Keynote Speakers

KEYNOTE SESSION

Keynote speeches will be given in the opening slots during parallel sessions. This is a time when fuel cells professionals and experts convene for inspiring and thought provoking knowledge in the field. You will hear from the top leaders and practitioners in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology sector, as well as industry experts, on their different perspectives and the real challenges they faced while putting their works, partnerships, and strategies into practice.

12 April 2017 (Wednesday)
1st Day of ICFCHT2017

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Nasef
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, MALAYSIA

“Emerging trends in radiation grafted proton exchange membranes for PEMFC”

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Nasef received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 1999 and is one of the pioneer reseachers who started fuel cell research in Malaysia. He is currently a Professor at the Environment and Green Technology Department at Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia. He is also the head of advanced materials research group at the Centre for Hydrogen Energy, Institute of future Energy at UTM. He serves as one of the panel of experts involved in the field of radiation processing of polymers in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an active member in various scientific and professional societies such as the American Chemical Society, Institute of Chemical Engineers and Electrochemical Society and Asian Polymer Association. He has authored  more than 150 research and review articles in renowned journals, as well as more than 80 counts of presentations in international conferences and seminars.

Dr. Abul Kalam Azad
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

“Development of Electrolyte Materials for IT-SOFCs”

Dr. Abul Kalam Azad received his PhD in Materials Chemistry in 2004 from Gothenburg University, Sweden. He has years research experience in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell materials development and cell testing, double perovskite materials for magnetic application, and structural and magnetic characterization of spinel and high Tc superconductors. His current key research areas are in SOFC electrode materials, proton conducting electrolytes Photo-catalyst, Photonic Crystal Fibre, batteries and sensors. He has published 81 international refereed journal articles with 620 citation from Scopus.

Prof. Dr. Shu-Yii Wu
Feng Chia University, TAIWAN

“From Green Hydrogen to Electrical Power”

Prof. Dr. Shu-Yii Wu is currently the CEO of APEC Research Center for Advanced Biohydrogen Technology, the President of Chimica Verde Bionet Asia Pacific Association, the Chair holder of UKM-YSD Malaysia, as well as the Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Feng Chia University, Taiwan. His research interests include Bioeconomy, Bio-hydrogen production/Process and bioreactor design Powder technology/Fluidization Bio-based polymers.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kassim
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MALAYSIA

“Novel Inorganic Complexes for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting”

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kassim received his PhD in Inorganic & Coordination Chemistry from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom in 2003. He currently serves as an associate research fellow in Fuel Cell Institute and Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, as well as the Deputy Executive Director for Strategy-UKM in the Office of Vice Chancellor. He is also a Professor in the School of Chemical Sciences & Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He has published several patents and numerous scientific articles related to fuel cells in high impact journals.

 

13 April 2017 (Thursday)
2nd Day of ICFCHT2017

Dr. S. Sundar Pethaiah
GasHub Technology Pte Ltd, SINGAPORE

“Fuel Cell Based Combined Heat and Power System for Residential Applications”

Dr. S. Sundar Pethaiah received his master and doctorate degrees in Chemistry from Alagappa University, India. He specializes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, electrolyzer and battery electrode/catalyst development, testing and stack assembling. He also worked at Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI) and Spic Science Foundation in India. He has also worked as a Research Fellow at TUM-CREATE, Singapore, where he was in charge of the technology development of PEM fuel cell, Electrolyzer and battery. Presently, he is working as a Senior Scientist in GasHub Technology Pte Ltd, Singapore. His current activities include the development of battery, fuel cell and electrochemical cell. Dr. Sundar’s areas of expertise include material characterization and nano catalyst synthesis.

Mr. Joseph Koh I-Shen
Horizon FC Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., MALAYSIA

“Fuel Cell Applications and Developments with Horizon and Solar NRJ”

Mr. Joseph is an engineer, technopreneur, an eco-racer. His first race entry in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), which was a clean vehicle team tricycle powered by a 2kW hydrogen fuel cell, in the 2007 world future cycle challenge organised by South Australia Cycles won first place for future technology class. Together with UTM, his team went on to win 1st in Technology Class, 2nd Overall, and Special Leopard Award in the 2008 South Africa Solar Challenge, First Malaysian Eco-marathon Racer in the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon held in Germany, as well as 1st Asia Champion in the 2010 and 2011 Shell Eco-marathon held in Malaysia. He continued to collaborate with other Malaysian universities and won awards in more eco-races while being involved in other big projects such as developing the first Self-recharging Energy System (SES) in Asia for a major telco company in Malaysia in 2015 and commissioning various grid-tied solar PV project under the SEDA-FiT program in 2013-2016. He has served as a member of the Fuel Cell Task Force formed by the Academy of Science Malaysia since 2014 and he is the Director of Horizon FC Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. since 2010.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Nor Aishah Saidina Amin
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, MALAYSIA

“Plasma-Catalytic Dry Reforming of Methane over Ni/Al2O3-MgO for Enhanced Syngas Production”

Professor Ir Dr Nor Aishah Saidina Amin or Prof NASA graduated with a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA. In 2013, she was recognized as one of the Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM). She is also a consultant, professional engineer, DOE subject specialist, and Fellow of IChemE. Actively involve in research on applied catalysis, sustainability, global warming, and nanotechnology, Prof NASA is the recipient of major grants at the national and international levels. She has published more than 150 papers in ISI/Scopus indexed papers. One of her review papers on biodiesel appeared as the Most Highly Cited paper in Applied Energy journal for 2015. She has also won numerous accolades related to her research projects both at the international and national levels She is the Head of Chemical Reaction Engineering Group (CREG) at UTM. Her field of expertise is in catalytic reaction engineering.

Dr. M.Ulaganathan
Nanyang Technological University, SINGAPORE

“Redox flow battery for sustainable energy storage applications”

Dr.M.Ulaganathan received his PhD in 2011 for his study of PVAc-based polymer electrolytes from Alagappa University, India. He has been a Research Fellow at the Energy Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore since 2011. His works include the development of Vanadium Redox flow battery, Li/Na-ion pouch/coin cell prototype, Na/Li-ion hybrid capacitor, supercapacitor (Aqueous) and their testing evaluation; ion exchange membrane synthesis, graphene (Gr), metal oxide, and Gr/metal oxide composite synthesis and characterizations. He served as an advisory committee member in IWAM-2014 for Alagappa University and is a life-time member in Indian crystal growth association (ICGA), as well as a member in International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) and Materials Research Society Singapore(MRS). He has published numerous scientific articles with awards such as the Hot Article 2016 web collection for Journal of Materials Chemistry A (Royal Society Chemistry), the hottest top 25 articles list in 2011 for Materials Chemistry and Physics (Elsevier), and the Most Downloaded Book Chapter “Surface Analysis Studies on Polymer Electrolyte Membranes Using Scanning Electron Microscope and Atomic Force Microscope” for InTech Open Access Publisher.

Prof. Dr. Arshad Ahmad
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, MALAYSIA

“Infrastructure and Safety Challenges of Hydrogen Mobility in Malaysia”

Prof. Dr. Arshad Ahmad received his PhD in Process Control in 1994 from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. He has been with the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) since 1986 and served in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering for 2 years as the Head of Department, 8 years as Deputy Dean, and 4 years as a Research Focus group leader in UTM. Previously, he served as the Director of the Institute of Hydrogen Economy from 2009 to 2015. He is currently a Professor of Process Safety & Energy Sustainability and the Senior Director, Institute of Future Energy. His research interests include process modelling, control and safety, risk assessment and accident modeling, process intensification, as well as hydrogen and fuel cell. He has been involved in many consulting projects and conducted numerous training courses in process engineering, process control, process safety and risk assessment.

Dr. Hoy-yen Chan
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MALAYSIA

“Fuel Cell and the Carbon Free Energy Roadmap for Malaysia (2015 – 2050)”

Hoy-Yen Chan did her PhD at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. She is currently a research fellow at the National University of Malaysia. She was awarded the “2016 Australia-APEC Women in Research”, fellowship at the University of South Australia. Her main research is building integrated solar technologies; and lectures “Energy Policy and Management” course. She was appointed by the University Network of Climate and Ecosystems Change Adaptation Research (UN-CECAR) as the Malaysian Focal Point to develop the “Renewable Energy” courses, and working group member for “Leadership in Sustainability” courses for the United Nations University. She is involved in curriculum development for climate change modules under the USAID “Low Emissions Asia’s Forest” programme. She is also the writer for the “Carbon Free Energy: Roadmap for Malaysia” document for the Task Force on Carbon Free Energy (chaired by Prof. Dato’ Dr. Kamaruzzaman Sopian FASc) of Academy Sciences Malaysia. She is a Registered Electrical Energy Manager with Energy Commission Malaysia, and a certified Energy Expert of UNIDO Energy Management Systems. Moreover, she is an Editorial Board member of the “Journal of Future Cities and Environment”. Also, she was the reviewer for the drafts of IPCC AR5 and the UNFCCC 2nd Biennial Report. Besides UN-CECAR, she is also a board member of the South East Asia Sustainability Network (SEASN) and core member of the International Network for Advancing Transdisciplinary Education (INATE). Being 5th time appointed as Vice-Chair of the UNESCO sponsored training course, “Asian School on Renewable Energy, she’s established regional network with the policy community and academics.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Arlt
Lehrstuhl für Thermische Verfahrenstechnik, GERMANY

“Application of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier in Mobility”

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Arlt received his PhD in chemical engineering in 1981 from Dortmund University, Germany. He was an engineer at Bayer AG in Leverkusen, Krefeld, and Antwerp. He has also served as the main referee German National Science Foundation (DFG), the Editor of Chemie-Ingenieur-Technik / Chem.Engineering Technology, an Advisor to the Bavarian government, and a member of various professional societies such as VDI, process-net, and AICHE. He was a professor at the Technical University of Berlin from 1993 until 2004 before his current position as a professor at the University of Erlangen. He has published 200 publications + books and 80 patents (national and international).

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Sobri Takriff
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MALAYSIA

“Biohydrogen from Oil Palm Biomass”

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Sobri Takriff is a professor of fluid mechanics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Co-Chair Professor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia- ime Darby Foundation Chair on Sustainable Development dan holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas, USA.  He is a registered Professional Engineer with the Board of Engineers Malaysia, a registered Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the UK Engineering Council and a Fellow of The Institution  of Chemical Engineers, UK.  Currently he is heading the Center for Sustainable Process Technology at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and leading a research program on zero waste technology for palm oil industry, which is funded by Sime Darby Foundation and Sime Research Sdn. Bhd.  This research program involved collaboration with Wageningen University (The Netherland), Feng Chia University (Taiwan), Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technology Research (Thailand), Universitas Sumatera Utara (Indonesia), Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia and several local universities.  He has also published more than 100 scientific publications and registered 2 WIPO patents and 3 Malaysian patents.