Biographical note

Dr Vinay Kumar is an Assistant Professor at the University Centre for Research and Development, Chandigarh University. He has received Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Punjabi University, Patiala. His area of research is additive manufacturing and the application of 3D printing for the development of new customizable solutions for structural and non-structural defects in heritage structures, and biomaterials for clinical applications. He has contributed extensively to additive manufacturing literature with publications appearing in Composite Part: B, Materials Letters, Journal of Manufacturing Processes, Journal of Thermoplastic composite Materials, Journal of Composite Materials, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, Sadhana, Materials Research Express, Advances in Materials Processing Technology, Proceedings of Institute of Mechanical Engineers Part-B, Part E, Part H, Part L, etc. He has authored 30 research papers and 25 book chapters Dr. Ashish Kumar Srivastava is a Scientific Officer at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. His research is focussed on developing strategies for enhancing crop resilience towards different abiotic stresses. The stimulatory potential of thiourea has been demonstrated for enhancing stress tolerance and crop productivity through lab and small-scale field experiments, and by conducting multi-location field trials at salt-, drought- and arsenic-affected fields. The molecular mechanism of stress perception and tolerance has been elucidated using systems-biology based approach. He has more than 50 research and review articles and book chapters to his credit. He has been awarded Young Scientist Award of National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Allahabad in 2018, Young Scientist Medal from Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in 2014 and Young Scientist Award from Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 2014. He has also received Newton-Bhabha International Grant from DBT-BBSRC in 2018, President International Fellowship from Chinese Academy of Sciences, China in 2016 and EMBO Short term Fellowship in 2011. Professor Suprasanna Penna has worked as Head of Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, and currently is a professor at the Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai. He made significant contributions to plant science covering plant biotechnology, mutation breeding, stress tolerance and novel biopolymer. His work on technology development for radiation depolymerized oligo-chitosan has been successfully used in enhancing plant productivity in crop plants and vegetables. He has also contributed to molecular understanding of plant abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants and salinity-adaptive mechanisms in halophytes. He is on the editorial board of several national and international journals and published over 300 publications and has edited several books on salinity tolerance, genome editing and plant-metal interactions.