology
Work Experience

Mirae Asset Management | Live Project | India

  • Analyzed text data from stocks annual reports using Natural language processing (NLP) to generate sentiment score.
  • Trained the model on historic data from 10+ US stocks with a focus to predict the sentiment on company’s dividend policy.

Genomatica | Process Engineer II | California, USA

  • Formulated a growth strategy with the business team for a specialty chemical, projecting a ~4% increase in market share.
  • Reduced laboratory setup cost by ~$20,000 through a modified hydrogen reactor and a custom vacuum system design.
  • Led the development of a sustainable palm oil alternative process and scaled it from lab (grams) to pilot scale (~1ton).
  • Identified process bottlenecks and optimized key unit operation performance at pilot scale to achieve ~95% yield.
  • Implemented a team planner system to streamline tasks of project members, reducing the number of weekly meetings by ~50%.
  • Mentored 3 associates on various aspects of the project ranging from laboratory development to scale-up activities.

Genomatica | Process Engineer I | California, USA

  • Led a 7-member task force to resolve a critical quality issue in the specialty chemical division, through effective budget management, resource allocation, and risk mitigation.
  • Directed the tech transfer for a specialty chemical at a UK manufacturer, improving operations thus reducing COGS by ~5%.
  • Conducted a trade-off analysis of outsourcing versus in-house production for 3 tons/year special grade chemical.
  • Steered research collaboration with two leading universities in US and Germany, resulting in 3 provisional patents for the company 
  • Simplified complex technical KPIs into actionable insights for monthly updates to senior management.

Genomatica | Associate Manufacturing Engineer| California, USA

  • Developed GTM (go-to-market) strategy with business team for a nutraceutical drink which now generates >$500,000 per year for the company with ~30% gross margins.
  • Averted ~$1 million revenue loss by managing due diligence for a Bulgarian contract manufacturer under a tight deadline.
  • Led client communications, delivering timeline and milestone updates that strengthened relationships and secured the retention of two global clients responsible for >80% of revenue for that business unit.
  • Evaluated feasibility of a $250,000 capital project at a contract manufacturing facility, using cost benefit and NPV analysis.
  • Conducted extensive trials to evaluate three new chemical treatment technologies, potentially reducing CAPEX by ~20%.

Genomatica | Associate Engineer| California, USA

  • Led market research efforts to evaluate 10+ companies in the EU to produce butanol from wood waste, for a global shoe brand.
  • Developed DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) models to assess the feasibility of multi-million-dollar plant.
  • Leveraged ML model to group 50 production batches of a chemical, leading to 10% reduction in customer rejection rates.

Genomatica | Process Development Associate II | California, USA

  • Developed regression models which linked odour quality to process parameters, extracting cost savings of ~$3000/month. 
  • Initiated the development of a PowerBI dashboard to consolidate manufacturing data, driving my team’s digitization efforts.
  • Formulated counterclaims for 3 competitor patents by conducting strategic experiments in collaboration with the legal team.

Edeniq | Research Assistant | California, USA

  • Led the revamp of a chemical assay to quantify ethanol biofuel from corn waste, aiming to reduce turnaround time by 50%.
Accomplishments
  • Published a thesis on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) resulting in 3 research papers published with combined 200+ citations.
  • Awarded the 2020 “US EPA Green Chemistry Challenge” for leading the world's first commercial-scale implementation of a sustainable bioprocess to produce 1000 tons of 1,3-butylene glycol from sugar.
  • Conducted undergraduate research on Alzheimer's disease, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR), with 21 citations to date.
  • Runner-up in the national Industry Defined Problem (IDP) competition, delivering a strategic solution to a healthcare industry challenge by designing an ergonomic CPAP machine that addressed both user experience and functional.
  • Promoted four times in the last 6 years for exemplary performance.
Education

BTech (Pharmaceutical Science and Technology), Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai

MS (Chemical and Environmental Engineering), University of California Riverside, CA

Certificates

Generative AI with Large Language Models, Deeplearning.AI

NLP: Twitter Sentiment Analysis, Coursera

Co/Extra-curricular
  • Elected core team member of Election Commission of IIMA PGPX Batch of 2024-25 amongst a batch of 158 students.
  • Led beach clean-ups initiatives at Genomatica with I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD), engaging 20+ employees.
  • Completed 3 half marathons (21.098kms) and 2 high altitude treks (>11500ft).