I am working on "Design a framework and development of fibre reinforced biocomposites for sustainable packaging application" Under PMRF fellowship . Under this project I am designing sustainability assessment framework and developing fibre reinforced biocomposite for the packaging application.

• Designing of sustainability assessment framework for biocomposite based packaging

So, various parameters have been identified through literature and life cycle phases analysis of biocomposite based packaging. Validation of the identified parameters have been done through experts input and using qualitative and quantitative analysis. The weightage calculation and measurement are under process. This framework have potential to used to provide guidelines to manufacturers, designers, and engineers at different levels of design and development of sustainable rigid packaging.

• Development of fibre reinforced biocomposite

In biocomposite development various natural fibres have been identified and characterized for packaging application.

1. Rice husk fibre reinforced antimicrobial biocomposite

Rice husk fibre reinforced biocomposite have been developed with antimicrobial properties for extended shelf life of the packed food. Biocomposite properties were optimized through varying the percentage of rice husk fibres and antimicrobial agent. Characterization and testing have been performed of these developed biocomposite. These developed biocomposite materials are biodegradable in nature and having low environmental impact. Antimicrobial properties of biocomposite will prevent food wastage of packed food due to short shelf life.

2. Sugarcane fibre reinforced and lemongrass essential oil incorporated biocomposite

Biocomposite reinforced with sugarcane bagasse fibre and incorporated with lemongrass essential oil have been developed. Various characterization such as biodegradability, antimicrobial properties, mechanical testing have been done and further characterization and testing is under process.

These biocomposite packaging materials will be used to validate the framework for the sustainability assessment.

Designing and development of a model that can create auxetic yarn (Structure based) . Review on structures and materials that have negative Poisson ration.

I focused in the area of design and development of nonwoven material for application in biofiltration. Under that, I developed a highly efficient nonwoven material as an alternative to chromatographic resins to capture the specific protein molecules. I engineered the non-woven surfaces to make them suitable for bio-separation applications and then, determined their protein binding capacity. Moreover, I optimized the surface engineering process for maximizing protein binding capacity.

The project was related to human healthcare in which I studied the pressure exerted by undergarments on the human body. I considered different material compositions of undergarments for this study.

ARVIND LIMITED, Gandhinagar, Gujrat: Optimization of Gaiting process time

Description: Studied the steps in gaiting process and minimized the time taken in each step for optimization.