aarkh’s founder, Mitul Parekh, studied architecture at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, India. It was during his final year there while working on the thesis when a defining interest in lighting was sparked. A year after completing his undergraduate study, Mitul moved to United States in 1995 to pursue graduate study in lighting at Penn State University. Lighting design - a field where physics meets art as well as human psychology - was the perfect fit to channel his scientific aptitude, aesthetic mind and emotional sensitivity. Starting as a junior designer at Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, he moved to New York City in 1997. After 14 successful years there, he joined Tillotson Design Associates as a Senior Associate in 2011 rising to become a Principal in 2014.

Mitul was certified to be a LEED AP BD+C in 2009 (with credentials maintained every two years after) and has designed lighting for numerous sustainable buildings. Notable projects include Bank of America Tower in New York, which was the first LEED Platinum-certified skyscraper, and Bloomberg Headquarters in London, which achieved an Outstanding BREEAM rating with a score of 98.5%. His interest in daylighting, started at Penn State University, continued with an executive education program at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He also taught daylighting in the program for Master's in sustainable interior design at the New York School of Interior Design from 2010 through 2012.