Biographical note

Prof. Sabu Thomas is a Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering and the Director of the School of Energy Materials at Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Additionally, he is the Chairman of the Trivandrum Engineering Science & Technology Research Park (TrEST Research Park) in Thiruvananthapuram, India. He is the founder director of the International and Inter-university Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at Mahatma Gandhi University and the former Vice-Chancellor of the same institution. Prof. Thomas is internationally recognized for his contributions to polymer science and engineering, with his research interests encompassing polymer nanocomposites, elastomers, polymer blends, interpenetrating polymer networks, polymer membranes, green composites, nanocomposites, nanomedicine, and green nanotechnology. His groundbreaking inventions in polymer nanocomposites, polymer blends, green bionanotechnology, and nano-biomedical sciences have significantly advanced the development of new materials for the automotive, space, housing, and biomedical fields. Dr. Thomas has been conferred with Honoris Causa (DSc) by the University of South Brittany, France. Dr. Huskić received his PhD in 1995 from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. He spent one year as a post-doc (1997/98) at the University of Hasselt in Belgium. Until the end of 2018, he was employed as a researcher at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In 2006 he founded and became the director of the company Nanosvet d.o.o., which was engaged in the development and marketing of nanocoatings. Since 2009 he has been lecturing at the Faculty of Polymer Technology in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia. His research work mainly includes the synthesis of various polymers, preparation of composites and nanocomposites and characterization of polymeric materials. During the last 15 years, he has been engaged in the preparation of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymer composites and nanocomposites (by extrusion, in solvents, by in situ polymerization) and their characterization. Hanna J. Maria is a Senior Researcher at the School of Energy Materials and the International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Her research focusses on natural rubber composites and their blends, thermoplastic composites, lignin, nanocellulose, bionanocomposites, nanocellulose, rubber-based composites and nanocomposites. Jože Tavčar works as a senior lecturer in the LTH, product development division at Lund University, Sweden. He was awarded with Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Ljubljana in 1999. During his period in industry he was involved in several product-development teams with international corporations such as Philips, Electrolux, Kärcher, Rowenta, and automotive companies. He co-ordinated the development of the motors’ diagnostic system and he gained a deep understanding of the noise-reduction and vibrations topics. He published over 35 SCI papers, over 50 conference papers, 5 book chapters and over 80 technical reports. Several of them are related to polymer gears. He has coordinated several application and research projects.