Purdue graduates from different eras discover an unusual connection
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Dr. Umesh Patel and recent Purdue graduate Logan Noster couldn't have expected to discover their surprising connection until it happened by chance at a recent awards ceremony.
Noster is a May 2022 Purdue graduate who earned his bachelor's degree in multidisciplinary engineering. He recently started his post-education job related to his field earlier this week, at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory in Pittsburg. Patel, the current president at Cook Biotech in West Lafayette, and Noster would find that they had a connection that began far earlier in Noster's life than the field he studied and in which he now works.
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Noster was born with a condition called omphalocele. This caused him to be born with his liver outside of his body. Patel was involved with various biomedical engineering research projects at the Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center at Purdue as a student and research assistant. A treatment known as Small Intestinal Submucosa (SIS), which uses pig intestines for soft tissue repairs, was one of his last projects that he worked on in his roles at the center before graduating, he said.
Patel has been involved in SIS technology ever since.
"I was invited to an awards ceremony; it's a yearly thing we do," Noster stated regarding how he recently met Patel. "...And so they'll select a couple kids from the sophomore, junior and senior class of that year and they'll give out awards and recognize them for outstanding academic achievement.
"...The big part of the night is they also bring in one or more distinguished alumni to celebrate and say ...'Look at what you can do with the education you're getting.'"
It was at this awards ceremony that Patel was featured as one of the distinguished alumni. Noster struck up a conversation with Patel, asking what he did in his career. His answer struck a chord with Noster.
"(Patel) goes through this whole spiel about everything they do at Cook," Noster said, "and they said, you know, 'Our real bread and butter is (SIS).'...He mentions that it's pig tissue. And that's the moment that I was kind of like, 'That sounds familiar.'"
After further investigation of Noster's medical treatment records, it was confirmed by Patel and Riley Hospital for Children that the same procedure researched and aided in development by Patel from Cook Biotech was what Noster received as a newborn.
About 6 million people worldwide have been treated with SIS technology. According to Noster, Patel has met five to 10 of them.
"There was obviously shock," Noster said. "It's like wow, small world. It was also a sense of belonging. Like it further ingrained Purdue as part of my identity. I wasn't aware up until that point that the procedure I had was made at Purdue, let alone had it been made by a student that I would later on end up meeting and creating this wonderful bond with."
Patel had a similar reaction to realizing the unique connection he and Noster had.
"(I felt) proud," Patel said. "Our mission is to serve patients. The talented team at Cook Biotech did so much dedicated work for this product to be available to help Logan. It is meaningful to see a very outstanding person like Logan benefit from that work."
Patel told the Journal & Courier advice he would like to give to Logan, as a new engineer just starting out in his field.
"His degree is going to provide a great foundation for his future career success," Patel said. "Continue to have a bias toward learning new things and take chances; step out of your comfort zone."
For now, Noster seems to be focused on his new career, and is currently holding off on pursuing further higher education.
"He's said that a few times," Noster said. "He's funny, pushing me toward higher education and everything ... but maybe he's got a point... I agree though, (with) stepping out of your comfort zone. I feel like I'm kind of doing that by working for the Nuclear Naval Propulsion Program. The Navy and nuclear reactors and all that are in no way my forte ... Going into this field I feel like I'm doing that, in a way."
A video on Noster and Patel's story can be viewed here.
Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue graduates from different eras discover an unusual connection
