Expected Speakers

Academician Dr Seeram Ramakrishna, FREng is a professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), which is ranked among the top 25 universities in the world. He is an elected Fellow of UK Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng); Singapore Academy of Engineering; Indian National Academy of Engineering; and ASEAN Academy of Engineering & Technology. He received PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK; and The General Management Training from the Harvard University, USA. He is a Highly Cited Researcher in the world (Clarivate Analytics). Thomson Reuters recognized among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds. He co-authored over 1,000 SCI listed journal papers and seven books, which received ~90,000 citations and 140 H-index. He received UK Cambridge Nehru Fellowship, Singapore LKY Fellowship; and China, Changjiang (Yangtze River) Scholar and 1000talents distinguished Professor. He chairs the circular economy taskforce. His leadership roles includes NUS University Vice-President (Research Strategy); Dean of NUS Faculty of Engineering; and Founding Chairman of Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, SERIS. He is a member of Enterprise Singapore NMC on ISO/TC323 on Circular Economy. He is a member of World Economic Forum (WEF) Committee on Future of Production-Sustainability. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Springer NATURE Journal Materials Circular Economy. He is an editorial board member of NATURE Scientific Reports.

Dr Satishchandra Balkrishna Ogale is Professor Emeritus and Raja Ramanna Fellow, IISER Pune, India. He was a Lecturer (1979-83), Reader (1983-88), Professor (1988-97) and Head of the Physics Department (1992-95) at the University of Poona, Pune, India. Also worked as the Coordinator, Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Materials Science and Solid State Physics and the Coordinator, Cell for Laser Materials Processing (C-LAMP), Department of Physics, University of Poona, Pune, India, Senior Research Scientist, University of Maryland, USA (1997-2006). CSIR-NCL (Ramanujan Fellow, Scientist F, G, Chief Scientist) 2006-2015, Professor, Department of Physics and Centre for Energy Science, IISER, Pune, India 2015-2018.His research interests includes is the molecular designs enabled by smart and green chemistry approaches, the thorough insights into various physical phenomena provided by advanced characterizations duly supported by simulations and modelling, and improving abilities to configure complex device architectures. He also interest on Nanotechnology and Advanced Functional Materials, Solar energy and optoelectronics, Spintronics, Thin Films and Heterointerfaces, Self assembly and pattern formation.

Dr Sung-Hwan Han have had hold academic and research experience in University of Chicago, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University. He was worked in Chemistry Department, Hanyang University as Head of department , Korea Institute of Science and Technology Principal Research Scientist Leader of Catalysis Laboratory , Eco-Nano Research Center, Northwestern University, Visiting Professor Korea Steel Chemical Co. Senior Researcher and DaeWoo Motor Company/Researcher. He was completed Ph. D. degree in Inorganic and Organometallic chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. His research interest including Hybrid solar cells - Photosensors - Organic/inorganic nanocomposite films - Self-assembled Monolayers (SAMs).

Dr Sanjay Mathur is the Director of the Institute of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry at the University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Mathur is also the director of the Institute of Renewable Energy Sources at the Xian Jiao Tong University, China and a World Class University Professor at the Chonbuk University in Korea. He also holds Visiting Professorships at the Central South University, China, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), India. The research interest of the Inorganic and Material Chemistry group is focused on various facets of chemical nanotechnologies with thrust on molecular routes to functional nanostructures for diversified applications ranging from biocompatible materials, nanotoxicology studies, engineered surfaces and new materials and devices for energy applications. The core strategy combines the features of metal-organic chemistry with material research to develop and evaluate pathways for a controlled synthesis of nanomatter with tailored chemical and physical properties. The features of the obtained nano probes are further improved by using green chemical and click chemistry approaches to endow the particle properties with cell specific ligands, drug molecules and chelating agents for their application in proteomics and theranostics. By the in house biolab-facility a first in vitro screening of the obtained nano probes is possible. Following this strategy well defined multimodal nano probes suitable for their application in the field of life science are obtained.

Dr Kwang Ho Kim is a President, National Core Research Center for Hybrid Materials Solution and Director, Global Frontier R&D Center for Hybrid Interface Materials. He is a Professor in School of Materials Science & Engineering, Pusan National University Pusan National University. He was the Vice-President, in The Korean Ceramic Society, President in The Korean Institute of Surface Engineering, and Director in the National Research Foundation of Korea. His research interest on to improve productivity, the trend of recent technology industries, is changed in the direction of the high-speed machining. The heart of the high-speed machining technology is the development of the ceramic coating film of a new multi-component system that can respond to high fever that occurs during high-speed machining. So, Research on the coating film of (Ternary) Ti-X-N system which may be mechanical properties with excellent and suppresses oxidation due to high heat generated during high-speed machining has been progress. Recently he focused on the development a variety of disciplines and research topics, including thin films, semiconductors, gas sensors, solar cells and very specially energy storage materials and devices.

Dr C. D. Lokhande got a Ph.D. from Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 1984, without viva voce examination as his thesis was adjudged as “Excellent.” Later, in 1987, he joined as assistant professor in Physics at Shivaji University, Kolhapur, immediately after accomplishing his first postdoctoral stay at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. After a long and productive career in science, which was temporarily interrupted by his retirement from the position of Head, Department of Physics at Shivaji University, Kolhapur in May 2016, he continued research as a Research Director and Professor at the D. Y. Patil University, Kolhapur.He has won many awards and received many honors. He was appointed as Fellow of Institute of Physics, London, in 1990; was visiting scientist in the Indo-Polish CEP scheme in 1991; was INSA Visiting Fellow in 1993; is the first recipient from Shivaji University of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Germany, in 1996 and Brain Pool fellowship of South Korea in 2003; was participant in Noble Laureates Meeting, Lindau, Germany in 2001; was visiting professor at Hanyang University, South Korea in 2006; was awarded a Rajya Shishak Purshakar, Government of Maharashtra State in 2009, and Best Teacher Award from Shivaji University in 2010. In addition, he has visited many foreign countries such as USA, UK, Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, Israel, France etc., for research talks.

Dr Prashant Sonar is working at the associate professor in School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. He completed his Ph.D in Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research and President of German Chemical Society. He is a versatile Scientist with in-depth technical knowledge and high caliber experience of over 14 years with reputed organizations in Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP, Germany, 2000 till 2003), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Switzerland, 2004 till 2006) and Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE, Singapore, 2006 till date). He is a well versed in developing innovative projects, patenting, creating grant proposals and securing funding from government agencies and private sponsors. He is also enthusiastically set-up research collaborations with industries, academia and involved in setting-up a new research field and lab. He has wide experience using various organic/material chemistry laboratory equipments including NMR, FTIR, MALDI-TOF-MS, CV, PESA, HPLC, GPC, DSC, TGA, UV-Vis, XRD, elemental analysis, fluorescence spectroscopies, cyclic voltammetry, vacuum evaporation, spin coating. Recently, he established Organic and Printed Electronics Device Fabrication and Testing facilities in association with Dr. Soniya Yambem at QUT for photo voltaic application.

Dr Fabian Ezema is a senate representative to National Center for Energy Research and Development (NCERD) University of Nigeria, and due to his commitment to research and international visibility was appointed Pioneer Acting Director, International Office of the University of Nigeria after the approval of the office by the University Senate. He has served as Coordinator, Natural Science Unit, School of General Studies, UNN and the Coordinator of the Nano Research. He is the pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Coal City University, Enugu. He is a Professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was a CV Raman Fellow at the Shivaji University Kolhapur India in 2011 and MIF Fellow at Tokyo University of Science, Japan in 2013. He is currently a visiting professor to NRS-EMT (MATECSS UNESCO Chair) in Varennes, Quebec, Canada and iThemba Labs South Africa. He is also a Fellow of UNESCO-UNISA South Africa Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (U2ACN2). He is currently awarded UNISA visiting researcher for 12 months to work on perovskite solar cells. He is the team leader of the Nano Research Group, UNN that was awarded a TETFund grant (National Research Fund) for the development of novel perovskite absorber and hole conductors for photovoltaic applications.

Dr Padmanabham is a director of International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials, HYD, India. He is actively involved with several international and national professional bodies. He is currently the Chairman, Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE International) Hyderabad Division, Founder Chairman of the Indian Institute of Welding-Hyderabad; Fellow and Member of the National Governing Council of the Indian Welding Society; Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India). He is a recipient of Materials Research Society of India Medal, Andhra Pradesh Scientist Award, Dr S. P. Luthra Memorial Lecture Award of Institution of Engineers and German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Fellowship. He is elected Fellow of Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences & Telangana Academy of Sciences and Member of the Sectional Committee on Engineering Sciences. He serves on several expert committees of the Government. He was Indian Co-Chair, Indo-German Frontiers of Engineering Symposia and Chairman of the International Institute of Welding’s 6th Research and Collaboration Colloquium. Dr. Padmanabham obtained his Ph.D. in Welding Technology from IIT Delhi. He successfully led several technology development projects for various industrial sectors. In the field of laser processing of materials, his R&D spans materials joining, surface engineering, drilling and micromachining. Under his leadership, the Centre for Laser Processing of Materials not only developed as a nationally unique facility but also provided expert help to several other organizations in setting up of laser processing facilities.

Dr Satish A. Patil is a professor in Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He had worked experience in University of California, Los Angeles, University of Wuppertal,Germany. He was completed Ph. D. degree inPh.D. (Polymer Chemistry), Bergische University of Wuppertal, Germany. He is interestingly, focused on exploring the manifold of molecular electronics ranging from organic photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes and field-effect transistors. Our interdisciplinary approach includes synthesizing multifunctional conjugated polymers and oligomers with novel properties and studying their characteristics working at the interface of chemistry, physics and materials engineering. We take advantage of molecular structures to fine tune the desired properties through molecular design and robust synthetic strategies. He is actively enganged on Organic Solar Cells, Organic Field-Effect Transistors, Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF), Singlet Fission, Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices.

Dr S. Sridhar is a chemical engineer working as a Scientist for the past seventeen years at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad where he heads the Membrane Separations Group. He has developed several novel separation technologies based on pervaporation and gas separation for chemical industries besides contributing immensely to rural welfare through water purification projects and academic growth through extensive HRD and laboratory development in schools and colleges. Dr. Sridhar is a recipient of 21 Prestigious Awards including CSIR Young Scientist Award 2007, Scopus Young Scientist Award 2011, Hindustan Dorr Oliver Award 2012, NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award 2013, VNMM Award from IIT-Roorkee in 2015 and more recently CIPET National Award for Application of Polymers in Public Health Care 2016.

Dr Mu. Naushad is presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He obtained his M.Sc and Ph.D Degree in Analytical chemistry from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India in 2002 and 2007, respectively. He has a vast research experience in the fields of Analytical Chemistry, Materials Chemistry and Environmental Science. He holds several US patents, over 250 publications in the international Journals of repute, twenty book chapters and several books published by renowned international publishers. He has successfully run several research projects funded by National plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (NPST) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is the editor/editorial member of several reputed Journals like Scientific Report (Nature); Process Safety & Environmental Protection (Elsevier); Journal of Water Process Engineering (Elsevier) and International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health (MDPI). He is also the associate editor for Environmental Chemistry Letters (Springer) and Desalination & Water Treatment (Taylor & Francis). He has been awarded the Scientist of the year award-2015 from National Environmental Science Academy, Delhi, India and Almarai Award-2017 which is very prestigious award of Saudi Arabia.

Dr Rajan Jose is currently the Dean of Research (Technology), a member of Senate, and a Senior Professor at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) (http://ump.edu.my). He supervises the Nanostructured Renewable Energy Materials Laboratory in the UMP. He received PhD degree in the year 2002 for his work on superconducting and microwave electronics. He was employed at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (India), AIST (Japan), Toyota Technological Institute (Japan), and the National University of Singapore (Singapore) before joining UMP. His current research interests include nanostructured materials and renewable energy devices. He has published over 160 papers in Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) indexed journals which are cited nearly 6400 times with an h-index of 43. He holds over 21 patents nationally and internationally. His current research interests include nanostructured materials and renewable energy devices.

Dr Abner de Siervo is currently a professor at the Institute of Physics of UNICAMP. He was a researcher at LNLS (2004-2007) and coordinator of the LNLS SXS line (2006-2011). He holds a degree in Physics (1996), a Master's degree in Physics (1998) and a PhD in Physics from the State University of Campinas (2002). Post-doctorate at the Technische Universität Dortmund in Germany (2005). He is active in research in the area of ​​surface physics. He has experience in synchrotron radiation, surface physics, with emphasis on determination of the electronic and crystallographic structure of surfaces through spectroscopy, electron diffraction and microscopy (XPS, XPD, LEED, STM and XMCD) techniques. Areas of greatest interest are: model catalysts, metal alloys, ultrafine films, supported metal oxides, magnetic circular dichroism in ultra thin films and nanoparticles. He is currently working in Growth of Dicalcogenetos of Transition Metals by MBE and PVD and their electronic and structural studies.

Dr Florian Stadler is distinguished professor for materials science in Shenzhen University, which he joined in 2014. He received his PhD in 2007 from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany under the supervision of Prof. Helmut Münstedt. Prof. Stadler focuses on experimental rheology among other techniques for polymer chemistry and physics. Research focuses on polymer melts and ionomers as well as polymers, polymer solutionsand gels with covalent and supramolecular interactions. Of special interest to him are functional polymers enabling sensing and stimuli responsiveness. Furthermore, Prof. Stadler is also involved in nanoparticle synthesis and applications, especially for solar cells, photocatalysis, and sensors.

Dr Deepak Dubal is Senior Lecturer (Australian Future Fellow) at QUT and has a strong research background in the field of advanced functional materials for clean energy conversion and storage systems. Briefly, his research interest is focused on designing and engineering of Nano-materials such as New Oxides/Nitrides, Polyoxometalates (POMs), Conducting polymers and their hybrids for energy storage applications with special emphasis on Supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, Hybrid Li-capacitors, beyond Li-ion batteries, Electrochemical Flow Cells. In addition, at QUT, Deepak’s research is to develop integrated energy conversion and storage systems as self-powered power source for implantable medical devices. Before joining QUT, Deepak worked as Vice Chancellor Fellow at School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide. He is also former recipient of two most prestigious fellowships: Marie-Curie at ICN2, Spain (2014) and Alexander von Humboldt at TUC, Germany (2012). At various levels of research career, Dr. Dubal has developed a variety of disciplines and research topics, including thin films, semiconductors, gas sensors, solar cells and very specially energy storage materials and devices.

Dr Chiara Maccato currently works at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova. Her main scientific interests are focused on inorganic/hybrid nanoarchitectures for sustainable energy production, environmental remediation, and gas sensing. Their current project is 'multi-functional nanomaterials by vapor phase approaches. She got her MsC degree in Chemistry at Padua University (110/110) in 1995 and her PhD in Chemical Sciences at Padova University in 1999. After a Post-Doctoral research grant, in 2000 she became an Assistant Professor (SSD CHIM/03) at Padova University, Department of Chemical Sciences. Since November 2014 she is Associate Professor (SSD 03/B1 - 03/B2). In 2013-2014 she got the national habilitation as Full Professor (SSD 03/B1 - 03/B2).

Dr Pradhan has received Ph.D. degree from IIT, Bombay, under the guidance of Prof. Maheshwar Sharon in 2003. In Ph.D., he worked on the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials (nanotubes and fibers) using inexpensive precursors such as camphore and kerosene. After completing Ph.D. work, he served the Electron Microscopy lab of Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility (SAIF) at IIT-Bombay for a year before moving to Taiwan in 2004 for the postdoctoral research. In Taiwan, Dr. Pradhan worked on ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films by microwave plasma deposition and their application in electron field emission. In 2006, he moved to Canada and worked at University of Waterloo with Prof. Kam Tong Leung for four years. In this period, he extensively worked on electrodeposition of several oxide nanomaterials and their application in glucose sensor, electron field emission, and hydrogen generation. He use the as-synthesized materials as electrodes in electrochemical cells and supercapacitors for generation and storage of energy, respectively.