Pravinray D. Gandhi, Ph.D.

Business Development Director
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

Pravin Gandhi is well known in the North American and International Fire Protection Community as a leading fire researcher and, perhaps more significantly, for translating the product of fire research into economically useful applications in testing and certification of materials, products and systems.

As an academic, Dr. Gandhi is an accomplished fire researcher across a wide array of technologies.  He has been an outstanding ambassador for UL, as evidenced by his presentations of his investigations at U.S. and international fire safety conferences.  He also demonstrates a practical business sense by his leadership in the translation of fire research into the application of new technologies in UL's fire protection testing and certification activities.

Equally compelling is the impact that the implementation of these new technologies has had on the transformation of the work of UL's fire protection engineers.  Prior to introduction of these various technologies in UL's work, most fire testing yielded little more than a "pass" or "fail" result.  With the introduction of these technologies, it became possible to develop an understanding and explanation as to the way in which materials and systems perform under fire conditions.  A case in point is the fire modeling services UL offers to clients using advanced FDS (fire dynamics simulator) programming code developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  With this, UL delivers more value to its clients for each dollar spent on testing.  UL is now able to provide manufacturers with information on which they can design improvements in materials, products and systems.

Thanks in large part to Dr. Gandhi, UL is able to study a range of variables through analytical modeling techniques, permitting a wide range of features and conditions to be evaluated through fewer tests.  These new technologies have enhanced UL's reputation, affecting an increase in the demand for UL's unique fire capabilities.  These new fire technologies now account for ten percent or more of UL's fire protection services revenues.

Also significant, and perhaps the strongest endorsement of Dr. Gandhi's being chosen as a Corporate Fellow is the manner in which he freely shares his knowledge and enthusiasm with others.  He has consistently gone out of his way to act as teacher and mentor to enable others to develop new capabilities and understand and apply new technologies.  He willingly shares the limelight, and routinely works to help others achieve success.

It is apparent that he takes great satisfaction in seeing others succeed.  Although working with and through others in this way greatly multiplies what UL has been able to achieve as a consequence of Dr. Gandhi's knowledge and capabilities, it also means that his contributions often may not be as publicly apparent and lauded as they might be.