Mahesh Patel was born in Uganda, 3rd generation Ugandan-Indian family. At the age of 6, his family fled from Uganda to England leaving everything behind, Starting from scratch, Mahesh grew up in the UK with very little money but with a family that instilled a belief in education. Working many other jobs to support himself as a teen and student, he went to Brighton University and graduated with an honors master degree in Civil/Structural Engineering. Working for a top consultant engineering company in the UK, he was an engineer on the Channel Tunnel project, Dartford Bridge, Manchester and Nottingham Light rail projects and many other infrastructure projects.