KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dato’ Ir Ts Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, F.A.Sc
Dato’ Ir Ts Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz is currently the President and CEO of Nadibumi International Sdn Bhd, a company focusing on the rare earth industry from mining to processing. Previously he was the Principal Consulting Fellow with University Malaysia Pahang concentrating on the consultation in development of critical mineral industry. He has more than 10 years working experience in the chemical, oil and gas, and energy industry; working in several multinational companies with roles as Senior Process Engineer, Site Quality manager, HSSE Senior Manager, Senior Operation Manager and General Manager. He was also in academia for more than 20 years; serving several public and private universities in the capacity as Professor, Head of Department, Dean, Corporate Strategic Director, Research and Development Center Director and Deputy Vice Chancellor. Dr. Badhrulhisham completed his undergraduate from Colorado State University, USA; and his postgraduate from University of Wales, UK and Kyoto University, Japan; all in the field of Chemical Engineering. He is a registered practicing professional engineer with Board of Engineers Malaysia; certified Technologist with Malaysian Board of Technologists and was elected as Fellow by the prestigious Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) in 2014. He is also active in consulting work and served as advisor and consultant to private and government sectors in critical mineral matters especially on the rare earth mining and processing plant (referred expert on Lynas to Parliament Select Committee; government spoke person on Lynas issue; one of the authors of the National Blueprint of Rare Earth 2014 and Business Model for non-Radioactive REE Industry 2023); industrial pollution (e.g. Sg Kim-Kim tragedy); engineering education and commercialization of R&D projects (scale up of bio and chemical plants). He has published and presented more than 160 papers locally and internationally, including more than 10 keynote and plenary speech.
Prof. Dr. Erman Taer
Department of Physic, Universitas Riau, Panam, Pekanbaru, 28293, Indonesia.
Erman Taer, a Lecturer and Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Riau in Indonesia, has been making remarkable contributions since 1995. He is a leading figure in research related to the synthesis of biomaterial-derived carbon with superior features for energy storage device applications, specifically supercapacitors. Having obtained his Ph.D. in Applied Sciences from the University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 2012, Erman earned the prestigious title of professor in 2019 due to his expertise in material physics, with a focus on carbon-based for supercapacitors. Besides his teaching responsibilities, Erman is deeply engaged in extensive research into carbon porous material derived biomass based for electrochemical energy storage. He consistently received awards as a top-cited article from Wiley Global from 2023 to 2024. With 151 articles indexed by Scopus and sustained dedication to this research area, he currently holds the highest H-index of 28 among researchers at the University of Riau in Indonesi
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kuniyoshi Shimizu
Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
Dr. Kuniyoshi Shimizu is a distinguished scholar from the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan. His research primarily focuses on elucidating the complex functions of forests with an emphasis on human physiological activities. He explores the effects of natural aromatic compounds on human mind and body, as well as investigates mushroom bioactive compounds to combat metabolic syndrome and aging diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and osteoporosis.
Dr. Shimizu's research outcomes have led to the development of cosmetics, aromas, functional foods, living environments, and toiletries made from natural materials that are available commercially. With an impressive h-index of 41 and over 5,800 citations, Dr. Shimizu's work has significantly impacted the fields of natural product and bioorganic chemistry.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mahani Yusoff
Materials Technology Program, Faculty of Bioengineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia.
Dr. Mahani Yusoff obtained her PhD in Materials Engineering (Composite Materials), MSc. in Materials Engineering, and B. Eng (Hons) in Materials Engineering from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. She has 12 years of teaching experience at the tertiary level covering the materials technology field. She has received 17 research grants totaling up to RM 1 million. At various national and international levels, her research was acknowledged, and she received honors with three patents. She has published more than 80 technical papers in books of chapters, peer-reviewed journals, and conference proceedings locally and internationally related to composite materials and powder metallurgy. She has supervised 2 PhD students, 6 masters students, and more than 50 undergraduate students.
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Mohd Hazim Mohamad Amini
Forest Resources Technology Program, Faculty of Bioengineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia.
Dr. Mohd Hazim Mohamad Amini is a PhD holder from Universiti Sains Malaysia in the field of Chemical Modification of Bioresources. He started his academic journey in 2012 at Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang in the Wood Industry Program. Later he joined Universiti Malaysia Kelantan in 2013 in the Forest Resources Technology Program. Obtaining Associate Professor in 2020, he has experience on sabbatical leave in the Karadeniz Technical University, Turkiye for a year. His field of study mainly involving the utilization of bioresource materials including wood technology, starch modification, activated carbon products and related research area. He has over 11 years of experience working with wood composite research projects, specifically the particleboards.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Azwadi Sulaiman
Materials Technology Program, Faculty of Bioengineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia.
Dr. Muhammad Azwadi Sulaiman was born in Kuala Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia on the 20th of March 1984. He obtained his BEng (2008), MSc (2009), and PhD (2013) degrees from Universiti Sains Malaysia in the field of Materials Engineering. In 2013, he joined Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) as a lecturer for the Materials Technology Programme, where he played a significant role in developing several new programmes. Throughout his tenure at UMK, he held various administrative positions, including Head of Department, Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation, and Dean of Faculty Bioengineering and Technology until 2023.
Dr. Azwadi is actively engaged in numerous research activities related to materials science and engineering and has organised conferences and seminars such as RCSSST, ICXRI, IConBET, ICoST, AMCT, and SCMSM. Additionally, he contributes to the editorial boards of several journals, including the International Journal of Electroactive Materials (IJEM), Journal of Tropical Resources and Sustainable Science (JTRSS), Malaysian Journal of Microscopy (MJM), and Malaysian Journal of Bioengineering and Technology (MJBeT). To date, he has published over 100 journal articles and edited more than 200.
His research interests primarily focus on X-ray-related techniques for investigating material properties and behaviours. He also specialises in radiation protection, occupational safety, and health, and oversees the Radiation Laboratory at UMK.
