Chemical Engineering

I graduated from the University of Science Malaysia with a B.Eng. in Materials Science & Engineering and achieving a First in 2011. In 2013, I received the prestigious Warwick Chancellor's International Scholarship to carry out my Ph.D. research in Chemistry at the University of Warwick, UK, exploring carbon nanomaterials for electroanalysis and electrocatalysis. In 2017 I began a Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge, UK, working on novel porous materials for electrochemical gas sensing. I joined Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick in 2019 as a Research Fellow working on the development of lithium ion technologies (lithium ion battery and lithium ion capacitor). In 2020, I joint Teesside University to take up an appointment as a Lecturer (then promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2022) in Chemistry at School of Health & Life Sciences, working primarily on electrochemical sensor (biosensor and environmental sensor).

I joined the School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer in 2022. I am affiliated with the discipline of Chemical Engineering and I am a member of the Institute for Bioengineering, where I carry out research in the area of nanoscale/microscale electrochemistry, electroanalysis, electrocatalysis, development of electrochemical sensor (biosensor and environmental sensor) and electrochemical energy storage.

My work has been published in reputable journals such as Nature, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Carbon, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, and Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry. I have received several awards, including the Best Oral Prize at the RSC Materials Horizons Symposium (2025), poster and oral presentation prizes at Warwick (2015–2016), the Gold Award in British Invention Show (BIS, London, 2011), the Romanian Best Innovation award in BIS (London, 2011), the Gold medal Award in National Research and Innovation Competition (NRIC, Malaysia, 2011), and the Sustainable Green Technology Award in NRIC (Malaysia, 2011).

In 2019, being awarded the prestigious Talented Program organised by Hebei (China), I aim to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations on electrochemical sensors with Hebei University of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

• PhD in Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK, 2017
• Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering, First Class, University of Science Malaysia, 2011
• Postgraduate Certificate In Learning and Teaching In Higher Education, University of Teesside, UK, 2022

• Chartered Chemist (CChem)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), United Kingdom, PR253148
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Member, 98359847
• The Royal Society of Chemistry, MRSC, 549655
• The Society of Chemical Industry membership, 71669

• (CHEE08020) Applied Chemistry and Biochemical Engineering 2 (Credits 10)
• (CHEE11030) Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering 5 (Credits 10)
• (CHEE10002) Chemical Engineering Design: Project 4 (Credits 40)
• (CHEE09015) Chemical Engineering Design 3 (Credits 20)

• Nanoscale/microscale electrochemistry
• Electroanalysis
• Electrocatalysis
• Gas sensors
• Biosensors
• Biomedical wearable devices
• Advanced drug delivery systems
• Biomaterials
• Nanomaterials and nanotechnology
• Energy storage materials
• Zinc-ion battery

I became Professor of Interfacial Science & Engineering in Edinburgh in 2020 (and was Director of Chemical Engineering from 2020 to 2024) after eight years at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle where I was first Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Environment and then Pro Vice-Chancellor (REF). Prior to that I spent twenty two years as an academic at Nottingham Trent University where I was a Professor and Head of the Research & Graduate School (Science & Technology) in the College of Arts & Science and formerly Head of Physics & Mathematics. In my earlier career I held a Royal Society European Fellowship at the University of Paris VI (Pierre et Marie Curie) and both gained a PhD in Applied Mathematics and was awarded a BSc (Hons) First Class in Mathematical Physics by the University of Nottingham.

My research involves wetting, interfacial science and engineering and is undertaken as part of the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids. It has attracted many funding awards including over twenty RCUK/EPSRC grants, mainly as Principal Investigator, and including both an EPSRC Platform Grant (awarded only to world-leading groups) and an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training. I have published over 250 refereed journal papers, which are cited over 1000 times annually (Google Scholar), and have been awarded seven patents. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (FRSA), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academic (FHEA), a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (F.Inst.P) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (SMIEE). I am a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College and lead a UK Fluids Network Special Interest Group. I have previously been a Board Member of the Award Winning BIM Academy Enterprises Ltd, an Editorial Board member of Advances in Colloid & Interface Science and a UK Management Committee representative on COST Actions. I was a member of sub-panel 13 ("Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials") for the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) and I am Deputy Chair of sub-panel 9 ("Physics") for REF2029.

• BSc (Hons) First Class, University of Nottingham, 1983
• PhD University of Nottingham, 1986

• Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (FRSA, 2017)
• Chartered Physicist (CPhys) and Fellow Institute of Physics (FInstP, 2002)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA, 2007)
• Senior Member Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (SMIEEE, 2002)
• Member of the International Society of Bionic Engineering (MISBE, 2019)
• Member of the Advisory Board for the Key Lab in Bionic Engineering, Jilin University, China (2019-2022)

• Year 1 Chemical Engineering Design 1 (Course Organiser)
• Year 3 Chemical Engineering Laboratories
• Year 4 Chemical Engineering Study Projects
• Year 5 Research Project and Industrial Project Supervisor
• MSc Research Project Supervisor

Areas of research include smart and advanced materials, functional surfaces, static and dynamic wetting of surfaces (theory and experiment) and acoustic waves (fundamentals and sensor applications). These are encompassed within three broad categories,

• Interfacial Science and Engineering
• Smart Materials and Surfaces
• Wetting, Dewetting and Droplet Friction

Applications include heat and mass transfer, evaporation and condensation, friction and drag reduction, and fluid dynamics and microfluidic systems.

• I am always open to enquiries to supervise PhDs (self-funded, via University or Other Scholarships or sponsored PhDs) or host visiting researchers. University-funded PhD positions are either advertised on FindaPhD or applications can be made for agreed projects which, if a student receives an offer, enables application for University Scholarships, e.g.

• EPSRC Doctoral Training Awards (UK, EU and Overseas Students)
• Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship (for high quality Overseas Students)
• Principal's Career Development PhD Scholarships (UK, EU and Overseas Students)
• Croucher Foundation Study Awards (Permanent Hong Kong Residents)
• The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (Industry-based PhD)

• I lead the UK Fluids Network (UKFN) Special Interest group (SIG) in Droplet and Flow interactions with Bio-Inspired and Smart Surfaces.
• I have a strong belief in public understanding of research and have co-developed Natures Raincoats exhibition and website.

www.carboncapture.eng.ed.ac.uk

• PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of Naples, Italy, 1994
• Laurea summa cum laude in Chemical Engineering, University of L'Aquila, Italy, 1991

• Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics 3 CHEE09011
• Adsorption CHEE11016
• Chemical Engineering Industrial Project 5 CHEE11014
• Chemical Engineering Research Project 5 CHEE11017
• Chemical Engineering Study Project 4 CHEE10009

• Carbon capture
• Adsorption and membrane gas separations
• Diffusion in nanoporous and porous materials
• Fluidization

• Director of Chemical Engineering Discipline
• Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia
• Recipient of the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2001)
• Recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize (2001)
• Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers
• Senior Member American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Member International Adsorption Society and British Zeolite Association
• Member of the Directorate of the Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage centre
• Research area champion for adsorption and membranes of the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre