Neil Chavan served as a Sustainability Ambassador during academic years 2016/ 2017. He worked on our Reuse team, organizing freecycle events and our annual REScycle. He also explored and researched the idea of implementing a Free Store on campus to help divert waste from landfills. Neil just graduated from CWRU in the spring of 2019 (along with his twin sister Monica), majoring in chemical engineering and environmental studies with a minor in Spanish.
Neil was active in CWRU’s Humanitarian Design Corps’s project to bring clean water to the Costa Rican village of Las Pilas. Neil worked as the Project Lead for this project since he was a First Year at CWRU. In this role, he managed all aspects of the project: engineering designs, project budget, meeting with mentors and advisers as well as recruiting new members. The Daily covered this story in March 2019 while Neil and other HDC members were working in Costa Rica during Spring Break.
About working at our office, Neil says” My time at the Sustainability Office gave me many useful skills that have aided me in my work as Project Lead in HDC and beyond. While I worked at the office, [my team member and I] attempted to establish a campus thrift store. We ran into many administrative hurdles, which taught me the importance of persistence when starting new initiatives.”
Neil has recently accepted a job with Newry Corp in Cleveland as a consultant for manufacturing and materials companies.