NJIT's Neel Patil, Hoops Fan and Double STEM Major, Will Work at FanDuel

Neel Patil, a new graduate in computer science and applied mathematics, is following his Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers like All-Star baseball outfielder Jim Edmonds and broadcaster Rich Eisen into the sports business.

Patil will be a software engineer at FanDuel starting in July. It’s a perfect fit for the diehard basketball fan, who said he’s never made money from betting on his favorite NBA team, the Boston Celtics, because he always picks the over — he can’t stand to admit that they might not dominate, even when it’s a fiscally irrational decision.

His hoops passion began as a child, first attending games in the U.S. and then playing on a championship middle-school team when his family moved to India. That’s also when he discovered the joy of computer programming. “Computer science just kind of stood out to me because my dad also did it, and my teacher was really good for it,” he explained. Another reason was that playing basketball was passing him by — returning to Edison Township for high school and not growing taller than 5-feet, 9-inches, he was unlikely to even make the team.

However, it was computing that came naturally. Patil earned admission into NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College, with his first year of coursework entirely online during the COVID pandemic. That’s when he and friends all pledged Pi Kappa Phi, where he became treasurer as a sophomore, responsible for a $100,000 budget.

“It gave me a lot of confidence … just by them trusting a sophomore to be able to handle it,” Patil stated. He gained further real-world experience interning for an electric vehicle startup associated with the startup incubation arm of NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute.

He spotted FanDuel at an NJIT career fair. “They had a pretty long line. I ended up talking to three different recruiters at that table over the course of 20-30 minutes, and we really built a good rapport. I talked about a mix of my interest in sports as well as academics,” Patil said. “I talked about stuff I had done experience-wise … I had a lot of projects where I'd made money and where I donated, and they were really piqued by those kinds of stories.”

Patil’s initial role with FanDuel was an internship working on front-end development. When he starts there full-time, he’ll be a back-end software engineer. In computer science, he learned the most from associate professors Xiaoning Ding and Andrew Sohn. But it was in his other major, applied mathematics, that Associate Professor David Shirokoff made the most lasting impact.

“He took all the math concepts that I’d been learning over the past couple of years, and we were able to apply them to real-world situations and models without having to make assumptions about real implications. It kind of felt like all the stuff that I learned before, that all the calculus before, that was just like building blocks and we were finally able to put them together in his class, and just see how models are approached in real life.”

"I am thrilled to hear about Neel's success, and the exciting start to his career,” Shirokoff stated. “Neel was an excellent student. He had meticulous homework solutions, and completed a nice project on the Lorenz Equations. I have no doubt that Neel's combination of communication and analytical skills will lead to a great career. I am looking forward to seeing what the future brings."

Before starting that career, Patil and friends are going to Japan for two weeks. He also took time to share some advice for new students looking to make the most of their college experience. “Absorb as much knowledge as you can and network, because even though the classes can be tough and you might feel like you have a lot to manage, it’s really fundamental knowledge which you're going to be thankful for yourself to have learned, sat down and grinded through,” he added. “Meet as many people here as you can, because going through it by yourself, going through with no support system, no friends, things like that can hurt you much more than choosing the wrong major.”

“You want to have an outlet outside of just academics. And so that kind of really helped me here at NJIT, finding the right people even if they're not in the same major or anything, just people you can talk to and make your life easier.”