Tien-Yau Luh obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago (with L. M. Stock) in 1974. After spending two years of postdoctoral research at the University of Minnesota (with P. G. Gassman), he began his independent research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1976. He moved back in 1988 to his alma mater, National Taiwan University where he has been University Chair Professor. He officially retired from his present post in August of 2016 and was appointed as Distinguished Chair Professor and Professor Emeritus. He has published 290 papers and has received numerous awards. He is also serving as a member of the advisory/editorial board for Chemical Communications, Chemistry-A European Journal, The Chemical Record, Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, Tetrahedron, Tetrahedron Letters and Springer Lecture Notes in Chemistry. His current research interests include organometallic chemistry in polymer synthesis mimicking biomacromolecules, and chemistry of materials.

Chemistry in polymer synthesis mimicking biomacromolecules, and chemistry of materials.

Dr. E. H. Yang is a full professor of Mechanical Engineering Department at Stevens Institute of Technology. He received Ph.D. degrees from Ajou University, Korea. After his postdoctoral training at University of Tokyo and at California Institute of Technology, he joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he became a Senior Member of the Engineering Staff. At JPL, he received a number of awards, including NASA ICB Space Act Awards, Bonus (Level B and C) Awards and a number of Class 1 NASA Tech Brief Awards. In recognition of his excellence in advancing the use of MEMS-based actuators for NASA's space applications, he received the prestigious Lew Allen Award for Excellence at JPL in 2003. He is an Associate Editor and/or Editorial Board of several journals including Nature’s Scientific Reports.

Material Science, Smart Material Synthesis

MSc-1977 (in Applied Physics), PhD (in Physics and Mathematics)-1980, DSc (Habilitation, (in Physics and Mathematics)-1989. Affiliations: The Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow (1977-1990); Professor at The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (1990-2006; Eduard Pestel Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering at The Technion in 1999-2006); Distinguished Professor at The University of Illinois at Chicago, USA (2006-present); Fellow of the American Physical Society. Prof. Yarin is the author of 4 books, 12 book chapters, 310 research papers, and 6 patents. Prof. Yarin was the Fellow of the Rashi Foundation, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and was awarded Gutwirth Award, Hershel Rich Prize and Prize for Technological Development for Defense against Terror of the American-Technion Society. He is one of the three co-Editors of “Springer Handbook of Experimental Fluid Mechanics”, 2007, and the Associate Editor of the journal “Experiments in Fluids”.

Biodegradable and stimuli-responsive polymers, Nanotechnology, Electrospinning of nano fibers, Nanotechnology, Co-electrospinning of core-shell nanofibers, Thermal treatment of core-shell nanofibers to manufacture turbostratic carbon nanotubes, Micro- and nanofluidics, Nanoparticle-based ink-jet printing in micro- and optoelectronics, Deposition of nanocoating on micron- and nano-sized particles in plasma reactors, Drop splashing,Acoustic levitation Fluid mechanics and rheology,Heat transfer.

Dr. Murugan Ramalingam is Professor at the Centre for Stem Cell Research (a unit of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine-Bengaluru), Christian Medical College Campus, India. Concurrently he is Adjunct Professor at the Tohoku University, Japan. Prior to joining the CSCR, he was Associate Professor of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, Université de Strasbourg, France. He has worked at the WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Japan, as an Assistant Professor. He has also worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under the U.S. National Academies Associateship program. He received his Ph.D. in Biomaterials from the University of Madras. He has also undergone training in Ethical and Policy issues on Stem Cells from Harvard University, USA, and in Operations Management from the University of Illinois-Chicago. His current research interests are focused on the development of multiphase biomedical materials, through conventional to nanotechnology to biomimetic approaches, microfabrication, cell patterning, stem cell differentiation, tissue engineering and drug delivery. He is the author of ~300 publications, including peer-reviewed journal papers, conference proceedings, book chapters, authored books, edited books, and patents relevant to biomaterials, stem cells, and tissue engineering. His current h-index is 33 with more than 7500 citations. He has organized several international conferences and chaired Biomaterials, Nanobiotechnology, Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering sessions. He also serves as a board member of several international scientific and research committees in various public and private bodies and grant reviewer of various international funding agencies. He serves on the editorial boards of multiple biomaterials and tissue engineering-related journals, including the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and the Journal of Bionanoscience. He is a recipient of several prestigious fellowships and awards, including CSIR Fellowship (India), SMF Fellowship (Singapore), NRC National Academies Fellowship (USA), Nationale Professeur des Universités (France), Fellow of Institute of Nanotechnology (UK) and Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (UK).

His current research interests are focused on the development of multiphase biomedical materials, through conventional to nanotechnology to biomimetic approaches, microfabrication, cell patterning, stem cell differentiation, tissue engineering and drug delivery

Dr. Jae-Hyung Jang has completed his PhD from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL, USA), Dept.of Chemical and Biological Engineering and performed post-doctoral study at University of California, Berkeley (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering). He is currently an associate professor of Yonsei University, and he has been primarily working on the development of adeno-associated virus-mediated gene delivery tools and nano-biomaterial systems that can be applied for cell delivery vehicles or 3D scaffolds.

Engineering adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene vectors Neural stem cell-based cell therapy Smart electrospun fibrous matrices / innovative electrospinning technologies Tissue engineering scaffolds for spinal cord regeneration Catechol-mediated surface modification & its gene therapy/tissue engineering applications Polymeric/controlled viral gene delivery from biomaterials

Dr. Sunkara is currently a Senior Principal Investigator in DuPont Industrial BioSciences Business unit. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 1989 from University of Madras, India. He joined DuPont Nylon Intermediate and Polymer Business unit in 1997 after working at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Since then, he devoted his DuPont career in advancing the frontier of the “white biotechnology” area with focused efforts on development bio-based materials as substitutions for petroleum-sourced incumbents. During his 20 years with DuPont, he has played a significant role in promoting the “greening of DuPont” through many scientific contributions to corn and soy agricultural feedstocks based materials:Bio-PDO™, Sorona®, Cerenol® Polyols, Hytrel® RS, Imron® Industrial Strength, Bio based plasticizers, Plenish® High Oleic Soybean Oil based dielectric fluids and tannin based rigid insulation foams. He is the principal Inventor in more than 140 US Patent applications issued/pending, some of which were licensed to European and Asian countries. He is also contributor to many publications and presentations. Dr. Sunkara is recipient of 2013 ACS national award for Affordable Green Chemistry. His current research focus is on developing 100% bio based poly(alkylene furandicarboxylate) resin for packaging industry.

“white biotechnology” area with focused efforts on development and commercialization of bio-based materials from renewably sourced feedstocks.

Pr. Luc Avérous is a Group (BioTeam) Leader, Head of Polymer Research Department at ICPEES (UMR CNRS 7515) - University of Strasbourg (France), and former Lab Director. He started as Polymer Engineer (EAHP-Strasbourg). Then in 1995, he obtained his PhD in Polymer Science & Eng. (Ecole des Mines de Paris). After two post-doctoral positions (Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal-Canada,), he became A/Prof. at the Packaging Engineering School (Reims) in 1997. Finally in 2003, he became a Full Professor at ECPM (Strasbourg), where he teaches biopolymers science, biomaterials, composites, polymers characterization & processing. During the last two decades, his major research projects have dealt with biobased and/or biodegradable polymers for environmental & biomedical applications. As a leading international expert in these fields, he has developed strong collaborations with several foreign labs (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Spain,) and major companies (Total, Soprema, Tereos, PSA,). He serves as a member of research advisory boards for different companies. In France or overseas, he is regularly invited to co-organize Conferences, to chair Symposia, and to give plenary or keynote lectures. He has co-edited 4 books (2 Wiley, Elsevier & Springer). He is a member of several Editorial Boards, and Guest Editor for scientific journals. He is a referee for many scientific journals, books and international projects. He has published hundreds of scientific communications with more than 6000 citations & H-Index ≈ 40 (Scopus data)

- Biopolymers: polysaccharides & bacterial polymers - Renewable and biodegradable (co-)polyesters - Biobased and durable macromolecular architectures (TPU, PUR, PIR, NIPU, PA,) with building blocks from different biomass (lignins, tannins, fatty acids, sugar) - Multiphase bio-systems (Nano & composites, blends,) - Enzymatic catalysis / White Biotech - Biomaterials for biomedical (Tissue Eng.: Electrospin. & 3DPrinting, Biosensor, Control. release,)

Vakhtang Barbakadze has completed his Ph.D and D.Sci. from Institute of Organic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia and Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Tbilisi, Georgia in 1978 and 1999, respectively. He is the head of the departement of plant biopolymers and chemical modification of natural compounds at the Tbilisi State Medical University I.Kutateladze Institute of Pharmacochemistry. He has been a visiting scientist at Utrecht University (faculty of pharmacy), The Netherlands, by University Scholarship and The Netherlands organization for scientific research Scholarship Scientific Program (NWO) in 1996 and 2002, respectively. He has published more than 90 papers in reputed journals.

Chemistry and Biological activity of Plant Macromolecules; Chemistry of natural products; Immunomodulatory, Antioxidant, Antiinflammatory, Wound-healing and Anticancer properties of Biomacromolecules.

Prof. Dong Ha Kim received Ph.D. degree in the Department of Fiber and Polymer Science at Seoul National University in Korea. He was postdoctoral researcher in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with Prof. Thomas P. Russell and in the Materials Science Department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research with Prof. Wolfgang Knoll. He assumed a faculty position in the Department of Chemistry and Nano Science at Ewha Womans University in 2006, and currently is a Full Professor and Ewha Fellow. His research interests include development of hybrid nanostructures for energy, environment, memory, display, and biomedical theragnosis. He has authored 145 SCI publications and holds 29 Korean and 2 US patents. Currently, he is Associate Editor of Science of Advanced Materials, Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports and Advisory Board Member of Journal of Materials Chemistry A and Nanoscale.

Research is inclined towards the area of development of hybrid nanostructures for energy, environment, memory, display, and biomedical theragnosis.

Dr. Xiaoqing Liu is a full professor in Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He obtained his Ph.D in polymer chemistry and physics from Institute of Chemistry, CAS, in 2007. From 2008-2009, he worked as a postdoc in Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and Washington State University (USA). In Oct. 2009, he began to work as an associate professor in NIMTE and was promoted to a full professor in 2013. His research work was focused on the synthesis of bio-based polymers and composites, including bio-based high performance epoxy and polybenzoxazine, bio-based polyesters from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Up to now, he has published 60+ peer-reviewed SCI papers in the journal of Green Chemistry, ChemSusChem, Journal of Materials Chemistry A and Polymer et al. and held 30+ granted patents in the field of bio-based polymers.

His research work was focused on the synthesis of bio-based polymers and composites, including bio-based high performance epoxy and polybenzoxazine, bio-based polyesters from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Up to now,

Bien Tan is the professor of School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). He received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the College of Materials at South China University of Technology. He then joined in Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials for postdoctoral research in National Laboratory of Advanced Composites (1999-2001). He worked as a PDRA at The University of Liverpool (2001-2007). He then returned to China and joined HUST in September 2007 as a professor. In December 2009, Tan was awarded New Century Excellent Talents in University by the Ministry of Education, and in the same year he was awarded Chutian Scholar Distinguished Professor by Hubei province. He has so far published more than 70 journal papers in high impact journals including Nature Nanotechnology, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Advanced Materials and 5 book chapters, approximately half of these being in the last 5 years. Current impact factor of Tan is more than 310.

His main research interests are polymeric materials, supercritical fluids, microporous materials, hydrogen storage, metal nanoparticles, emulsion-templated materials, and high-throughput materials methodology.

Professor Dr. Jin Huang is affiliated with School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, China. He received the PhD from Wuhan University, and completed postdoctoral research in Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Thereafter, he has worked in Wuhan University of Technology from 2005 to 2015, and carried out some research in Grenoble Institute of Technology in this period. The one of his research interests focuses on “Developing chemical and physical methodology and technologies to manufacturing green materials from biomass resources”, and he has worked on the preparation and evaluation of bioplastics, composites and nanocomposites using natural polymers including cellulose, chitin and chitosan, starch, plant proteins etc., and explored some advanced applications. Especially, the surface chemical modification and new nanocomposites of cellulose nanocrystals are the main topics. Up to now, he has authored and co-authored more than 140 peer-reviewed journal publications, 1 monograph and 7 book chapters, over 40 granted patents, and many conference papers/presentations.

The one of research interests focuses on “Developing chemical and physical methodology and technologies to manufacturing green materials from biomass resources”, such as the preparation and evaluation of bioplastics, composites and nanocomposites using natural polymers including cellulose, chitin and chitosan, starch, plant proteins etc., and the exploration of some advanced applications. Especially, the surface chemical modification and new nanocomposites of cellulose nanocrystals are the main topics.

Run-Cang Sun, ligniocellulosic chemist, graduated from chemistry department, North-western University, Xian, China in 1982. Then he worked at North-western Forestry College until Sep. 1991. Between Oct. 1991 and Feb. 1993, he studied at Lund University, Sweden as a visiting scholar. From Mar. 1993 to Sep. 1996, Mr. Sun studied at The BioComposites Centre, University of Wales, Bangor, UK as a full time research PhD student. Since Oct. 1996, he worked at the University of Wales, Bangor, UK as a senior research scientist until end of 2007. He was awarded a distinguished Professor at State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China in 2000 by China Higher Education Committee, and was selected as the director of State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering in Aug. 2008 (2008.8-2015.5). In addition, Prof. Sun has also being working at the Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry as a director since Aug. 2006. He was a Dean at the College of Materials Science and Technology between Oct. 2011 and Sep. 2015, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China. Since 1993, he has being focused on the fractional isolation, structural characterization, and chemical modification of hemicelluloses, lignin, and cellulose from lignocelluloses for biomaterials, biofuels, and chemicals. He has published 726 SCI papers in peer reviewed international journals in English and 223 papers in international conferences (41 plenary or keynote reports, 25 invited reports, 46 oral presentations) as well as 127 papers in Chinese, which have been totally cited over 20,000 citations by others as of January 23, 2017 (his Google Scholar h-index of 70). He edited a book under the title of “Cereal Straw as a Resource for Sustainable Biomaterials and Biofuels: Chemistry, Extractives, Lignins, Hemicelluloses and Cellulose” 2009, Elsevier, London. As invited author, he has published 31 book chapters regarding utilization of lignocelluloses (in English) such as Encyclopaedia of Separation Science (2000 vol. 6, pp. 4568-4574, Academic Press, London). He has got 8 items of research awards and 77 patents. Prof. Sun is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK and an Editor-in-Chief of “Industrial Crops and Products”，Associate Editor of “Carbohydrate Polymers”, “BioResources” Journal, “Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy”, “The world Journal of Forestry”, and “Journal of the Faculty of Forestry Istanbul University (JFFIU)”. He is also a member of editorial board in “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry”, “International Journal of Cellulose Chemistry and Technology”, “The Scientific World Journal”， Bioethanol Journal，Journal Energy Research and Applications， Bioresources and Bioprocessing，“Journal of Engineering”, Dataset Papers in Chemistry，Energy Review, and “The Open Agriculture Journal”，Material Science and Engineering，Journal of Chemical Technology and Applications，SF Journal of Material and Chemical Engineering，etc.

Research Interest in fractional isolation, structural characterization, and chemical modification of hemicelluloses, lignin, and cellulose from lignocelluloses for biomaterials, biofuels, and chemicals.

Bharat Bhushan received an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1971, an M.S. in mechanics and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1973 and 1976, respectively, an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, NY in 1980, Doctor Technicae from the University of Trondheim at Trondheim, Norway in 1990, a Doctor of Technical Sciences from the Warsaw University of Technology at Warsaw, Poland in 1996, and Doctor Honouris Causa from the National Academy of Sciences at Gomel, Belarus in 2000 and University of Kragujevac, Serbia in 2011. He is a registered professional engineer. He is presently an Ohio Eminent Scholar and The Howard D. Winbigler Professor in the College of Engineering, and the Director of the Nanoprobe Laboratory for Bio- & Nanotechnology and Biomimetics (NLB2) and affiliated faculty in John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. In 2013-14, he served as an ASME/AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, House Committee on Science, Space & Technology, United States Congress, Washington, DC. His research interests include fundamental studies with a focus on scanning probe techniques in the interdisciplinary areas of bio/nanotribology, bio/nanomechanics and bio/nanomaterials characterization and applications to bio/nanotechnology, and biomimetics. He is an internationally recognized expert of bio/nanotribology and bio/nanomechanics using scanning probe microscopy, and is one of the most prolific authors. He is considered by some a pioneer of the tribology and mechanics of magnetic storage devices. He has authored 8 scientific books, 90+ handbook chapters, 800+ scientific papers (h-index – 76+; ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science since 2007 and in Biology and Biochemistry since 2013; ISI Top 5% Cited Authors for Journals in Chemistry since 2011), and 60+ technical reports. He has also edited 50+ books and holds 20 U.S. and foreign patents. He is co-editor of Springer NanoScience and Technology Series and co-editor of Microsystem Technologies, and Member of Editorial Board of PNAS. He has given more than 400 invited presentations on six continents and more than 200 keynote/plenary addresses at major international conferences.

Fundamental studies in the interdisciplinary areas of bio/nanotribology/nanomechanics and nanomaterials characterization in bio/nanotechnology and biomimetics with a focus on scanning probe techniques.