Composites Innovation (PDF)

Probir's career in innovation began more than 45 years ago after graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and completing his graduate work from the Polymer Institute, University of Detroit in the USA. As Vice President of Global Composites Innovation for Coats North America, Probir currently leads the development of Coats global strategy for fiber reinforced composites and its center of excellence focused on developing light weight solutions using textile industry process driven solutions using continuous fibers for composites. Prior to that, he served as Vice President Advanced R&D, Continental Structural Plastics, where his accomplishments included building an effective research team that led to the development and launch of the TCA® and TCA UltraLite® SMCs, the development of the first automotive composite centric Carbon Fiber Recycle system. Additional accomplishments also included coordinating developments between the US and European teams that led to a JEC Innovation Award for the Development of a Lightweight Automotive Hybrid Decklid.

Immediately before joining Coats he worked at Continental Structural Plastics, a company that specializes in the design and manufacture of composites materials, where he was Vice President, Advanced R&D. Prior to that he worked at ThyssenKrupp Budd for 35 years where his work led to many innovations that helped the company establish itself as an international leader in automotive composites.

He was also the recipient of the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) 2019 Pioneer Award, which celebrated his achievements in composite developments for the automotive market. Some of his achievements included being awarded over 150 patents issued, with many patents pending globally, in addition to being recognized as for being a leader in composites innovations over his career.