Preface

was successfully organized by the School of Mechanical Engineering (SMEC), VIT Bhopal University, Madhya Pradesh, India, during December 17-18, 2025.The conference served as a premier interdisciplinary platform to explore cutting-edge innovations, emerging trends, and critical challenges in the domains of sustainable technologies, automation, aerospace, and robotics.Building on the success of previous editions, STAAAR 2025 was held in collaboration with IIT Bombay, India, and Boston College, USA, reflecting the growing global emphasis on sustainable engineering and advanced technological integration.The event received generous financial support from the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India -marking the third consecutive year of this prestigious funding for the STAAAR series.The conference attracted 135 research submissions from reputed institutions across India, including IITs, NITs, and leading government and private universities, as well as international contributions from Australia, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.After a rigorous peer-review process, 58 high-quality papers were accepted for presentation, achieving an acceptance rate of approximately 43%.The technical program featured seven keynote talks by distinguished experts on topics such as Digital Twin for Complex Systems for Sustainability, Beyond Technology Imperialism: Achieving True Sustainability, Human-in-the-Loop Rehabilitation Robotics, Lightweight Materials and Processes for Engineering and Strategic Applications, Learning to Adapt: Design Education and Future-readiness, AI/ML in fluid mechanics and Design Thinking.Six parallel technical sessions each day facilitated in-depth discussions on aerodynamics, applied mechanics, biomaterials and biomechanics, sustainable manufacturing, material characterization, AI/ML in fluid dynamics and heat transfer, computational fluid dynamics, and additive manufacturing.