MECAM WEBINAR
Composites and Advanced Materials Industry
'A Roadmap towards Advanced Engineering'

Dr. Devendran Thirunavukarasu, is the Founder and Director of the ST Advanced Composites (STAC) Chennai, India with more than twelve years experience in advanced composites manufacturing technology. Possesses skills including computer aided engineering, manufacturing technology, product development, composite testing and certifications. Presently focusing on light weight automotive parts and the development, and implementation of sustainable composites materials to solve the climate change and environmental impact issues.

Highlights of the projects:

• Development manufacturing and supply of Verical Axis Tidal Turbine Blade- Achelous Energy, UK
• Mettalic and non-metallic structural parts for space applications- MBRSC, Govt. of Dubai, UAE
• Manufacturing and supply of CFRP Telecommunication parts- Al Asateen System, Muscat, Oman
• Manufacturing and supply of Unmanned Air Vehicle Structure parts to Delhivery, India
• Design and manufacturing & supply of Radomes to LRDE, BEL , DRDO
• Development of the advanced composites parts for Automotive and mass transit- JK Fenner, India
• Development of the composites wear resistance plate for excavator buckets- Caterpillar, India
• 1 meter CFRP blade development for UAVs – UCAl, Jap India
• CFRP structure parts for unmanned air vehicles – VTOL Aviation, India

Avner Ben-Bassat is the President & CEO of Plataine, a leading provider of Industrial IoT and AI-based optimization solutions for complex manufacturing environments.
Avner leads Plataine’s product vision and global business strategy. Plataine’s solutions are used by leading manufacturers worldwide, from OEMs to Tier 2s - including Airbus, GE, Stelia North America, MRAS (ST Engineering), Muskogee Technology, IAI, Triumph, General Atomics, Alestis, Ethan Allen and Hengshi.
Plataine partners with SAP, Siemens PLM, Airborne, GE Digital, McKinsey & Company, the British NCC (National Composites Centre), the AMRC (University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) with Boeing, and CTC-Stade (an Airbus Company), to advance the ‘Factory of the Future’ worldwide. For this work, Plataine has Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award from the JEC and CompositesUK organizations, as well as the Shanghai Society of Aeronautics (SSA).
Mr. Ben-Bassat has been invited to speak at over 40 major composites & aerospace related conferences globally in the past 5 years, among which are Airtec, CAMX, SAMPE, JEC World, AeroDef, China Composites Expo and SME. He holds an MBA with distinction from Duke University, and a BSc (Magna Cum Laude) in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from Tel-Aviv University.
Avner Ben-Bassat is the President & CEO of Plataine, a leading provider of AI-based and IIoT optimization solutions for advanced manufacturing. Avner leads Plataine’s product vision and global business strategy. Plataine’s solutions are used by leading manufacturers worldwide. Mr. Ben-Bassat has been invited to speak at over 40 major composites & aerospace related conferences globally in the past 5 years, among which are Airtec, CAMX, SAMPE, JEC World, AeroDef, China Composites Expo and SME. He holds an MBA with distinction from Duke University, and a BSc (Magna Cum Laude) in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from Tel-Aviv University.

Dr. Abusafieh is responsible for R&D initiatives and technology development strategy for Strata, Sanad Aerotech, and UAE Clusters division at Mubadala. His role includes fostering collaboration programs with OEMs and academia to develop new technologies in support of Strata and other UAE Clusters businesses. Dr. Abusafieh has over 25 years of industry experience in the aerospace and the advanced materials fields covering a range of aircraft and spacecraft programs and technologies. His prior US employment includes Drexel University, Composite Optics Inc., Alliant Techsystems (ATK), and Cytec Engineered Materials. He has five patents and sits on advisory boards for a number of universities. Dr. Abusafieh obtained his Ph.D. from Drexel University, his Masters from Villanova University, and his Bachelor from University of Jordan. He has received several government and industry awards for his contributions to aerospace innovation.

I started my career by developing medium and large-size low-cost FFF-based 3D Printers for Educational Institutions in Kerala, India in 2013. The inspiration from the medical industries around the globe pushed me to develop a Bio 3D Printer which can print Bio-Inks. The prototype successfully printed a bio-ink developed by the scientists in SCTIMST and they brought the first machine in 2015. From there, many premier institutions in India such as IITs, CSIR, DST Institutes, etc brought the machine, and still, they are using those machines for their R&D.

Later I started the research on Ceramic 3D Printing and developed medium-size and very large-size Ceramic 3D printers that can print Industrial grade ceramics as well as Medical grade. Many of the government's institutes such as DRDO, SCTIMST, etc are using those machines for different R&D in their fields.

Currently, I am working closely with many machine, material & software developers to tackle the manufacturing issues of S.Asian and Middle East Industries in Polymer, Composite & Metal Additive manufacturing technologies.