Panel Discussion: Industry Challenges & Opportunities

After earning his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in textile and polymer engineering, Dr. Bhat joined the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in August 1990, where his research covered nonwovens - melt blown, spunbonded and biodegradable; plastics recycling; nanotechnology; sustainable materials; and high-performance fibers. As the director of UTNRL he successfully demonstrated commercially feasible production of nanofibers from thermoplastic polymers by meltblowing. In July 2016, he joined UGA as the Head of the TMI department. He has served as the president of the Fiber Society and is also an active member of INDA and TAPPI. Some of the awards/recognitions he has received include: Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni by Georgia Tech; Distinguished Achievement Award from the Fiber Society; Fellow of the Textile Institute; TechniTex India Research Achievement Award; TAPPI NET division Technical Achievement Award.

Dr.-Ing. Martin J. Lehmann is Principal Expert Research Network and Public Funding at MANN+HUMMEL. Before he served four years as Vice President Air Filtration and Engineering Air Filter Elements at MANN+HUMMEL He earned his Dr.-Ing. in 2005 at KIT. 2004, he joined Cummins Filtration at Stoughton, WI. 2006-2016, he was head of the simulation team for filtration at MANN+HUMMEL, Ludwigsburg,

Dr. Lehmann is a member of the Scientific Committee of the FILTECH and has been of the AFS, WFC13. He is appointed member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the GSaME at Uni Stuttgart and elected board member of the AFS (2020-2022, 2023-2024). He was co-chair of several AFS conferences and is co-chairing the 2024 AFS FiltCon. Dr. Lehmann was an invited keynote speaker at InterPore, AFS and FILTECH , WFC13 and has published over 80 technical papers.

Matthew (Matt) O’Sickey, Ph.D., Director of Education & Technical Affairs, INDA. Matt joined INDA in September 2022. He has prior experience as the Director of Application Engineering and Research & Development for the Americas at RKW North America and as Director of Global Market Development with Tredegar Corporation. He holds a deeply rooted belief that innovation is the result of the intersection of marketing and technology, and this is reflected in his career path, which encompasses both disciplines. His career has entailed developing and bringing to market a range of hygiene and packaging films and nonwoven laminates. Within the hygiene area, he has worked on the development and commercialization of topsheets, surge layers, waistbands, fit and closure elements, breathable films and laminates, backsheets, pouch films, and bags with more recent focus on sustainable solutions.

Matt has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and a Masters of Engineering Administration from Virginia Tech, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University with a heavy emphasis on the processing-structure-property relationships of polymeric materials.

Dr. Christine Sun, President of Waterloo Filtration Institute, is a renowned technical and market expert in the global filtration industry. With over 30 years of experience in both academia and the industry, she has an in-depth knowledge of filtration, and extensive hands-on expertise in product development, with over 100 technical publications and patents. She is also actively involved in many air/liquid filter standard test developments.

Dr. Sun received her Ph.D. from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and her Executive Certificate from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management. From 2004 to 2011, Dr. Sun worked for Freudenberg Filtration Technologies as the R&D manager and Technology Director for Donaldson 2011-2013. She was the AFS Chair from 2016 to 2017 and received the AFS Fellow Award in 2019, Sr. Scientist Award in 2012, and the best paper award from INDA in 2008. She is also an editorial board member for Textile Research Journal and Journal of Industrial Textiles.

Dr. Sun is also recognized as "a brilliantly articulate and lively instructor who is skilled in guiding filter media professionals through the complexities of the air, liquid, and nanotechnology markets." Over the years, she has developed many unique professional courses to promote the global filtration industry for a clean, healthy, and sustainable world, such as "Nanofiber Technologies in Filtration" (AFS, 2013-2019), "Filter Media Training Course" (INDA, 2014-2017), "Liquid Filtration Tutorial" (INDA 2013), "Air Filtration Market, Technologies and Trends" (AFS, 2015-2019), "Filter Media Market and Technologies" (WFC12, 2016), "Filter Media Technologies" (AFS, 2015-2019), and "Facemask Media Technologies (AFS 2020). 'The add addition of INDA's Nonwoven Filter Media Training Course was tremendously received' as Dave Rousse, INDA's Past President, said after Dr. Sun's course at Filtration 2014.

Mr. Zimmer is an experienced air filter specialist with more than 20 years of experience in the international ventilation industry. Since 2009 Mr. Zimmer has been employed by Camfil, an industry leading air filter manufacturer based in Sweden. He has held various positions within the Camfil Group and his current position is Vice President Global Product Management and International Standards. Mr. Zimmer serves actively in numerous working groups of several international standard committees including ISO TC142 (Cleaning equipment for air and other gases), CEN TC195 (Air filters for general air cleaning), CEN TC156 (Ventilation for buildings). Mr Zimmer is the convenor of the Ad Hoc WG Environmental product declarations for air cleaning equipment in CEN TC 195 as well as Vice Chairman of PC-Fil at Eurovent Certification. In addition, he is active in various international ventilation & engineering industry associations and committees including Eurovent, EVIA, REHVA, Eurovent Middle East, Eurovent International, VDMA, FGK and EHEDG. In this context, Mr. Zimmer co-authored several guidebooks and technical guidelines related to air filtration and ventilation.