Academic staff from the School of Chemical Engineering are among the highest recipients of the Ministry of Education’s research grants

9 January 2019; the School of Chemical Engineering is proud to announce the 2018 Ministry of Education’s research grants recipients in an appreciation ceremony held at the Dewan Budaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia today.

The recipients of the prestigious national grant have been announced by the Ministry last year and Universiti Sains Malaysia appreciates the effort and hard work provided by all the academic staff upon receiving the awards.

The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed, whom presented the appreciation certificates to all the recipients.

The grant awardees from the School of Chemical Engineering under the 4 different categories include;

(A) Long Term Research Grant Scheme (LRGS):

(1) Program leader: Associate Professor Dr. Ooi Boon Seng
Program title: Resource, reclamation and reuse from the aquaculture effluent.
Total grant value: RM 7,377,729.00

Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Ooi Boon Seng
Project title: Reclamation of aquaculture water using membrane technology and its performance and fouling studies.
Grant value: RM 2,732,153.00

Project leader: Professor Dr. Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah
Project title: Advanced oxidation process for elimination of recalcitrant pollutants from aquaculture effluent.
Grant value: RM 1,195,776.00

(B) Transdisciplinary Research Grant Scheme (TRGS):

(1) Program leader: Professor Dr. Abdul Latif Ahmad
Program title: Solar powered membrane distillation for desalinating algae blooming seawater: separation, fouling, and energy efficiency study.
Total grant value: RM 1,029,627.00

Project leader: Professor Dr. Abdul Latif Ahmad
Project title: Synthesis, characterization, and assembly of superhydrophobic PVDF hollow fiber membrane with highly porous surface morphology.
Grant value: RM 423,400.00

Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Ooi Boon Seng
Project title: Solar driven vacuum membrane distillation of seawater aquaculture farm water.
Grant value: RM 171,800.00

Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Derek Chan Juinn Chieh
Project title: Fate of microalgae cells and algal organic matter in integrated membrane distillation system.
Grant value: RM 158,500.00

(C) Prototype Development Research Grant Scheme (PRGS):

(1) Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Suzylawati Ismail
Project title: Development of functional paint for the removal of pollutants in industrial effluent.
Grant value: RM 150,000.00

(D) Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS):

(1) Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Ooi Boon Seng
Project title: Thermoresponsive membrane distillation for seawater desalination: fouling phenomena and mechanistic antifouling study.
Grant value: RM 97,500.00

(2) Project leader: Professor Ir. Dr. Zainal Ahmad
Project title: Multivariate data analysis in solving highly dynamic environmental quality data.
Grant value: RM 90,600.00

(3) Project leader: Professor Dr. Lim Jit Kang
Project title: Working principle of artificial magnetotaxis for motion control of microbot.
Grant value: RM 114,080.00

(4) Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Derek Chan Juinn Chieh
Project title: Role of algal organic matter in microalgae adhesion to solid surfaces.
Grant value: RM 114,500.00

(5) Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Suzylawati Ismail
Project title: Intra-particle interactions and mechanism of electrospun zwitterionic nanofibers adsorbent for the removal of cationic and anionic
pollutants in wastewater.
Grant value: RM 101,500.00

(6) Project leader: Associate Professor Dr. Syamsul Rizal Abd Shukor
Project title: Elucidation of mass transfer effects and mechanistic modelling of isoamyl acetate production in a miniaturised intensified reactor.
Grant value: RM 118,000.00

(7) Project leader: Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Leo Choe Peng
Project title: Mechanistic and kinetic studies on the mechanochemically enhanced carbonation of alkaline waste for CO2 capture and storage.
Grant value: RM 76,600.00

The School of Chemical Engineering congratulates all the grant awardees and hope that the research activities will further flourish and bring the School to be among the best, not only in the country but also in the world.