Biorefinery of Oil Producing Plants for Value-Added Products

Suraini Abd-Aziz is a Professor/Deputy Dean at Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. She is currently the AFOB Executive Board Member and Vice President of AFOB Malaysia Chapter. She graduated with a BSc (Honours) Clinical Biochemistry from National University Malaysia in 1992, MSc (Biochemical Engineering) from University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom in 1994 and PhD (Biochemical Engineering) from University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom in 1997. In research, she had developed her research interest in the field of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology specialized in Bioenergy and Biobased Chemical, which focused on the utilization of agro-wastes for the bioenergy and value-added product towards zero waste emission. Apart from being the project leader of her own research grants, she also actively contributed to other projects in her capacity to be expert in enzyme technology, fermentation technology, bioprocess engineering and environmental biotechnology.

Misri Gozan is a Professor at Bioprocess Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia. He is currently the AFOB Vice President of Indonesia region. He completed his Bachelor of Engineering Education in the Department of Gas and Petrochemical Engineering (later becoming Chemical Engineering) Universitas Indonesia in 1993. He earned a Master in the field of Process and Environmental Engineering from Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1998. In 2004 he finished his Doctor of Ingineuer (Dr.-Ing., Cumlaude) at the Faculty of Geology, Forestry and Hydrology, TU Dresden, Germany. His research works are related to bioprocess engineering, especially in the efficacy of biopesticides oil extracted from Nicotiana tabacum, biochemicals synthesis from agricultural solid waste and oil extraction of indigenous plants.

Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim is an Associate Professor at Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in 2009 and PhD in 2013, both are from UPM before appointed as senior lecturer at UPM in 2013. His works mostly on the utilization of biomass into value-added products such as enzymes, biofuels, biosugars, animal feed, activated carbon, essential oils and other biobased chemicals, which covers various bioprocessing approaches such as fermentation, extraction, pretreatment, carbonisation and activation. He is the member of Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB) and currently the Vice Secretary of AFOB Malaysia Chapter.

Phang Lai Yee is an Associate Professor at the Department of Bioprocess Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang Malaysia. She graduated with a Bachelor Science in 1998 from the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Food Science and Biotechnology, UPM and obtained Master degree with the field of Environmental Biotechnology at the same department in 2001. She pursued her PhD study in Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT), Japan. Her research interest is in Environmental Biotechnology, focusing on the conversion of waste materials into valuable products such as fine chemicals and biofuels, which includes screening of microorganisms, fermentation, optimization and pretreatments. She is also working on phytoremediation of contaminated soil. She is the member of Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB) and currently the Treasurer of AFOB Malaysia Chapter.