Biographical note

Dr. Deepak Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF); he is also a research scientist at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on bioplastics, biofuel, and value-added products production from agro-processing waste and non-food sources and sustainability analysis. He has published 35 peer-reviewed articles and 6 book chapters with over 1000 citations and an H-index of 12. Dr. Sachin Kumar is a Scientist and Head of Division in the Biochemical Conversion Division at the Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Bio-Energy, Kapurthala, India. He was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, USA, for a year, and obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. With more than twenty years of research experience in biochemical conversion of biomass to biofuels, Dr. Kumar has published over 85 papers in peer reviewed journals, book chapters and papers in conference proceedings, as well as 9 edited books. He has one granted US patent and one Indian patent, and four filed Indian patents. He has delivered 80 invited/plenary lectures and presented 75 papers at national and international conferences. He received the 2016 ASM-IUSSTF Indo-US Research Professorship and was selected as the Bioenergy-Awards for Cutting Edge Research (B-ACER) Fellow 2016 by DBT and IUSSTF. Dr. Karthik Rajendran is a distinguished academic and researcher, currently serving as the Associate Dean at SRM University-AP, where he oversees the Office of the Dean Quality Assurance and Rankings. His work primarily focuses on the development of advanced biofuels, the integration of Energy and AI, and conducting thorough techno-economic analyses and lifecycle assessments.