Lignocellulose for Future Bioeconomy

H. Ariffin is the Head of Laboratory of Biopolymer and Derivatives, and an Associate Professor at the Department of Bioprocess Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She obtained her PhD in Environmental Engineering from Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan in 2009. Her research interests include biopolymer, nanocellulosic materials and composites, and biomass valorization. To date she has published more than 50 journal articles, 2 chapters in book and 50 conference papers. She has experience in reviewing numerous papers from International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (Elsevier), Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier), Composites Part A (Elsevier), RSC Advances (RSC Publications), Journal of Applied Polymer Science (Wiley), Electronic Journal of Biotechnology (Elsevier) and several other journals.

S.M. Sapuan is a Professor (Grade “A ) of composite materials in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is also Head of the Advanced Engineering Materials and Composites Research Centre (AEMC) at UPM. He attained his BEng in mechanical engineering from the University of Newcastle, in Australia and then went on to receive his MSc in engineering design and PhD in materials engineering, from De Montfort University in the UK. He is a Professional Engineer and a Fellow of many professional societies, including the Society of Automotive Engineers; the Academy of Science Malaysia; the International Society for Development and Sustainability; the World Academy of Sciences; the Plastic and Rubber Institute Malaysia (PRIM); the Malaysian Scientific Association and the Institute of Materials Malaysia. He is an Honorary Member and past Vice President of the Asian Polymer Association and Founding Chairman and Honorary Member of The Society of Sugar Palm Development and Industry, Malaysia. During the course of his career, he has produced over 2500 publications, including 989 journal papers, 68 books and 246 book chapters.

M.A. Hassan is a Professor at the Department of Bioprocess Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia. He graduated the from University of Leeds, UK in Chemical Engineering in 1980. He received his MS in Food Engineering from the same university in 1982, Masters of Philosophy from University of Birmingham, UK in 1987 and PhD from Okayama University, Japan in 1997. His current research interest is on sustainable utilization of oil palm biomass for value-added products. Together with his counterpart from Japan, he has successfully developed a showcase oil palm biorefinery together with a palm oil industry under SATREPS project, which is a joint project between Malaysia and Japan. To date he has published more than 200 journal papers, 5 book chapters and more than 100 conference papers. He sits in the Board of Directors, Universiti Putra Malaysia; a Vice President of Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB) and a fellow of Academy of Science Malaysia. He recently received the prestigious Malaysia’s Research Star Awards 2017 in recognition of his excellent contribution in research.