Catalysis & Energy Sustainability

Catalysis is one of the overarching principles of green chemistry and is the single most important and pervasive interdisciplinary technology in the chemical industry. It is integral to the current and future energy efficient systems solutions (environmentally benign and clean energy sources - solar fuels and biofuels). Research focus areas include the following:

• Photo(electro)catalysis for Sustainable Energy conversion

• Biofuels for Sustainable Development

• Smart Energy Solutions to Improve Energy Efficiency.

Key contact information:

Professor Ir. Dr Chai Siang Piao

Prof. Ir. Dr Chai Siang Piao is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Deputy Head of School (Research) for School of Engineering. Prof. Chai is an active researcher in the areas of heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis, reaction engineering and advanced functional materials. His current research interest primarily focuses on the development of advanced photocatalytic materials for environmental and sustainable energy applications. He has published more than 150 articles in ISI journals accumulating total citations of more than 10,000 times. Prof. Chai has won numerous awards and recognitions, which include Global Highly Cited Researcher and Top Research Scientist Malaysia.

Associate Professor Ooi Chien Wei

Assoc. Prof. Ooi Chien Wei specializes in the fields of bioprocess design and biocatalysis. His research focuses on the development of integrated microbial fermentation systems and process model prediction tools for the production of industrially important enzymes and bio-pharmaceuticals derived from recombinant DNA technology. He has been working with the industrial partner in transforming the chemical synthesis routes by biocatalysis strategy, ranging from enzyme engineering to molecular dynamic simulations. His research also involves the applications of bio-derived ionic liquids and stimuli-responsive polymers in the designs of novel bioseparation systems and biosensing materials. He has published more than 80 ISI-indexed journals, and holds 3 patents related to bioprocess technology.

Professor Tey Beng Ti

Professor Beng Ti Tey is a lead inventor for 10 patents filed in Malaysia and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. His research area can be broadly described as process development of biopharmaceutical production. His group has successfully applied direct cell engineering approaches to manipulate apoptosis, and cell proliferation that resulted in substantial improvements in cell lines of biopharmaceutical importance. He is also interested in the production and purification of virus-like-particles (VLP), and has successfully developed several direct and fast purification methods to purify the recombinant VLPs from microbial cell lysate.

Associate Professor Lim Yau Yan

Assoc. Prof. Lim's research interests are diverse, from micellar catalysis based on surface active transition metal complexes to the identification and bioactivity of active compounds from herbal plants, and to studying the effects of processing treatment on the bioactivity of herbal plants. Currently he is also involved in the application of tunable coloured LED lights (with AP Vineetha Kalavally of School of Engineering) to improve the yield of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants. He has published more than 100 articles in ISI journals and is a member of the Fellow of Academy of Sciences Malaysia.