This fall, ChEnected is introducing readers to the recipients of AIChE’s 2020 Institute and Board of Directors’ Awards, which are AIChE’s highest honors. Recipients are nominated by the chemical engineering community and voted on by the members of AIChE’s volunteer-led Awards Committee. These awards recognize outstanding achievements and world-class contributions across a spectrum of chemical engineering endeavors.
The Lawrence B. Evans Award
The Lawrence B. Evans Award in Chemical Engineering Practice recognizes outstanding chemical engineering contributions in the industrial practice of the profession through manufacturing, R&D, management, or business leadership practices. The award is endowed by the AIChE Foundation and sponsored by CACHE (Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering) Corporation.
The recipient of this year's award is Shailendra V. Bordawekar, Vice President of Process Research and Development at AbbVie in North Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Bordawekar is being recognized “for fostering innovation and playing an influential role in the pharmaceutical development and chemical engineering communities. He has also established a record in building and leading organizations for commercialization of many life-saving medicines.”
Bordawekar's work
The Process R&D organization at AbbVie is responsible for drug substance process development, new technology implementation, and cGMP [current good manufacturing practice] clinical deliveries for all small molecules and antibody-drug conjugates in the company’s pipeline. Bordawekar has promoted chemical engineering approaches and applications of novel technologies in AbbVie’s pharmaceutical process development. He has played a key role in the development and commercialization of many important pharmaceutical products, including Mavyret, Venclexta, Orilissa and Rinvoq. He has also been instrumental in developing chemical engineering talent in the pharmaceutical industry through mentorship and career advancement.
About his background
Shailendra is active in AIChE’s Pharma community, as well as in academic and industrial consortia. He served on the leadership team of the AIChE Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development, and Manufacturing (PD2M) Forum and was the Forum program chair for the 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Enabling Technologies Consortium and the IQ Consortium to advance science, technology, and regulatory thinking through pre-competitive collaborations aimed at transformational solutions that benefit patients and the broader pharmaceutical community.
Bordawekar earned his BS from the University of Mumbai and his MS and PhD from the University of Virginia, all in chemical engineering.
The Lawrence B. Evans Award in Chemical Engineering Practice is generously sponsored by CACHE.
Stop back for more entries in our series on the 2020 Institute and Board of Directors’ Award recipients, and catch up on any previous posts in the series you've missed.