Suprakas Sinha Ray is a Chief Research Scientist and Manager of the Centre for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, DSI-CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa. He received his Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry at the University of Calcutta, India, in 2001 and was a recipient of the "Sir P. C Ray Research Award" for the best Ph.D. work. Prof. Ray's current research focuses on the applications of advanced nanostructured & polymeric materials. He is one of the most active and highly cited authors in polymer nanocomposite materials. Thomson Reuters has recently rated him as one of the Top 1% of most impactful and influential scientists and the Top 50 high-impact chemists. Prof. Ray is the Author of 7 books, co-author of 11 edited books, 32 book chapters on various aspects of polymer-based nanostructured materials & their applications, and Author and co-author of 465 articles in high-impact international journals, and 30 articles in national and international conference proceedings. He also has 7 patents and 25 newly demonstrated technologies shared with colleagues, collaborators, and industrial partners to his name. So far, his team commercialized 19 different products. His honors and awards include South Africa's most Prestigious 2016 National Science and Technology Award (NSTF); Prestigious 2014 CSIR-wide Leadership Award; Prestigious 2014 CSIR Human Capital Development award; Prestigious 2013 Morand Lambla Awardee (top award in the field of polymer processing worldwide), International Polymer Processing Society, USA. He is also appointed as an Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, and a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, University of Johannesburg. Jonathan Tersur Orasugh received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering (Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) from the University of Calcutta, India. He is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, and associated as a senior researcher at the Centre for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, DSI-CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa. His research focuses on processing and characterizing biopolymer-based immiscible polymer blends for biomedical applications, particularly drug delivery and tissue engineering. Lesego Tabea Temane received her M-Tech in Chemical Engineering from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She is a Polymer Characterization Technologist at the Centre for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, DSI-CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa. Her research focuses on synthesizing, processing, and characterizing advanced nanostructured polymeric materials. Sarah Constance Motshekga holds a D-Tech qualification in Chemical Engineering from Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. She works as a Senior Lecturer at the University of South Africa, Florida Campus. Her experience spans diverse areas such as municipal water reclamation and biogas production, research and development in material science, nanocomposites, and wastewater treatment. She is passionate about sharing best practices in research and is involved in postgraduate student supervision in wastewater treatment. She takes exceptional pride in her work and always strives for excellence.
