ATLANTA, Ga. – Gajanan S. Bhat of the University of Tennessee is recipient of the 2014 TAPPI Nonwovens Engineers and Technologists (NET) Division Technical Award and Mark Hollingsworth Prize. The award is intended to recognize outstanding accomplishments or contributions which have advanced the industry's technology in the awarding division's field of interest. Division awards will be presented at thePaperCon 2014 Conference Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 in Nashville, TN, USA.

“During his career Dr. Bhat has made tremendous contributions as both an educator of some of the nonwovens industry’s best young scientists and engineers as well as directing ground breaking research into cutting edge nonwovens technology and applications such as nanotechnology,” notes Larry N. Montague, TAPPI President and CEO. ”His research and development work has significantly advanced the industry’s technical knowledge in nonwovens fibers, processing and applications and make him an outstanding choice for the Division Technical Award.”

Dr. Bhat is currently a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Nonwoven Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Tennessee, where he’s been instrumental in expanding research efforts and in establishing the world’s only pilot plant able to evaluate technologies for melt blown nanofiber nonwovens. His research work in nonwovens covers a broad range of areas including melt blown, spun bonded and biodegradable fibers, plastics recycling, nanotechnology and sustainable materials. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses he mentors masters and doctoral students and many of them have gone on to become nonwovens industry scientists.

Dr. Bhat has published more than 200 research papers and holds three U.S. Patents. He’s active in several industry organizations including the Fiber Society, Textile Institute and INDA, as well as serving on the editorial boards of professional journals including the Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Journal of Textiles and Journal of Nanomaterials. A TAPPI member since 2002 he’s served in a variety of roles including developing Technical Information Papers, organizing technical conferences and worked as Education Coordinator. He’s been honored with the Fiber Society’s Distinguished Achievement Award and is a Fellow of the Textile Institute. Dr. Bhat has a Ph.D. in Textile and Polymer Science and M. S. in Textile Engineering from Georgia Tech.