Baku Patel, P.E., S.E., LEED AP
President
Baku Patel joined Palmer Engineering Company in 1994 and has over 30 years of engineering experience (if you count all the weekends and long hours…it’s actually lot more!) He received his undergraduate degree from BVM Engineering College in India and his Master’s degree from The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA.
Baku brings a strong understanding of the practical side of design and construction as well as the technical skills and experience of a seasoned engineer. He is currently registered in over 30 states and holds a NCEES Council Record. Special projects in Baku’s portfolio include The Georgia Institute of Technology G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons which received LEED Platinum recognition, as well as the Piedmont Park Greystone project (LEED Gold) which received both the Georgia Trust’s Chairman’s Award of Excellence and the Atlanta Urban Design Commission’s Award of Excellence for Adaptive Re-Use. Other interesting projects include BAPS Atlanta temple, Spiderman, Hulk, and other unique sculptures at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Area of Expertise:
Renovations, adaptive re-use projects, and any other “non-text book” projects.
Memorable Project Story:
“How many engineers can say they have designed buildings with a life expectancy of 2000 years? I was so blessed to work on the BAPS Temple in Lilburn, GA. The bearing walls at the lower level of the project were unreinforced masonry walls. Some of the wall thicknesses were up to 7 feet thick with multiple layers of CMU. One morning, while speaking with the workers (from India) on the site, I realized there was a lot of labor involved in constructing thick walls with multiple Wyeth’s of CMU. I had a thought (you can call it divine intervention) to just construct the outside walls of the total thickness and then fill the interior part with high volume fly ash concrete. This saved over four months of construction time on the project.”
Client Philosophy:
“There are many structural engineering firms that can do the same things that we do, but we do it with passion and a true sense of service. We are here to Serve, Simplify and Solve. Serve Lord, serve our clients, community and serve each other. Simplify your life, each other’s lives, and client’s needs. Solve complex structural issues. We are in business of people serving engineering. Check us out!”
Special Interests:
“I’m a very spiritual person and owe my life to my divine father Revered Pandurang Shastri Athavle. My wife and I are part of the Swadhyay movement that was started in India and we love to go on humanitarian trips in various parts of the world. Some of our most memorable trips have been to Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Australia. Lekha and I have been happily married since 1986 (arranged marriage – it’s an Indian thing!) and we have 2 boys Paven and Pruthvi and two wonderful grandchildren.”
Little Known Fact:
“I LOVE cooking (…and am pretty good at it I might add!) and I dream of one day opening a restaurant…Indian food…and vegetarian, of course!”