Plant Tuber and Root-Based Biocomposites

S.M. Sapuan is a Professor (Grade "A?) of composite materials in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is also the former Head of the Advanced Engineering Materials and Composites Research Centre (AEMC) at UPM. He attained his BEng in mechanical engineering from the University of Newcastle, in Australia and then went on to receive his MSc in engineering design and PhD in materials engineering, from De Montfort University in the UK. He is a Professional Engineer and a Fellow of many professional societies, including the Society of Automotive Engineers; the Academy of Science Malaysia; the International Society for Development and Sustainability; the World Academy of Sciences; the Plastic and Rubber Institute Malaysia (PRIM); the Malaysian Scientific Association and the Institute of Materials Malaysia. He is an Honorary Member and past Vice President of the Asian Polymer Association and Founding Chairman and Honorary Member of The Society of Sugar Palm Development and Industry, Malaysia. During the course of his career, he has produced over 2500 publications, including 989 journal papers, 68 books and 246 book chapters.

H. Abral is a researcher and Professor of Composite Materials in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Andalas (Unand), and Head of the Laboratory of Nanoscience and Technology, Nastech, Unand, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia. He attained his bachelor's degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from Unand and the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, and the Doktoringenieur (acronym Dr.-Ing., also Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften) from the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany. He was a Professional Engineer, a ASM international member, DGM (Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Materialkunde), a former head of Mechanical Engineering Department, Unand, and a former Dean of Engineering Faculty, Unand. To date, he has authored or co-authored more than 87 publications in national and international journals. Tarique Jamal, a postdoctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Advanced Materials, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University Putra Malaysia, following a B. Tech degree from DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, India. Recognized with the Special Graduate Research Assistantship during his doctoral studies, he received the Best Presenter Award at the 5th Wood and Biofibre International Conference and the Best Paper Award at the 8th Postgraduate Seminar on Natural Fibre Reinforced Composites. Additionally, he earned the Best Presenter Award at the International Conference on Environmental Science and Green Technology and the Graduate on Time Certificate.

Contributing to over 60 publications across various platforms including JCR/Scopus indexed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings, Tarique Jamal serves as an Editorial Team Member for Materials Today Proceedings, Elsevier. His expertise extends to being an Editor/Co-Editor of Conference/Seminar Proceedings on green materials. Actively engaged in research, he co-leads multiple national/international grants totaling RM 145,000 and holds roles as Secretary and Co-chair in various International and National Conferences. His research focuses on Composite materials and Material characterization, particularly emphasizing Polymers, biopolymers, Natural Fibres, and Polymeric composites.

Prof. Dr. V. K. Thakur is a Full Professor and Founding Head of the Biorefining and Advanced Materials Research Centre at SRUC, UK and holds an Adjunct Professor position in the Research School of Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu University, China; Riga Technical University; UPES; Shiv Nadar University and Visiting Professor at Cranfield University, UK. He did his post-doctoral study in Materials Science & Engineering at Iowa State University and received a PhD in Polymers Science (2009). His expertise includes the synthesis and processing of sustainable and functional polymer materials. He has been a PI/ Co-PI on several projects sponsored by BAE Systems; EPSRC (EP/T024607/1); Royal Academy of Engineering (IAPP-33- 24/01/2017; IAPP18- 19\295); RESAS; UIF (SFC); UKIERI (DST/INT/UK/P164/2017); Innovate UK; and others. He has published over 350 SCI journal articles, 2 patents, 52 books & 40 book chapters on polymers and materials science (H-index 84, >22,500 citations). He sits on the editorial board of several SCI journals as Associate Editor/ Editor/ Editorial Advisory Board Member. He has been named among World's Top 2 % Scientists in 2021 with a Global Rank of #122nd in the Polymers category and #133rd in the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology category (Scopus/ Stanford University List) and is also among Highly Cited Researchers (Clarivate Web of Science) list since 2020. A. Nazrin pursued his Diploma in Agricultural Engineering at the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bintulu campus from 2010 to 2013. Afterwards, he continued with his Bachelor of Engineering (Agricultural and Biosystems) at the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang campus from 2013 to 2017. In 2018, he started his master's degree in Biocomposite Technology and Design and went on to PhD level at the Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia S.F.K. Sherwani completed his B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh in 2007, and MSc from the same university in 2010. His research interests include natural fiber composites, materials selection, and material engineering. To date, he has authored or co-authored more than 18 publications (published/accepted) in national and international journals, 2 book chapters, and 9 conference proceedings/seminar papers/presentations.