Ronak Shah is the founder and president of Levitated Metals, an aluminum processor based in Houston. The company operates a heavy media flotation plant and a new wrought alloys processing line that uses X-ray and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technologies.

Founded in 2020 as a scrappy startup, Levitated quickly gained recognition as a premier producer of Twitch for markets in Mexico and overseas. The company was acquired by Mervis Industries in 2023.

Ronak began his career in software development after graduating from the Boston University School of Engineering. He later pivoted into operations after completing an MBA and a master’s in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he graduated from the Leaders for Manufacturing program.

He entered the scrap industry with Schnitzer Steel (now dba Radius Recycling) before spending several years at Alter Trading Corp. This background gave Ronak a wide range of experience across non-ferrous recovery technologies, shredders, mergers and acquisitions, finance and scale systems. That foundation helped fuel both the excitement and challenges of building a startup factory from the ground up.

Ronak lives in The Woodlands, Texas, with his son, Victor, and daughter, Diana. None of this would have been possible without the unending support of his wife and mother, Angela Shah, who died from cancer last year.