Dr. D. Ratna attained his M. Sc in chemistry, M. Tech in materials Science & engineering and a Doctorate in polymer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He was a visiting scientist to Monash University, Australia on BOYSCAST Fellowship in 2000, sponsored by DST, India. He was also a visiting scientist to Technical University, Kaiserslautern, Germany on a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship from 2006 to 2008. He has also visited a number of foreign universities / institutions in USA, Australia, Germany and delivered lectures. Dr. Ratna has been working as a scientist at the Naval Materials Research Laboratory (Defence research and development organization-DRDO), Ambernath, Maharashtra, India for the last 25 years and presently heads the polymer science and technology department. He has carried out extensive works on toughened epoxy composites, nanocomposites, shape memory polymers and interpenetrating polymer network-based vibration damping materials. He has published more than 90 technical papers in reputed international journals and authored two single authored books. He has served as a reviewer for several international journals and research grant councils of Hong Kong, Czech Republic & USA. He has received laboratory level and national awards for product development and technology innovation.