PENANG, 3 May 2018 – The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia has appointed a Top Research Scientist Malaysia, Professor Ir. Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Mohamed, FASc, 54, as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation (DVC R&I) at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for the next three years, beginning 1 May 2018 until 30 April 2021.

Abdul Rahman, who is also the Director of Sains@USM (Sciences and Arts Innovation Space), was formerly the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Industry and Community Network at USM since 1 May 2016. He succeeded Professor Dato’ Dr. Muhamad Jantan who ended his tenure as DVC R&I on 30 April 2018. Abdul Rahman is also a certified Professional Engineer and a prominent scholar and researcher.

Abdul Rahman attended Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM) Kulim in Kedah before continuing his studies at the University of Southern California in the USA, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. Subsequently, he received his Master’s degree and completed his Ph.D. in 1993 in the same field from the University of New Hampshire, USA.

Abdul Rahman began his professional career as a lecturer at the School of Chemical Engineering (SCE), USM in 1993. He was one of the pioneers of the School and served as the Dean of SCE and is an active researcher. His research interests span the areas of reaction engineering and catalysis, air pollution, wastewater treatment, fuel technology and nanotechnology. His collaboration with researchers include those from Osaka University and Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan; and with the University of Lorraine (France) where he has also broadened his research influence.

He has received more than 80 research grants from various national/international organisations, amounting to more than RM20 million and has published more than 400 research papers in international/national journals and conference proceedings with Scopus bibliographic database recorded H–Index of 59 and total citation of more than 11,000 (as of May 2018). He has also graduated more than 40 Master’s and PhD students.

As a result of his excellent research achievements, he has received more than 60 national/international awards, honours and recognitions, viz. Malaysia Toray Science Foundation Award and Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) (2012); Malaysia’s Rising Star Award (2015); and MARA/MRSM Icon (2017).

Apart from his extensive research work, Abdul Rahman has been instrumental in the success of the University’s cooperation and partnership with the industry. His active involvement in the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre (CREST) has seen a boost in collaborative R&D projects between USM and the industry.

He has also played an important role in coordinating strategic collaborative programmes between USM with the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), Khazanah Nasional, Talent Corporation and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA). The Talent Development Model and Collaboration Model developed with NCIA for the Penang projects have been replicated to the Sains@Chuping project in Perlis and Sains@Alor Setar project in Kedah.

At the national level, Abdul Rahman serves as the Technical Advisor for the Public Private Research Network (PPRN) initiative under the Ministry of Higher Education; a fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM); a Field Expert for Nanotechnology Area and Project Leader of National Graphene Consortium under the National Nanotechnology Centre.

His active involvement in motivational programmes at MRSM and schools have succesfully improved student academic performance and have led to USM-MARA partnership in developing special academic and educational programmes together.

In recognition of his contributions, he has been awarded the Pingat Bintang Cemerlang Negeri Pulau Pinang in 2007 and Johan Mangku Negara in 2017.