Karim I. Budhwani will be honored in two commencement ceremonies this spring—once as a graduate from UAB’s Materials Engineering Ph.D. program, and then again on May 6 as the speaker at Coe College in Iowa.

“I am deeply touched and humbled by this honor,” said Budhwani, who graduated from Coe in 1993. He earned a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from UAB in 2015. He is currently CEO-Scientist of elixir international, a company he co-founded in 1998.

A native of India, Karim I. Budhwani graduated magna cum laude from Coe College, triple majoring in computer science, economics and business administration, with a minor in mathematics. He received International Management Audit certification from the London School of Economics in 2004.

His business, elixir international, is a company dedicated to finding ways to eliminate waste, simplify solutions and help people. For excellence in leadership among top executives, the Birmingham Business Journal named Budhwani CEO of the Year for 2016. In 2017, Birmingham B-Metro recognized him among those "who fascinate, inspire and make this city a great place to live" in their Annual A-List.

In addition to his responsibilities as CEO-Scientist of elixir international, Budhwani serves Ambassador at the Center for Advancing Innovation, and lecturer at the UAB Collat School of Business covering Globalization and Ope