Bappa Acherjee is Associate Professor in the Department of Production and Industrial Engineering at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Production Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, in 2012, specializing in laser beam welding. His research interests encompass laser material processing, welding, additive manufacturing, and the application of the finite element method in manufacturing processes. Dr. Acherjee has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters. He currently leads four sponsored research projects funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and the Technology Development Programme, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, with a cumulative grant of 56.4 million Indian Rupees. Under his mentorship, two scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degrees, and five are currently pursuing their doctoral research. Dr. Acherjee's scholarly achievements have been recognized internationally, with his name appearing on Stanford University's list of the top 2% of scientists (single year) for four consecutive years (2021–2024). Beyond his research contributions, he has delivered numerous invited talks and tutorials. He also actively supports the academic community through peer reviewing for journals and conferences, organizing workshops, and serving in editorial roles for academic publications and conferences.Dawei Zhao is Senior Researcher at South Ural State University (SUSU). He oversees a team whose research is centred on the welding of high-strength materials, employing experimental, numerical and analytical techniques to achieve vehicle lightweighting. Dr. Zhao was awarded his PhD in Mechanical Engineering by Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). Upon completion of his doctoral studies, Dr. Zhao assumed the role of Senior Welding Engineer at China North Industries Group Corporation, where he addressed quality control concerns related to welding. Subsequently, he assumed the role of Senior Lecturer at Linyi University in China. Dr. Zhao has published 45 papers in ISI-listed journals. He has participated in several international conferences and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Industrial and Modern Manufacturing and Current Chinese Science. Additionally, he serves as a topic editor for several journals, including Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering (Frontiers), Applied Sciences (MDPI), Metals (MDPI) and Crystals (MDPI). He has also been an active reviewer for over 100 articles in more than 10 international journals.Fábio A.O. Fernandes is Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He has been actively involved in innovative challenges of technological processes such as laser welding, marking and processing of several materials. Since 2013, he has been an active author with more than 85 publications indexed in SCOPUS, including high-impact factor JCR SCI journals. He has >1250 citations and an h-index of 20 (Scopus). Since 2018 he has supervised 50 MSc, 4 PhD students, 2 Postdocs and 3 junior researchers. Fábio Fernandes participated in 23 R&D projects (9 in cooperation with industry), and 2 internationals, being the local PI of 1 European project (ERASMUS+) and 1 national project (FCT PeX 2022). His work on helmet testing and evaluation with advanced numerical tools was selected as the cover image of Mathematical and Computational Applications, volume 25, March 2020. He has been invited to organise special issues, give invited talks, and participate as a jury member in international scientific competitions. His work has been recognised with prestigious awards and honours, e.g. the 2017 Mário Quartin Graça Scientific award for his PhD work, and more recently, the invention Flattie resulted in the 8th edition of BfK Ideas, BikeUp, and the James Dyson (national) awards, and iF Product Design Award. He also has registered inventions in the form of patents. One was awarded in the IX national competition (PL) for inventors and patents. He received the Materials 2020 Outstanding Reviewer Award from the Materials Editorial Office (IF=3.057) in January 2021. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Mathematical and Computational Applications and a topic editor in Materials, Processes, and Nanomanufacturing journals. He is also a member of the American Welding Society (AWS).
