Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1991
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1988
  • B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, 1984
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer Chemical, California, #6087
  • 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operation and Emergency Response Certification (HAZWOPER)
  • ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE)
  • Certified Functional Safety Expert (CFSE)
Professional Honors
  • Outstanding Achievement Award, PLG, Inc.
  • UC Regents Scholarship
  • Tata Endowment Scholarship
  • Aryabhatta Science Talent Award
  • Ramanujam Math Talent Award
  • Best Paper Award, Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc.
Professional Affiliations
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (member)
  • Southern California Society for Risk Analysis (Councilor)
  • Computational Project, NSF Supercomputer, San Diego, California (Principal Investigator)
  • Graduate Student Association, UCSB (Administrative Vice President)
  • Chemical Engineering Society, IIT, New Delhi, India (President)

Dr. Medhekar is a Chemical/Process Engineer with 30+ years of reviewing and evaluating Process Designs within the chemical/petrochemical/process industry.  He has evaluated the designs and process risks on over 100 International Projects including sites in Korea, Japan, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Oman, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, UK, Germany, Russia, Poland, Egypt, Mexico, Canada and USA.

These reviews have occurred during different phases of the project including the FEED, Detailed Design, Construction, and Commissioning stages.  Dr. Medhekar's clients have included Owner/Operators, EPC contractors and/or the PMCs.  

Dr. Medhekar also testifies as an expert witness in International Arbitration cases and has worked on a number of litigation matters in which he has conducted failure analysis and evaluated alternative designs and strategies to mitigate the likelihood of a future failure.

Dr. Medhekar has performed over 200+ process design reviews including P&ID/PFD reviews, HAZOP reviews, SIL reviews, Alarm Management studies, and Quantitative Risk Assessments.  As part of these design reviews, Dr. Medhekar reviews the detailed process designs, including process drawings such as P&IDs, PFDs, MEBs, Plant 3D model layouts, control-building locations, Instrumentation and Control drawings etc.  Dr. Medhekar has also performed over 20+ Site Audits/PHSER reviews during the construction/commissioning stages of various international projects.  In this context, he visits the project sites and conducts field site-walk downs with the Construction and Commissioning personnel, reviews the Punch List items, discusses pending project action items and performs Project Audits through PHSER reviews. 

Dr. Medhekar also uses his expertise as a chemical engineer in the investigation and prevention of accidents, with particular emphasis on safety and risk. He provides consulting services to the chemical and petrochemical process industries (LNG/NG and Refinery sectors), specializing in the safety/risk-based evaluation/investigation of process failures, such as process upsets/explosion/fire incidents, at chemical processing and petroleum refining facilities. Dr. Medhekar's projects have involved a wide range of equipment including chemical reactors and separation systems; pressure vessels, piping, pumps and compressors; furnaces and heat exchangers; railcars and tanker trucks; and pressure relief valves and emergency relief systems.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Medhekar held a variety of consulting and engineering positions with companies that include PLG, Inc. in Newport Beach, California; the Center for Risk Studies and Safety in Santa Barbara, California; Indian Oil Refinery in Baroda, India; and Union Carbide in Thane, India.