Fundamental Biomaterials: Polymers

Sabu Thomas is currently an Emeritus Professor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He is the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University and a Senior Professor of Christ University, Bangalore, India, as well as a visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, Department of Chemical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, IIT Roorkee, India.

Preetha Balakrishnan is Principal Scientist at ADSO Naturals Private Limited, Banglore, Karnataka, India. Her area of interest is Polymer Science incorporating Nano materials, and topic of research is Starch based nanocomposites at IIUCNN, M.G. University, Kottayam, in the group of Prof. Sabu Thomas.

Dr. Sreekala Meyyarappallil Sadasivan is recognized for her research in the field of polymer macro, micro and nanocomposites, polymer foams and their blends. After receiving her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam), she held research positions in the Japan and Germany before joining the Sree Sankara College. Currently she is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at School of Chemical Sciences, director of School of Polymer Science and Technology (SPST) and Joint director of School of Nanoscience and Technology (SNST) and International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IIUCNN), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. The research in Sreekala’s laboratory is focused on development and property improvements of polymer composites for high end automotive, aerospace and structural applications, development of fully biodegradable, green and sustainable polymer composites from natural fibers, biopolymers etc. for industrial application, electronic applications of polymer nanocomposites such as nanogenerators, electromagnetic shielding (EMI) etc., biomedical applications of polymer composites for effective wound healing and development of biofiller entrapped polymer nanocomposites for water remediation. She was ranked among the top 2% of scientists in the world (Rising Stars List) according to a subject-by subject study undertaken by a team from Stanford University and Scopus experts for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. She has an h-index of 38 and total citation of 7306. She is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Indian Rubber Institute, and was the recipient of JSPS and AvH fellowship, CSIR senior research fellowship and ICS-UNIDO fellowship.