Parth Kelkar
Biography
Parth Kelkar
Education
B.Tech | Mechanical Engineering | University of Pune | 2021
Ph.D. | Materials Science and Engineering | Purdue University, West Lafayette | Advised by Prof. Kendra A. Erk | 2025
Industrial Experience
2025 - present: Senior Research Specialist, Product Development | Dow Consumer Solutions, The Dow Chemical Company
Overview
How would you describe your typical workday?
A good chunk of my time is spent in the lab, developing new materials and formulations for personal care applications. Right now that’s mostly silicones, polysaccharides, and surfactants, with the goal of delivering high-efficiency performance. I’m also starting to lean more on machine learning and predictive modeling, using it to build structure–property–performance relationships and to speed up screening and product development.
A real part of my week is also spent connecting with people. I’ll schedule time with our senior scientists and fellows to learn more about how the company works and what’s happening in other areas. The rest is the usual mix of project meetings, some internal, some with customers, plus cross-functional work when a project needs more than one Dow business involved.
How do you use rheology in your day-to day work?
Rheology is one of the many important tools I use. What I like about it is that it gives me a window into how the microstructure of a formulation affects the properties and performance of a product. So mostly I use it to understand how an active ingredient changes the chassis it goes into, and how that carries over into the sensory experience for the consumer. On some projects it also helps more directly with things like stability, pipe flow and pumping.
I work on products people use every single day. So, when a friend mentions their conditioner feels greasy or their shampoo is too stringy, I love thinking about those kinds of problems. Once you get into the habit of looking at the ingredients on the back of a bottle, you can’t really turn it off - the people who know me know that if I ever get lost in a grocery store, they should come find me in the laundry or conditioner aisle.
We have an active rheology community within Dow, which is a great way to network, learn what capabilities we have across the company, and bring specific applications or problems to the group so everyone can brainstorm together. We also have professors come in to give seminars, which keeps us close to academia.
What inspired you to become a scientist and/or pursue a career in your specific field?
Growing up, I was always encouraged to be curious, read and explore. Studying mechanical engineering in undergrad, what fascinated me was how small tweaks to an auxetic material’s microstructure could drastically change its properties and performance. I wanted to do something different for grad school - rheology and surfactant phase science turned out to be the perfect blend.
When did you decide to pursue a career in industry?
Before my PhD, I was fortunate to get a lot of undergraduate research experience, working with professors in Korea, Manchester, and Malta. I loved research, but I always felt drawn to more applied work. So, going into grad school I was already leaning toward industry, and I had a few experiences with P&G during my PhD. Getting to see how the fundamental science translated into a product on the shelf was what did it for me.
What has been the most rewarding part of your career thus far?
So far, it has been the people. Everyone has been really welcoming and open, even with the barrage of questions I show up with. Early on, the folks in my hallway figured out that a “quick question” could mean anything from a two-minute clarification to a thirty-minute brainstorm. I’m learning a huge amount on the job, including from the mistakes I’ve made along the way. And hopefully, someday soon, one of the technologies I work on ends up in a product that people buy and love. That would be pretty cool.
How has involvement with The Society of Rheology helped shape your career?
My first SoR meeting was in Chicago in 2022, where I attended the Rheology Research Symposium, on a travel grant. I presented a poster and met some amazing people, including Dr. Isaac Pincus, Dr. Cindy Chongvimansin, and Dr. Keara Saud Greatwood, among others. They’re people I really look forward to catching up with at these meetings, which is a big part of why it’s one of my favorite conferences to come back to. I’ve also learned a lot from the community - one of my favorite plenaries so far was Prof. Matteo Pasquali’s talk on carbon nanotube fibers in Austin. I always come back from these meetings with way too many fresh ideas and a rekindled love for science.
More recently, it’s been a lot of fun to get involved with the Education Committee and learn more about the outreach side of things. The committee has worked hard on what we’ve put together for the Boston meeting, and I hope folks enjoy it.
After completing formal education, what is one new skill set that you developed/acquired that has been critical for your career?
Early on, the biggest one has been learning to ask questions. There’s really no such thing as a bad question, and most people are happy to share what they know if you are nice and ask genuinely. The part that’s taken more time is learning to ask “so what?” In grad school, we are trained to think about the “what” and the “why” of a problem, and industry has taught me the value of the “so what?” - being able to explain why the work matters to people who aren’t in the day-to-day of the project.
In personal care especially, that “so what?” almost always comes back to the consumer. You can scientifically design the best possible solution, but if a consumer doesn’t like how it feels, it won’t go anywhere. We’re driven by sensory panels and by touch and feel, and that’s really shifted how I think about what “good” or “different” even means. It’s all still something I’m learning, and I hope to keep getting better at it.
What was the biggest challenge moving from academia into your current career?
The biggest one has been realizing that the best solution isn’t always the most feasible one. You learn to think about a new product through different perspectives - performance, timeline, manufacturing capability, finances, IP white space, customer need and ease-of-use. Then there’s stakeholder expectation management, marketing, and whether it fits with the existing portfolio. I’m still getting the hang of weighing all of that together, and that’s where talking to teammates - and the random hallway conversations - help me catch blind spots I’d otherwise miss.
What advice would you give to students considering graduate school?
Talk to as many people as you can before you decide, and only do it if you have genuine passion for it. Who you work with, and whether the environment helps you grow and have fun, matters way more than what you actually work on. Once you dig deep enough, all science is cool. The worst place to be three years into a PhD is stuck on a topic you don’t find interesting anymore, working under an advisor you can’t stand, or who can’t stand you. So, before you commit to an advisor, talk to their current students and, just as importantly, their former ones. Alumni can be more candid than people still in the group, and most advisors are happy to connect you with them.
One line that’s always stuck with me is something Prof. Jeff Youngblood tells prospective grad students: “I already have a PhD. I don’t want a second one. This one is yours.” It’s a good reminder that the thesis is yours to drive.
Looking towards the future, what are you most excited about in your career and/or science (Opportunity & Challenge)?
What I’m most excited about is developing the next generation of greener, lower-water, high-efficiency consumer products, and using AI and machine learning to accelerate those advances wherever we can.
The challenge, honestly, is sensory. At the end of the day these are everyday products people use, and how something feels is incredibly subjective. Bridging the gap from the hard, measurable science to that subjective experience, and actually being able to predict it, is a fun challenge to take on.
If you could meet and have lunch with one scientist (past or present), who would it be and why?
I’d love to sit down with Prof. Steven Abbott and hear how he thinks about making science usable. He’s got all these free ebooks and interactive tools, and I use a lot of them. The Practical Surfactants book and the phase-diagram apps are a great first pass to solidify my understanding and get some practical ideas.
Mentorship
How has mentorship impacted your career?
I’m where I am today because of mentors who cared and took the time to help me. They don’t always have to be senior, either; some of them are peers who are great at something I want to learn. Before graduate school, I had never even heard of rheology. Prof. Erk introduced me to the field, and her mentorship, along with Prof. Ria Corder and Seth Lindberg at P&G, has been instrumental.
The best mentors gave me a safe space and the freedom to explore, but they were also honest. During an undergrad internship, Prof. Pierre-Sandre Farrugia gave me some brutal feedback on my writing. It didn’t feel nice at the time, but I’m glad he did. It helped me see my blind spots and taught me to be open to receiving constructive feedback.
Today, my mentors help me technically, but also with the bigger things: thinking through how I want to grow in my career, navigating a big company, and the occasional imposter syndrome.
Collaborations
What advice would you give to individuals that are either starting and/or leading collaborations between companies?
I was lucky enough to spend almost an entire year at P&G during my PhD, so I got to see this up close. The biggest benefit for me was the mentorship and networking - the person sitting two desks away might be one of the world’s experts on the three-component model, silicone emulsions, carbon black suspensions, or on how complex fluids flow through pipes. And because you’re sitting on the industry side, you end up seeing the same problem from a lot of different angles. You get a feel for what industry actually cares about and how to speak the same language, and you start to see how a project can have impact at scale. There’s a nice side benefit too: people in R&D always have more ideas than time, so if you click with someone and work well together, side projects have a way of popping up. That’s a great way to build a pretty unique skill set.
The challenges are mostly about alignment. Your industry mentor and your university advisor may not always agree on the priorities, the direction, or the timelines. That’s something you learn to manage. And depending on how the funding is set up, you might not have a ton of freedom to explore. Finally, going back to a grad student stipend after an industry salary is always tricky 😊
Hiring
What pointers would you give to first time job seeking students?
I know it’s the old cliché, but - network, network, network. The one thing I’d add is don’t do it just to land a job. Talk to people because you’re genuinely curious about what they do, and more often than not they’ll get curious about what you do too. Help people, help you!
Lean on your advisor and your university’s alumni network. No single person is going to have all the answers, so talk to as many people as you can. Keep an eye out for local chapter meetings of whatever society fits your field - they’re smaller than the big conferences, which makes them a great place to actually meet people. Leverage AI tools to your benefit, but don’t lose the human element.
The job market and hiring trends aren’t always in your control. Sometimes the only thing you can do is keep applying, and I know that’s a lot easier said than done. It helps to have people in your corner who you can vent to, but who’ll also give you honest, constructive feedback instead of just telling you what you want to hear.
When is the optimum time to start looking for jobs during graduate school?
It’s never too early to start making real connections with people. For the actual job search, align with your advisor on a rough timeline and start looking about 1-1.5 years out.
Does flexibility in job search play a role in current times, especially when the job market seems to be highly competitive?
Definitely. The number one priority is getting your foot in the door - you can always move around later toward your idea of a dream job. Honestly, some of the best growth comes from roles outside your immediate comfort zone, so I wouldn’t be too quick to rule those out.