Dr. R. Velmurugan is Senior Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. His areas of research include composite materials, nanomaterials, finite element analysis, structural crashworthiness, and impact mechanics. He has completed many consultancy and sponsored projects from DRDO Labs, ISRO centers, Government agencies, and Private industries. He has made numerous research articles in international journals and conferences and guided many students for Ph.D., M.S., and M. Tech. degrees. He has delivered invited lectures in many international and national conferences. He is Fellow of Aeronautical Society of India and Institution of Engineers and served as Member of the Editorial Board, for several journals of national and international repute. Dr. G. Balaganesan pursued his bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. He has more than 30 years of experience in the field of manufacturing and teaching. His active research is in the field of impact loading and repair of oil and gas pipelines using advanced composite materials. He has published 40 international peer-reviewed journal papers. He has presented his research work in more than 30 international conferences. He has filed 6 patents, and some of them are products of start-up companies incubated at IIT Madras. He is instrumental in setting up laboratory facilities of new IITs such as IIT Hyderabad in 2008, IIT Palakkad and Tirupati in 2015, and IIT Jammu in 2018. He has served as Faculty Member on deputation at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Jammu, from 2018 to 2020. Dr. Naresh Kakur is currently Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, USA. He completed his dual degree (M.S. + Ph.D.) course at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. His area of interest is on impact properties of bio-inspired glass/epoxy composites for wind turbine blade applications in collaboration with Helicoid Industries Inc. He has more than 40 research and review articles published in journals and conferences of national and international repute. Prof. Krishnan Kanny holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Science from TU, Alabama, USA, and an M.Sc. from UKZN, South Africa. He is professionally registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and is Member of SAIMechE, ASME, and AIAA. His areas of research are lightweight materials and nanotechnology. His interests include designing, processing, and testing of composite materials systems, reinforced thermosets, thermoplastics, and nano-infused structures for aerospace, naval, and automotive applications. Additionally, he is involved in computational and analytical modelling and characterization and morphological analysis including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. He is the recipient of many awards, among them is the Chair Professorship from MG University in India.
