<p><strong>Dr. B.P. Gautham</strong> is currently Chief Scientist in the Knowledge Engineering and Engineering Decision Platforms group at TCS Research, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Pune, where he has been contributing to research and innovation advances since 1994. His work focuses on transformational research and next- generation digital solutions for engineering decision-making. He integrates simulation tools, artificial intelligence, and experiments to solve complex industrial problems in product design and manufacturing, with a focus on enhancing performance and optimizing processes. His research interests include knowledge modeling and reasoning for engineering decisions, computational techniques for multi-physics problems, and the application of AI and data science in materials and mechanical engineering.<br>Dr. Gautham earned his Ph.D. (1994) and B.Tech. (1990) in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has published two books, three book chapters, and over ninety research papers spanning mechanical engineering, materials science, and computer science. </p>
<p><strong>Professor S. Balasivanandha Prabu </strong>is Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Anna University, Chennai, where he also served as Head of Department from 2021 to 2025. He earned his M.E. from the College of Engineering, Guindy, and completed his Ph.D. at Anna University in 2005. With over two decades of teaching and research experience, his work spans composite materials, nanostructured metals, severe plastic deformation, and advanced manufacturing processes, with a focus on the materials aspects of production engineering. He has published more than 150 research papers, contributed to several books and chapters, and co-authored the acclaimed volume Superplasticity: Common Basis for a Near-Ubiquitous Phenomenon (Springer, 2018). Prof. Prabu’s research and leadership have significantly advanced materials engineering education and industry collaboration in India. He is Inventor of three Indian patents.<br><strong> </strong><br><strong>Akash Bhattacharjee</strong> is Innovative Computational Materials Scientist with over a decade of experience in alloy design, computational thermodynamics, and integrated computational materials engineering (ICME). His expertise spans microstructure modeling, additive manufacturing, and the application of AI/ML in advanced materials design. At TCS Research, Tata Consultancy Services, he focuses on optimizing digital manufacturing processes for sustainability and energy efficiency. He has extensive experience working with steels, Ni-based superalloys, and aluminum alloys. Akash holds an M.Tech. in materials engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore (2013–2015). He was part of the award-winning team that secured the First Prize in the AM-Bench 2018 international benchmarking competition, organized by NIST, USA, for accurately predicting microstructure evolution during additive manufacturing.</p>
