Together We Transform: A Word from Dhruv Kapoor

My name is Dhruv Kapoor and I am Director of Process Engineering for the Life Sciences operation at Jacobs in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

I’ve been at Jacobs since 2006. Being a part of the largest Life Sciences company in the world and part of the global community that Jacobs has to offer, Jacobs has afforded the opportunity to work on meaningful projects that impact people’s lives. Since joining Jacobs I've had the unique opportunity to work on a wide variety of programs delivering life enhancing drugs, therapeutics, cancer treatments, and vaccines– from pediatric vaccines to flu vaccines and most recently, the COVID-19 vaccines.

I lead a strong team of process engineers who are at the heart of what we do – we form the nucleus of any project. From therapeutics and vaccines to more recent cell and gene therapies and mRNA vaccines, our job is to provide a solid foundation on which other disciplines can build upon and around. Right from preliminary conversations helping clients out with business cases and project viabilities, to being involved at the tail end of qualification, where Jacobs is getting ready to hand the facility back to the clients, representatives from my team are always present. My job is to provide and ensure process expertise and quality all with the intent of building world-class facilities for markets all around the world for people who need them the most –patients.

One of my recent projects was for the HPV vaccine. I grew up in India and am acutely aware of the access to health care, or lack thereof, for women in rural India. I was involved with one of our client's HPV vaccine projects to prevent cervical cancer and knowing that these vaccines will make their way to this population, and people all across the world, and in turn help prevent cervical cancer is most gratifying. On a personal note, my daughter has just turned nine, and she will soon be administered this vaccine. She is aware her father has contributed to this vaccine and it’s a proud moment for me.

There have been many moments in my career that remind me of the impact of our work. Recently, I was getting my car serviced and I was one of the two customers present that morning. We started to chat, eventually discussing what we do in our respective professions. I mentioned that my work is related to the pharmaceutical industry. The gentleman replied that he is in his mid-80s and he is around today due to a miraculous drug. This naturally sparked my curiosity. Upon asking, he shared the name of the drug with me – Keytruda. I still get goosebumps when I think about it because this is a drug that I was heavily involved in as a process engineer at Jacobs part of a diverse, high-performing team involved in bringing Keytruda to the market. Seeing the impact of this blockbuster cancer drug firsthand from a stranger standing next to me was truly amazing. There are some moments in one's life and one’s career which are defining, and this was one of those moments for me.

I’m acutely aware of what we do and how every piece of engineering we put on paper has an impact on the quality of the drug which is being manufactured. That’s Jacobs unique selling proposition – we pride ourselves on the people – our team across the globe, we pride ourselves on the commitment we have towards Life Sciences and we take our work very seriously. We have a world-class team of engineers and architects all across the globe whose expertise and support are just a call away. The culture and camaraderie and the diversity of thought, ideas and people at Jacobs is what truly motivates and drives me.