Malini is a Senior Fellow at TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and an adjunct faculty at TERI School of Advanced Studies, both located in New Delhi, India. She has a doctorate in biochemical engineering, with masters and bachelors degrees in chemical engineering.

Malini has over twenty years of experience in innovating as well as assessing technology solutions in different sectors of the industry. Her work focuses on evolving affordable solutions to specific challenges of inefficient resource use and waste faced by industries, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in developing countries.  These industry oriented actions address different aspects viz. improving resource efficiency (i.e. reducing the use of energy, water and materials) in existing production processes; technology demonstrations for process upgradation; research, development, demonstration and commercialization of value added products from industrial wastes. She has worked extensively in partnership with various international research groups and directed many multi-institutional international projects including several funded by the European Commission.

Malini is a nominated expert in select programmes of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, reviewer for funding agencies and peer-reviewed international journals.