The pivotal role of chemistry in India’s sustainable development

Narpinder Singh is currently vice chancellor at Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), India. He has a PhD in food technology and a distinguished career spanning 35 years. Narpinder has led numerous research projects funded by esteemed organisations and has held a JC Bose Fellowship since 2010. His research elucidates starch properties across botanical sources, benefiting breeders and industry. He explores the impact of heat stress on wheat and rice, revealing decreased starch synthesis and increased susceptibility to breakage in rice varieties lacking glutelin type-D1 protein. Additionally, he investigates protein structure-function relationships in legumes for gluten-free and eggless product formulation. His contribution in metabolomic profiling of crops highlights environmental influences on nutritional and processing traits, emphasising the importance of environmental factors.

Sourish Bhattacharya has a B Tech in biotechnology from West Bengal University of Technology, India, an M Tech in fermentation technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology, India and a PhD from Central Salt Mine and Chemicals Research Institute, India where is currently a senior scientist. Sourish has a strong background in biochemical engineering with research interests in microalgal biofuel, bioplastics involving polyhydroxyalkanoates and polylactic acid, commercially important biopolymers for food and therapeutics, and microalgal biotechnology for nutraceuticals. In addition, he has expertise in bioremediation for industrial wastewater through the circular economy model. Further, as a bioprocess engineer, Sourish is very familiar with scale-up challenges within industry.

Nishad Fathima is a chief scientist in CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, India. She holds B Tech, M Tech and a PhD in leather technology from Anna University, India. Nishad’s work is focused on protein assemblies and has made significant contributions on the use of ionic liquids in the stabilisation/destabilisation process of collagen. Her work on biophysical studies on collagen has led to the development of biomaterials and value-added materials from proteinous waste. Her recent focus is on the development of gloves for extreme cold weather protection and for touch screen sensitivity. Nishad has been the project investigator for several projects funded by CSIR, DST, SERB, DBT, INSA. She has 127 papers in international journals, six book chapters, five Indian patents and one US patent to her credit.