He provides the vision to guide these companies in a rapidly changing market landscape and keep them ahead of the competition. His near-term goals for the companies include the creation of new cooling innovations for the smaller, hotter integrated circuits going into tomorrow’s servers and other high-end electronics.

Dr. Patel founded Fluent in 1983, to provide modeling and analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena to a variety of industries. He brings with him the experience of fostering this innovative software company from its beginnings to the premier computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provider it is today. In 1995, he joined the staff at Aavid Thermal Technologies as the COO of all the Aavid subsidiaries. In addition to his role as CEO at Aavid Thermal Technologies, Dr. Patel leads Fluent and Aavid Thermalloy in the same position.

Prior to founding Fluent, he served as a principal and Vice President of Creare, Inc. where he provided consulting services in fluid flow and heat transfer for a variety of industries. The breadth of Dr. Patel’s experience creates a keen understanding of the needs of Aavid’s customers as well as a thorough understanding of the technology landscape and the business insights required to satisfy those needs.

Dr. Patel serves as chairman of the board for Progress in Education (PINE), a non-profit organization, and is a member of the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital Assembly of Overseers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of New Hampshire. Widely published, Dr. Patel holds a patent on a device for continuous water removal from an airstream-cascade screen. He earned his B.S. at Sardar Patel University in 1967, his M.S. at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1969, and his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975.