Biographical note

Vijay Kumar is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Technology Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. His current research endeavors include the synthesis, processing, and characterization of functional materials, solid-state luminescent materials, soft and ceramic materials, biopolymers, drug delivery devices, and wastewater treatment. Dr. Vishal Sharma is presently working as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Forensic Science & Criminology, Faculty of Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. He currently heads the Institute at Panjab University. He has obtained his Ph.D. degree in Physics from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India and Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. He is the recipient of DAE Young Scientist Research Award in 2011. Recently he has been conferred the best researcher award by Panjab University under Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE), DST Govt. of India grant and Dr. P.D. Sethi National Award in 2018. He is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed scientific papers, six book chapters and three books as editor. His current research focus is in the field of Material Science and includes the synthesis of smart materials for different applications, nanophosphors, hydrogels, sensors (drug sensing, fingermark sensing). Hendrik C. Swart is a senior professor in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State, South Africa. His research investigates the degradation of phosphors for field emission displays, as well as developing materials for nano solid-state lighting. He has been key in the development of processes to synthesize and deposit thin films of several types of semiconductor nanoparticles to enhance the color, luminescent intensity, and lifetime of such displays. Dr. Subrata Das is a distinguished materials scientist in India and a Senior Scientist at CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram since mid-2017. He received his Ph.D. from the Indian School of Mines Dhanbad (presently known as Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad) in 2010. In mid-2011, he joined the Optoelectronic Research Laboratory in the Chemical Engineering Department of National Taiwan University. He was selected for the National Science Council post-doctoral fellowship in Taiwan in 2013. His research focuses on down-converted phosphors for lighting and display applications, upconverted nanophosphors for sensor and imaging applications, persistent or dark glow phosphors for energy-saving displays, and night vision applications.