Dr. Mukesh Kumar Sinha is Joint Director (Research & Innovation), National Technical Textile Mission (on deputation) for approximately 1.5 years. The project is basically on growth of technical textiles in India, initiated by Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. Prior to that he joined Indian Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Kanpur in the year 2008 and worked as Scientist F (Joint Director), and heading the division Textile Materials Research & Development (non–metallic materials for developing defense protective textiles) and technical textiles products. After obtaining a Bachelor textile Engineering (Shivaji University), Master’s (IIT Delhi), Ph.D. Degree in textiles from reputed Heriot-Watt University (formally known as renowned Scottish College of Textiles, Scotland, UK) and also gained abroad textile industrial experiences. He was awarded charted colorist from- The Society of Dyers and Colorists (SDC), UK, Fellow of Institute of Engineers-2014 (FIE), Fellow Institute of Textile Association (2019) and DRDO Laboratory Scientist of the year 2013 for his commendable work and efforts in the area of product oriented research work for developing various defence protective textiles (DPT) for Indian services. He has been member of various textile technical organization and represents various expert panels in the government of India. His technological credential research on functional technical protective textile is reflected by fifty plus publications in international peer reviewed textile journals/ international /national conferences (invited talk) as well as two Indian patents filed in technical textile thrust research area. He also authored several book chapters (International publishers) in context to technical textiles and functional fibers. He represented/attended various textile conferences as experts/invited speakers and chaired various technical sessions.Dr Ritu Pandey is Assistant Professor at Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology (CSAUAT) Kanpur, India. She has 27 years of teaching experience. Her alma mater is prestigious Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, where she completed her bachelors and post graduate studies in Textiles & Clothing. She has guided several dozen post graduate and Ph.D. students so far. She has published more than 50 research papers and contributed book chapters. She has co-edited two books on museum textiles and co-authored one book on flax fiber processing technology. Her area of interest is plant fibers, dyes, and historic textiles. She has completed a research project on flax fiber as Principal Investigator. She was awarded a patent on accelerated retting of flax (gel retting) and filed another patent on lotus fiber drawing machinery. She’s receiving award of ‘Outstanding Researcher’ continuously for the last five years from her university for publishing the research papers in highest Impact Factor journals. She has presented her researches on plant fibers and dyes at various national and international forums, symposiums, and conferences. She has been invited as a panelist in several conferences including UNESCO sponsored International Forum of Natural Dyes and Fiber Technology held at Nantou, Taiwan.
