Introduction

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Email
msomiv@unisa.ac.za

Bio
Prof. Velaphi Msomi obtained his Doctor of Technology at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2015. He started supervising postgraduate students soon after obtaining his doctoral degree. He was involved in Materials Science-based projects, and a few students joined his research projects in 2016. He started the friction stir welding research group in 2017, and the group grew then, a few years later, the group was recognized by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He started producing friction stir welding-based research articles in 2019 to date. He has produced over 60 research papers on friction-stir-based technology in less than five years. His research output has given him a Y rating by the National Research Foundation for six years (2021 – 2026). He is currently the institution's head of the Friction Stir Technology Research Group. He has also been a reviewer for numerous international journals. This includes Heliyon, Materials Characterization, Vacuum, Materials Research Express, Journal of Materials Research and Technology, and many more. He is a founder and Coordinator of the International Conference on Applied Research and Engineering, which started in 2021. He has also been the Guest Editor for Materials Today: Proceedings, International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing, Materials Science Forum, Key Engineering Materials, AIP Conference Proceedings, Applied Science, Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, and many more. He recently won a prestigious award in 2023 funded by the National Research Foundation and Elsevier called the Research Excellent Award Early Career/ Emerging Researchers.

Email
sipokazim@dut.ac.za

Email
pitam@unisa.ac.za

Bio
Elango Natarajan obtained doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai, India in 2010. He worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at at Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia in 2013 and carried out research on soft actuators. He has served for engineering colleges/universities for about 25 years in various academic positions. He is currently attached to Faculty of Engineering, UCSI University, Malaysia as an Associate Professor in mechanical and mechatronic engineering. Besides, he is the Deputy Director of Praxis, Industry and Community Engagement. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng.) awarded by Engineering Council UK, Chartered member (CMEngNZ) awarded by Engineering Council NZ and Fellow awarded by Institution of Engineers India. He has published 115+ research articles and his h-index is 22 in Scopus. He has completed many research grant projects including projects supported by Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia worth of about RM 1 million. He has edited three Conference proceedings, and two books. He is now editing a book (T&F). He is an academic Editor of J. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering (Wiley). He was the Chairman of IEEE Robotics and Automation Chapter Malaysia

Bio
Prof. Sanjay Mavinkere Rangappa, is currently working as a Senior Research Scientist/Associate Professor and also 'Advisor within the office of the President for University Promotion and Development towards International goals' at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand. He received the B. Eng (Mechanical Engineering) in the year 2010, M.Tech (Computational Analysis in Mechanical Sciences) in the year 2013, Ph. D (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Science) from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India in the year 2018 and Post Doctorate from King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand, in the year 2019. He is a Life Member of Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) and an Associate Member of Institute of Engineers (India). He is an Associate Editor of Heliyon Elsevier (Materials Science) and Frontier Materials Journals. Also acting as a Board Member of various international journals in the fields of materials science and composites. He is a reviewer for more than 150 International Journals (for Nature, Elsevier, Springer, Sage, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, American Society for Testing and Materials, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, IOP, Hindawi, NC State University USA, ASM International, Emerald Group, Bentham Science Publishers, Universiti Putra, Malaysia), also a reviewer for book proposals, and international conferences. In addition, he has published more than 300 articles in high-quality international peer-reviewed journals indexed by SCI/Scopus, 10 editorial corners, 80 book chapters, one book, 40 books as an Editor (Published by lead publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley), and also presented research papers at national/international conferences.

Bio
Prof. Surjya K. Pal is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. He has held the position of Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya Chair Professor in Manufacturing at IIT Kharagpur. He is the Founder Chairperson of the Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing Technology; an organization with the purpose of solving industrial problems. In addition to his role as a visiting professor at the University of Connecticut, USA, he also holds a visiting professorship at the University of Huddersfield, UK. He has published 331 research articles, including, 201 peer-reviewed Journal Papers, 15 International Book Chapters, 97 Conference papers, and has 17 patents filed. He has more than 8600 citations and h-index of 54. His innovation, “Low-cost AI solution for metrological inspection,” is selected in the top 3 by INDIAai Lab2Market (The National AI Portal of India, a MeitY, NeGD, and NASSCOM initiative). As a result of his collaboration with TATA Consultancy Services, he holds two joint patents with TCS. He is the author of the textbook, “Digital Twin – Fundamental Concepts to Applications in Advanced Manufacturing.” He has supervised 24 scholars who have graduated from doctoral programs, with 13 continuing. Professor Pal has successfully executed a huge number of projects worth more than 12.7 million USD. As a part of his administrative duties, he also served as the Associate Dean of Alumni Affairs and Branding at IIT Kharagpur. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to science and technology, Professor Pal has been awarded the prestigious Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) fellowship. He has also been featured in the list of top 2% researchers around the world published by Stanford University Rankings 2022.