Shashi Kant Bhatia is Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea, and has more than ten years' experience in biowaste valorization into bioenergy, biochemicals, and biomaterials. He holds an MSc and a PhD in biotechnology from Himachal Pradesh University (India). Dr. Bhatia has worked as a Brain Pool Post Doc Fellow at Konkuk University (2014-2016) and has contributed extensively to the industrial press and served as an editorial board member of the Sustainability and Energies journals and an associate editor of Frontier of Microbiology, Microbial Cell Factories, Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery , Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Carbohydrate Technology and Applications, 3 Biotech, and PLOS One journals. He is Editor in Chief of the Biotechnology for Sustainable Materials journal. He has published more than 200 research and review articles on industrial biotechnology, bioenergy production, biomaterial, biotransformation, microbial fermentation, and enzyme technology in international scientific peer-reviewed journals and holds 15 international patents. He has also edited four books on microbial biotechnology. Dr. Bhatia has successfully supervised and completed three projects funded by NRF Korea ($600,000). Parmjit S. Panesar is working as Professor at Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab, India. Panesar has also worked as Dean (Research and Consultancy) and Head of the Department of Food Engineering & Technology, SLIET Longowal, India. His research is focused on the area of Food Biotechnology, especially bioprocessing of food industry by-products, food enzymes, prebiotics (lactulose, GOS), biopigments, etc. In 2005, he was awarded a BOYSCAST (Better Opportunities for Young Scientists in Chosen Areas of Science and Technology) fellowship by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, to carry out advanced research at Chembiotech labs, University of Birmingham Research Park, UK. Professor Panesar has successfully completed seven research projects funded by DBT, CSIR, MHRD, AICTE, and New Delhi and 20 projects are in progress. He has published more than 200 international/national scientific papers, 50 book reviews in peer-reviewed journals, and 32 chapters and has authored/edited 16 books. He has guided 19 PhD students and eight students are under progress. He is a member of the editorial advisory boards of national/international journals including the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Journal of Food Science & Technology, and Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies & Applications . In recognition of his work, Panesar was awarded the 2018 Fellow Award by the Biotech Research Society of India (BRSI) and the 2019 Fellow Award by the National Academy of Dairy Science India (NADSI). He was also selected for the award of prestigious INSA Teachers Award by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in 2020. He has served as the National Vice President of the Association of Food Scientists & Technologists of India (AFSTI) in 2019. He has also visited several countries like the UK, the USA, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Iran, and Thailand. Ranjit Gurav is Associate Professor at UPES Dehradun, India. He received his PhD in Biotechnology in 2013 and has since conducted extensive research for a decade in various countries, including the USA, South Korea, India, and China. Throughout his career, he has held roles such as associate professor, research professor, assistant professor, postdoctoral research associate, and young scientist, contributing significantly to advancements in his field. His research primarily focuses on harnessing agriculture and food industry waste biomass, and by-products to produce bioelectricity, polyhydroxyalkanoates, biodiesel, exopolysaccharides, and biohydrogen. Dr. Gurav is highly skilled in implementing microbial, bioelectrochemical, hydrogel, biochar, and self-activated carbon-based technologies for the remediation of organic contaminants and heavy metals in water and soil. Using a microbial system, he has established a unique technology for converting poultry feather biomass into a growth stimulator, and chitin biomass into an antifungal agent. In addition, he developed green infrastructure to manage urban stormwater runoff through biologically active pervious structures. Gurav has secured research funding totalling $100,000 from organizations such as the NSF I-Corps of the United States, FIAP of Texas State University, and DST-SERB of India. Gurav is deeply involved in the academic community, serving as an associate editor, academic editor, topical editor, and editor for ten international journals and reviewer for over 70 international journals. He holds life memberships with the Biotech Research Society of India and the Association of Microbiologists of India.
