Profs. Misra and Mohanty attended the 41st International Conference of the Polymer Processing Society (PPS-41) in Paestum, Salerno, Italy, from May 31st to June 4th, 2026. 

The conference gathered distinguished academics, researchers and industry professionals to partake in discussions and showcase their work in the areas of polymer processing, sustainability and technology advances. 

Prof. Mohanty presented a keynote lecture on June 1st, titled “Circular economy driven sustainable green composites: Can biodegradable plastics alleviate single-use plastic waste problem?”. Additionally, Prof. Mohanty acted as a Sessional Chair for the session titled “Sustainability”. 

Prof. Misra received the James L. White Innovation Award from PPS – an award given to researchers and innovators for cutting edge work in the science and technology of polymer processing which has made major commercial impact. With this award, Prof. Misra was invited to give a plenary lecture on June 3rd, in which she presented “Sustainable Polymeric Materials for a Circular Economy”. 

Pictured: Volker Altstädt, President of the Polymer Processing Society (left), Prof. Misra (middle) and Paula Moldenaers, professor emeritus at KU Leuven (right)

To learn more about the conference, visit this link. 

To learn more about the James L. White Award and previous awardees, visit this link.