Indu Conley
Boston – DPS Group, a privately-owned, global engineering, procurement, construction management and validation (EPCMV) firm serving high-tech process industries, announced it has created a memorial scholarship at the Tufts University School of Engineering to honor the legacy of Indu Conley, an industry subject matter expert and process department manager in the Boston office until her untimely death in December 2019.
Conley’s career experience included over 18 years in the biopharmaceutical industry with significant experience in large-scale mammalian cell culture processes. Throughout her six-year battle with cancer, she continued to run a world-class process engineering department at DPS, and continued to lead projects, consult with clients, and speak at conferences around the world.
The Indu Conley Memorial Scholarship will be implemented for a fall 2021 first-year student who will be a DPS scholar for the full four years of their engineering degree. The program is multi-faceted: Educational opportunity and financial security over four years is just the first component. DPS will offer the student access to professionals throughout its organization to provide guidance and mentoring; hands-on work experience and internships within DPS and its broader network of peers and clients; assistance growing a professional network upon graduation from Tufts debt-free; and help finding the right role in the life sciences industry, if that is their chosen path.
“Indu was instrumental in establishing DPS in the U.S. and its Boston office to where it is today, from a small newcomer to an industry leader,” said Eddie Skillington, vice president of business development. “Indu felt very strongly about gender equality in the industry, and she was an advocate for women in pharma, and the underrepresented in general. We are proud to create a scholarship which will support a student pursuing a degree in engineering in her memory.”
“We are honored to collaborate with DPS to pay tribute to their remarkable colleague, Indu Conley, by investing in the engineering leaders of the future,” said Jianmin Qu, dean of the School of Engineering at Tufts University. “The Indu Conley Scholarship will provide a truly life-changing opportunity for an exceptional chemical engineering student, regardless of their financial circumstances. What a wonderful way to honor Indu’s legacy and her passion for the field of engineering, by giving back so that a similar aspiring engineer may pursue their dreams without financial worry.”
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The School of Engineering at Tufts is committed to making an engineering education accessible to underrepresented groups and attracting a wide array of perspectives and talents in solving the 21st century’s technology and engineering challenges. For example, the Class of 2023 was the first in the school’s 130-year history in which women accounted for 50% of the first-year class.
Conley grew up in Bangalore, India where she earned a degree in engineering from the National Institute of Technology (FKA Karnataka Regional Engineering College, Surathkal) where she was also a champion sprinter on the track and field team. She was driven by a desire to make the most of her talents and emigrated to the U.S. with her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering. Following a Master of Science in chemical engineering from Louisiana Tech University, Conley entered the life sciences sector, where her trailblazing continued.
Conley’s design experience included all stages of biologic process unit operations including fermentation, harvest, TFF systems, chromatography, and filtration systems. She was an active member of AIChe, ISPE, SWE, and ASME-BPE.
