Guided by Mentors and Exploration: Meet Twishansh Mehta

By James R. Palmer II

 

Read the full interview with Twishansh Mehta.

Members of ASME’s Old Guard Committee presents an award once a year to an ASME member in their early career who is an exemplar of what other engineers starting their careers should strive towards. Twishansh Mehta, this year’s award winner, is no exception to setting a high standard for the rest of us. I was able to learn what it is that makes Twishansh so exemplary by asking how his work and perspective got him to a fulfilling lifestyle. A lifestyle which allows him to work as a manager of supermarket refrigeration at Loblaw while maintaining his status as a volunteer and family man. Twishansh will receive his award at the ASME International Engineering Mechanical Exhibition & Congress Members’ and Students’ Luncheon on Sunday, November 15, 2015.

From the beginning, Twishansh had a niche that made him fit for engineering. Doing well in mathematics and the sciences he was recommended for, and agreed to take, a course in high school which he says, “integrated engineering drawings… with computer programming, graphic design, and product design and construction [sic].” That seemed to pin down his engineering interest early on. However, what really broadened his interests the diverse courses he took at university, being a member of a local ASME student section, and his two internships.

To the credit of his first internship he attributes that, “part of the reason I am a Project Management Professional today was simply because my project manager back then was one as well.”

From seeing what a Project Management Professional (PMP) can do Twishansh held the goal of following a management track of engineering only to be encouraged throughout his volunteer experience. “ASME volunteering has only solidified my personal career goals, and is one of the reasons why I felt confident to pursue engineering management and leadership as a focus of study in graduate school,” says Twishansh.

All of that arose from conversing with a fellow classmate about the ASME student section where he subsequently joined committees and obtained formal leadership training. “Since then, my motivation to volunteer has become a given, taking any opportunity provided to me to contribute my thoughts or my action, or to just help out a friend,” said Twishansh recalling his volunteer experience. That experience not only gave him encouragement to pursue a Master degree but also, “Improved my written and oral communication ability,” and connected Twishansh with a mentor in his current industry of retail refrigeration.

Once graduating with his bachelor degree from University of Toronto, Twishansh began working at Loblaw Companies Limited where he is currently a Manager for Supermarket Refrigeration. While this work is centralized to his Canadian office, Twishansh deals with collaborators that span the globe. Examples include working with an Australia firm to realize design visions for refrigerated display cases, which Twishansh will translate to a United States firm for them to manufacture.  In addition, refrigerant technologies have been spearheaded by international firms, due to the European Union’s rigorous environmental regulation framework. Twishansh says among his roles in all of this is to, “establish refrigerated display case aesthetic specifications,” technical standards, and “monitor how governments are progressing with climate and refrigerant regulations to ensure our business is prepared for the same in our country.”

This work can be seen as connecting engineering solutions to other non-technical stake holders. Therefore, Twishansh has been tasked with getting the logic learned in engineering to others who are used to using intuitions. “I’ve learned to work through these [challenges] by recognizing our mutual differences and adjusting my approach,” says Twishansh.

Thus far Twishansh could be seen as someone who manages engineering equipment design and engineering standards, advises non-technical associates, and who volunteers to make sure future engineers can have the same chances that he did in his early career. His life’s work has been guided by mentorship and exploration, as seen from his diverse experiences of engineering and volunteering. The motivator throughout that guidance was to live by his creed to, “be yourself and be true to yourself.” This lesson which Twishansh has lived through is made vivid when he says, “When you recognize who you are, you know your capabilities and you can seek resources and assistance to support you in your goal, whether that be to answer a question, complete a project, or fix an issue.” As expected by an Old Guard Early Career Award winner Twishansh has found wisdom from the beginning of his efforts.

Learn more about the ASME Old Guard Early Career Award and the annual nomination process. Nominations are being accepted now through February 1, 2016.