Grass Fibers and their Composites

Dr. Ramesh Manickam is a Professor, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Shanmugha College of Engineering and Technology, Sangagiri, Tamil Nadu, India. Previously he was a Professor & Vice-Principal at KIT-Kalaignar Karunanidhi Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India. He has published over 60 research papers in SCI and Scopus indexed Journals, 60 book chapters and edited 2 books. He is the recipient of the All-India best Research award and best Publication award from the Society for Advancement of Human and Nature, India. His current research is focused on bio-materials, polymer nanocomposites, hybrid composites and additive manufacturing. He is a regular reviewer for more than 100 reputed Journals from Elsevier, Springer, Nature, SAGE, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, and RSC. He is recognized by Stanford University’s list of the world’s Top 2% of the Most-Cited Scientists in Single Year Citation Impact 2022.i Dr. Rajeshkumar Lakshminarasimhan is a Professor, Centre of Excellence – Advanced Materials Synthesis (CoE-AMS) and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alliance School of Applied Engineering, Alliance University, Bengaluru, India. He completed his post-doctoral research at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand and his doctoral degree at Anna University, Chennai in Composite materials. His research areas include metal matrix and polymer matrix composites, tribology, corrosion and surface engineering, and powder metallurgy. Also, Polymer biocomposites, biofibers and bio fillers, testing and characterization of fibers and composites. He has been granted one Indian patent, three international patents and nine published Indian patents. He has published 37 book chapters and more than 120 research papers in WoS/Scopus indexed journals and International and National conferences. He is an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports (Nature), and Associate Section Editor for Heliyon (Materials Science), an Elsevier journal. He is also the reviews editor for the Journal of Thermal Science and Energy Systems and more than 40 reputed international journals. He was listed in the Top 2% of scientists in the world by Stanford University during 2023 Dr. Sanjay Mavinkere Rangappa is Chief Scientist and Associate Professor, Natural Composites Research Group Lab, Department of Materials and Production Engineering, The Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB), Bangkok, Thailand. He also serves as an Advisor within the President' s Office for University Promotion and Development towards International goals. Dr. Rangappa is the Executive Editor of Book Cluster: Fiber Science and Fibrous Composite Materials ( Elsevier), a former Associate Editor of Heliyon (Materials Science), and an Associate Editor of Frontier Materials Journals. He acts as a Board Member and Editor for various international journals in materials science and composites. He has reviewed over 250 international journals, including for Nature, Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley, as well as book proposals and conference submissions. He has published more than 425 articles in top- tier peer- reviewed journals indexed by SCI/Scopus, 13 editorial issues, 100 book chapters, and 70 books as an Editor with leading publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley. Additionally, he authored 3 books published by Elsevier and has presented research at numerous national and international conferences. Over 25 of his articles are highly cited in journals like the Journal of Cleaner Production and Carbohydrate Polymers. Dr. Rangappa is the lead editor for several special issues and has a Google Scholar citation count exceeding 39, 000, with an H- index of 100 and An i 100- Index of 475. He holds 1 US Patent, 11 UK Design Patents, 1 Thailand Patent, and 5 Indian patents. He has delivered keynote and invited talks globally, including Russia, South Africa, Malaysia, and India. Currently, he is an Academic Visitor at The University of Portsmouth, UK (2024), with upcoming visiting positions at various Malaysian and Indonesian universities from 2024 to 2027. His research focuses on Natural fiber composites, Polymer Composites, and Advanced Material Technology. He received the ‘Top Peer Reviewer 2019’ award from Publons, and the KMUTNB ‘Outstanding Young Researcher’ (2020) and' Outstanding Researcher’ (2021) awards. Recognized as one of the top 1% most- cited scientists by Stanford University (2019-2025), he ranks 5th in Thailand overall and 2nd In the Polymers category for 2023. He is also listed among the ‘Top 100 Scientists’ in Thailand by AD Scientific Index. . Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Suchart Siengchin is a former President of King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok and currently serves as the Director of TechnoPark at the same university. He earned his Dipl.-Ing. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Giessen/Friedberg, Germany in 1999, followed by an M.Sc. in Polymer Technology from the University of Applied Sciences Aalen in 2002, and another M.Sc. in Material Science from Erlangen-Nürnberg University in 2004. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) from the Institute for Composite Materials at the University of Kaiserslautern in 2008, including postdoctoral research at Kaiserslautern University and Purdue University's School of Materials Engineering. In 2016, he received his habilitation from Chemnitz University in Saxony, Germany. In 2024, he was honored as an Honorary Fellow by RWTH Aachen University. He has also served as a Lecturer in Production and Material Engineering at the Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering, KMUTNB, and has been a full Professor and President of KMUTNB. He received the Outstanding Researcher Award in 2010, 2012, and 2013 at KMUTNB. His research focuses on Polymer Processing and Composite Materials. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Applied Science and Engineering Progress, a Q1 indexed journal on Scopus, and has authored over 600 peer-reviewed journal articles, 15 editorial contributions, more than 100 book chapters, one authored book, and over 50 edited books. He has presented at more than 70 international and national conferences related to Materials Science and Engineering. Recognized as one of the world’s top 2% scientists by Stanford University for 2021- 2022, he received the National Excellence Researcher Award (Engineering and Research Industry) from Thailand's National Research Council in 2021, and has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher in 2025 by Clarivate.

• Section I - Extraction of grass fibers and their use in the preparation of composites1. Introduction to grass fibers and their composites2. Biology of grass fibers and extraction methods3. Surface modification techniques of grass fibers4. Properties and characterization of surface treated and untreated grass fibers5. Manufacturing methods of grass fiber-based polymer composites6. Preparation of grass fiber cellulose-based polymer filmsSection II – Properties of grass fiber reinforced composites7. Physical, Physico-chemical Mechanical properties of grass fibers and their composites8. Thermal and viscoelastic properties of grass fibers reinforced composites9. Thermo-mechanical and thermo-physical properties of grass fiber composites10. Dielectric and flammability properties of grass fiber composites11. Tribological and wear behaviour of grass fiber composites12. Biodegradability and weathering behaviour of grass fiber composites13. Moisture absorption and water intake properties of grass fiber composites14. Acoustic and vibrational performance of grass fiber composites15. Machinability characteristics of grass fiber composites16. Properties of grass fiber-based cellulose composite films17. Properties of nano-particle reinforced grass fiber composites18. Properties of grass fiber reinforced hybrid composites19. Life-cycle assessment and economic feasibility of grass fiber composites20. Environment impact assessment of grass fiber compositesSection III – Applications and advancements in grass fiber composites21. Finite element analysis of grass fiber composites for structural applications22. Grass fiber composites in automobile and aerospace applications23. Grass fiber composites in food packaging applications24. Grass fiber composites in construction and structural applications25. Grass fiber composites in textile and allied applications26. Grass fiber composites in biomedical and healthcare applications27. Challenges, Prospects and Case-studies of grass fiber composites