Hiren Patel (Hirenkumar Ashokbhai Patel) serves as the Lead Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) Engineer at US ITER project, specializing in I&C systems for vacuum applications. In addition to his primary focus, he acts as a technical advisor and expert reviewer for the broader portfolio of US ITER I&C systems.
Before joining US ITER in 2022, Hiren worked as lead I&C engineer at ITER-India (the Indian Domestic Agency for ITER) from 2009 to 2019, overseeing I&C design, engineering and procurements for the ITER secondary cooling water systems. He then was assigned to ITER Organization in southern France from 2019 to 2022 and supported construction and commissioning activities. He began his engineering career with the Indian Space Research Organization at the Space Application Center in Ahmedabad, India, as an electronics engineer.
Currently at US ITER, Hiren manages the technical scope of the instrumentation and control system of ITER vacuum auxiliary and roughing systems, including design, engineering, procurements, qualification and software development. He also performed as Control Account Manager (CAM) and provided end-to-end system-level planning, budget estimation, risk management, interface management and technical procurement oversight.
Hiren holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication from Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University (Patan, India) and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). His technical expertise spans the entire lifestyle of Instrumentation & Controls (I&C) systems from P&ID, architecture, cabling, and pneumatic control design to control panel and MCC engineering. He brings specialized experience in I&C product development and qualification for nuclear safety applications and harsh environments, including nuclear radiation (gamma and neutron), high magnetic fields, elevated temperatures, seismic activity, and EMI/EMC compliance. Furthermore, Hiren also has hands-on experience in control system integration utilizing platforms like EPICS, PLC, NI PXI, NI cRIO, LabVIEW, and Python.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
