Dr. Prashant Desai Reappointed to NWI Strategic Scientific Advisory Board

The Nonwovens Institute is extremely proud to announce the reappointment of Prashant Desai, Ph.D., to the Institute’s Strategic Scientific Advisory Board (SSAB) in recognition of his unique contributions in building the NWI organization and in advancing the NWI academic-industry partnership model for conducting basic research on industry-relevant topics.

Dr. Desai received his Doctorate in Chemical Engineering specializing in Polymer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA in 1988, and then joined the faculty there where he was Associate Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering with a primary appointment in the School of Textile and Fiber Engineering and an adjunct appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received the Distinguished Achievement Award from The Fiber Society in 1995.

Following 10 years in academia, Dr. Desai joined FiberVisions in 1998 as a Research Scientist followed by a number of positions of increasing responsibility within the company including Senior Research Fellow and Global Programs Manager for the company’s Textiles/Industrials business unit. He was elected as President of The Fiber Society for the year 2000. As of 2016, Dr. Desai has also serves as Director of Global R&D for the Indorama Ventures Fibers & Yarns business unit.

Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Executive Director of NWI, noted, “Prashant has been a critical visionary for NWI in terms of strategic planning, research direction, and the overall development of the Institute.

Dr. Desai’s initial involvement with NWI came when he was named FiberVisions’ member representative of what was then known as the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center (NCRC) in 2002, while he was located at the company’s technical and manufacturing center in Covington, Georgia, USA. He later became the leader of the Thermal Bonding Focus group and a member of the external advisory board until 2009.  When NWI’s Scientific Advisory Board was formed in 2010, he was elected to be one of its first members. In this role, Dr. Desai made numerous contributions supporting the growth and maturation of NWI and in advancing the NWI academic-industry partnership model in conducting basic research on industry-relevant topics.  At the expiration of his term on the board – now the Strategic Scientific Advisory Board – Dr. Desai was honored by selection as an “Emeritus” member; allowing him to continue to benefit the SSAB with his experience, insights and energy.

Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Executive Director of NWI, noted, “Prashant has been a critical visionary for NWI in terms of strategic planning, research direction and the overall development of the Institute.”