Keynote Speaker 2:

Prof. Dato’Ir Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, research & Innovation, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Mohamed, FASc, is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research & Innovation, Universiti Sains Malaysia and currently the Director of USM Sciences and Arts Innovation Space (sains@usm). His research interests span across the areas of reaction engineering and catalysis, air pollution, wastewater treatment, fuel technology and nanotechnology. His collaboration with international researchers includes those from Osaka University and Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan; and with the University of Lorraine (France) where he has also broadened his research influence. He has received more than 80 research grants from various national/international organisations, amounting to more than RM20 million and has published more than 400 research papers in international/national journals and conference proceedings with Scopus bibliographic database recorded H–Index of 77 and total citation of more than 19,000. He has also graduated more than 40 Master’s and PhD students. At the national level, Prof. Abdul Rahman serves as the Technical Advisor for the Public Private Research Network (PPRN) and Evaluation Panel for Translational Research@MOHE under the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.  He is a Field Expert in the Nanotechnology Area and Project Leader of National Graphene Consortium under the National Nanotechnology Centre.  As a fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), he has been appointed by ASM as the Industry Focus Group Leader for the Malaysia Science, Technology, Innovation Master Plan (STIMP) 2020-2030 and recently appointed as Chairman of the Task Force on National Nanotechnology Policy and Strategy (NNPS) 2021-2030. As a result of his excellent research achievements, he has received more than 60 national/ international awards, honors and recognitions, viz; Malaysia Toray Science Foundation Award and Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) (2012); Malaysia’s Rising Star Award (2015); MARA/MRSM Icon (2017) and Highly Cited Researcher (2018 and 2019).

Keynote Title:

Green Technology and Nanomaterial Applications for the Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)

Routine anthropogenic emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) continue the inexorable rise of atmospheric GHGs levels. In particular, CO₂ makes up a significant fraction of GHGs due to the widespread burning of carbon-based fossil fuels for power and transportation. This accumulation of atmospheric CO₂ has rendered global warming which stresses the ecosystem and leads to catastrophic consequences. Thus, to curb global emissions, Malaysia, as a signatory to Paris Agreement, are committed to reduce CO₂ emissions to 45% by 2030. In this respect, catalyst-driven CO₂ re-utilization routes have emerged as an appealing reduction strategy and will likely play a vital role in meeting this mitigation challenge. Processes such as light-driven CO₂ conversions, CO₂ reforming and CO₂ hydrogenation are all stimulating possibilities for CO₂ re-utilization which helps in closing the carbon loop. Furthermore, the incorporation of nanomaterials in the catalyst design has promoted efficiencies and further raises the prospect of these processes, essentially making nanomaterials as powerful enabler in the mitigation of GHGs.