Biodegradable Composites

Dr. Madhu Puttegowda is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan, Karnataka, India. He received his B.E (Mechanical Engineering) from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India in 2011, and then went on to achieve his MTech in Product Design and Manufacturing and Ph.D. (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Science) from Visvesvaraya Technological University in 2020. His current research areas include natural fiber composites, polymer composites and advanced material technology. Dr. Bharath K N is a Professor and Dean of Research and Innovation at GM University, Davanagere, Karnataka. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University B.D.T. College of Engineering (Kuvempu University) in 2006, followed by a Master's in Machine Design from the same institution in 2008, both with First Class honours. In 2016, at the age of 32, he completed his Doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University and later received a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Composite Materials from Washington State University, USA. He has worked on two major projects funded by the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites and the United States Department of Agriculture. With 17 years of teaching experience and 5 years of R&D experience, Dr. Bharath has published over 60 papers in reputed international journals with more than 1,644 citations. He has successfully completed three funded research projects from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, VGST, and KSCST. In addition to serving as a reviewer and editor for international journals, he is a member of advisory committees for several international journals and conferences. Dr. Bharath has delivered 13 invited talks at various engineering colleges, R&D institutions, and industries, both in India and abroad. Dr. Pradeep Shivanna is currently working as Director and Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan from Karnataka, India. He received a B.E. (Mechanical Engineering) from University of Mysore, Karnataka, India in the year 1993, an MSc. (By Research) from University of Mysore, Karnataka, India, in the year 2002, and a Ph.D. (Department of Materials & Metallurgy) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, India in the year 2013. He is a Life Member of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) and an Member of the Institute of Engineers (India). He is a reviewer for more than 25+ international Journals and international conferences (for Elsevier, Springer, Sage, Wiley). In addition, he has published more than 45 articles in high-quality international peer-reviewed journals, 06 book Chapters, and presented research papers at national/international conferences. His current research areas include Natural fiber composites, Polymer Composites, and Advanced Material Technology. Dr. Sanjay Mavinkere Rangappa is a Principal Research Scientist and Associate Professor at King Mongkut 's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand. He also serves as an Advisor within the President' s Office for University Promotion and Development towards International goals. Dr. Rangappa is the Executive Editor of Book Cluster: Fiber Science and Fibrous Composite Materials ( Elsevier), a former Associate Editor of Heliyon (Materials Science), and an Associate Editor of Frontier Materials Journals. He acts as a Board Member and Editor for various international journals in materials science and composites. He has reviewed over 250 international journals, including for Nature, Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley, as well as book proposals and conference submissions. He has published more than 425 articles in top- tier peer- reviewed journals indexed by SCI/Scopus, 13 editorial issues, 100 book chapters, and 70 books as an Editor with leading publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley. Additionally, he authored 3 books published by Elsevier and has presented research at numerous national and international conferences. Over 25 of his articles are highly cited in journals like the Journal of Cleaner Production and Carbohydrate Polymers. Dr. Rangappa is the lead editor for several special issues and has a Google Scholar citation count exceeding 39, 000, with an H- index of 100 and An i 100- Index of 475. He holds 1 US Patent, 11 UK Design Patents, 1 Thailand Patent, and 5 Indian patents. He has delivered keynote and invited talks globally, including Russia, South Africa, Malaysia, and India. Currently, he is an Academic Visitor at The University of Portsmouth, UK (2024), with upcoming visiting positions at various Malaysian and Indonesian universities from 2024 to 2027. His research focuses on Natural fiber composites, Polymer Composites, and Advanced Material Technology. He received the 'Top Peer Reviewer 2019' award from Publons, and the KMUTNB 'Outstanding Young Researcher' (2020) and' Outstanding Researcher' (2021) awards. Recognized as one of the top 1% most- cited scientists by Stanford University (2019-2025), he ranks 5th in Thailand overall and 2nd In the Polymers category for 2023. He is also listed among the 'Top 100 Scientists' in Thailand by AD Scientific Index. Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart Siengchin is a former President of King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok and currently serves as the Director of TechnoPark at the same university. He earned his Dipl.-Ing. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Giessen/Friedberg, Germany in 1999, followed by an M.Sc. in Polymer Technology from the University of Applied Sciences Aalen in 2002, and another M.Sc. in Material Science from Erlangen-Nuernberg University in 2004. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) from the Institute for Composite Materials at the University of Kaiserslautern in 2008, including postdoctoral research at Kaiserslautern University and Purdue University's School of Materials Engineering. In 2016, he received his habilitation from Chemnitz University in Saxony, Germany. In 2024, he was honored as an Honorary Fellow by RWTH Aachen University. He has also served as a Lecturer in Production and Material Engineering at the Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering, KMUTNB, and has been a full Professor and President of KMUTNB. He received the Outstanding Researcher Award in 2010, 2012, and 2013 at KMUTNB. His research focuses on Polymer Processing and Composite Materials. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Applied Science and Engineering Progress, a Q1 indexed journal on Scopus, and has authored over 600 peer-reviewed journal articles, 15 editorial contributions, more than 100 book chapters, one authored book, and over 50 edited books. He has presented at more than 70 international and national conferences related to Materials Science and Engineering. Recognized as one of the world's top 2% scientists by Stanford University for 2021- 2022, he received the National Excellence Researcher Award (Engineering and Research Industry) from Thailand's National Research Council in 2021, and has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher in 2025 by Clarivate.