Dr. Amit Gokhale is the Head of Chemical and Process Engineering R&D for BASF North America. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2005 and joined BP Chemicals R&D group as a research engineer. His early work at BP focused on a range of topics that included novel separations to developing advanced models for BP’s manufacturing assets. In 2008, when BP created the Public-Private Partnership, Energy Biosciences Institute with University of California – Berkeley, University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to accelerate the development of biofuels, Amit was one of the first people chosen to guide the various programs at the institute. Over the years, through this collaboration and under Amit’s leadership, BP was able to develop several innovative solutions in the biobased fuels, lubricants, and chemicals.  

Since 2016, Amit has been working at BASF where he managed the technical development of stationary emissions catalysts and some key projects for producing cathode active materials for batteries used in e-mobility applications. Since 2019, Amit has been heading the North American Process Research Group which is responsible for providing process development solutions for BASF’s plants in US, Mexico, and Canada. His group offers technical and R&D solutions to optimize the production of BASF products ranging from commodity chemicals and catalysts to personal care and agrochemicals.

In addition to his Ph.D. from UW – Madison, Amit also holds a MBA degree from the University of California – Berkeley. He is very interested in entrepreneurial activities and has been involved with several start-ups in the past.