AFOB Newsletter

Firstly, I would like to convey my appreciation to Professor Dr. Seung Wook Kim, Editor-in-Chief of AFOB Newsletter for inviting me to share some thoughts as a senior member of AFOB.

Allow me to introduce myself briefly. I am Mohd Ali Hassan, retired Professor at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). I graduated as a chemical engineer from The University of Leeds, United Kingdom and obtained PhD in environmental biotechnology from Okayama University, Japan.

I joined AFOB since its inception, as a Vice-President representing Malaysia. I was also Chairman of the AFOB Environmental Biotechnology Technical Committee. I participated in most of the major conferences and symposia organized by AFOB over the years.

The focus of my research is in waste management and utilization, with value-addition and zero-emission by process integration. My mentor and co-researcher for the last 30 years is Professor Dr. Yoshihito Shirai, now a retired Professor from Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan (Kyutech). Together we lead an international academic and industrial research collaboration, providing new technology and innovation in the palm oil industry. We received grants from the industry and government ministries and agencies from Japan and Malaysia. From 2013-2018, we received a large funding under the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) project from JST-JICA Japan and Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. Through this project, we managed to set-up and operate a biorefinery pilot plant for waste management, value-addition and zero-emission system at Keningau Palm Oil Mill in Sabah State, Malaysia.

Our results and findings were shared with various stakeholders through presentations in meetings, seminars and conferences in Malaysia and Japan, including in most of the AFOB conferences and symposia. We managed to produce several patents, copyrights and so many joint publications between UPM and Kyutech. In addition, we produced many PhDs in the joint R&D projects, mostly doing their research both in UPM and Kyutech and attachment at the industry. The teaching and learning of our undergraduates and postgraduates were greatly enhanced by working in a foreign laboratory and industry. Overall, we are very satisfied with the excellent outcomes of our international-industrial collaboration over the years.

We hope that our experience can be an example and inspiration for the young scientists and researchers in AFOB. Actually, AFOB provides an excellent networking for scientists and researchers to know each other and initiate joint projects of mutual interest. By participating in the conferences, workshops and symposia organized regularly by AFOB, we can update our knowledge, share and learn on new knowledge and technologies developed in our areas of interest, both from academia and industry. I strongly encourage everyone involved in biotechnology to register as a member of AFOB and to take participate in AFOB activities for a win-win strategy by conducting joint research projects with our peers in throughout the region and Asia.

All the best. Take care.