Charles Kannankeril was born in Kerala, India, where he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. After coming to United States, he received a master’s degree in organic chemistry from the University of Massachusetts. Charles was accepted to the doctorate program there, but he decided to pursue engineering to broaden his knowledge base. He received a master’s degree in engineering, from the same university in the field of plastics.

Charles has over three years of teaching experience at universities in India and the United States. He has worked in the plastics and rubber industries and has forty-five years of research and development experience in this area. Charles has held various positions in these fields including development engineer, senior development engineer, senior engineering fellow, and director of research and development.

Invention has been a large part of his life. He grew up in India without much more than the essentials. Instead of wishing for the kind of luxury and modern capabilities others had, Charles created his own way by making the best out of what he did have. When he saw or heard about the new technologies and advances outside, he often thought about how to experience and recreate what he was missing. The best way he could do that was by imagining, imitating, and improvising. Charles recognized his hidden talents and skills, nurtured them, and learned how to use them. He learned the necessary techniques to train his mind and prepare it to think and act like an inventor’s mind. He set his goals high and started doing things differently with the resources available to him. This attitude of experimentation and determination gave him the creativity, knowledge, and confidence to become an inventor.

During his career, he was granted a total of seventy patents—thirty-seven from the United States and thirty-three international. Currently, Charles has ten patent applications that are pending in the US patent office. Some of his inventions are also protected by trade secrets.

Over the years, he invented and documented over three hundred ideas for new products and processes. His areas of expertise include cushion technology using Bubble Wrap, foam, paper, and on-demand cushion products; food packaging technology related to meat-packaging trays, absorbent pads, and microbial control; medical products such as inflatable hospital beds, ostomy bags, blood-wipe pads, and biohazard material shipping bags; solar-power technology, and polymer formulation and process technology. One of his significant inventions—a high temperature–resistant rubber tape formula that could withstand 3400° F—was not patented but instead kept as a trade secret.

In recognition of his contributions, Charles was inducted into Sealed Air Inventors Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Engineer of the Year award from the Indian Engineer’s Association in 2012.

By sharing his life and research experiences, Charles’s goal is to inspire readers to be creative and set their goals high to make meaningful contributions to society by creating a better way of life.