Thermal Energy Conversion and Modelling

Research in this area focuses on manipulating energy at the micro/nanoscale level. The main aim is to apply fundamental nanoscale energy transport and discover new technology to harvest renewable energy sources.

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Chemical and Biosensors

This research area focuses on creating and optimising biosensors to detect contaminants in water supplies to improve water sanitation. This will subsequently improve social welfare and stimulate both academic and commercial partnerships.

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Assoc. Prof. Jaka Sunarso

Director

Jaka Sunarso is a Chemical Engineer by Education and an Electrochemist by Training. He is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science and the Director of the Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus in Malaysia. His main research interests are batteries, fuel cells, membranes, and biorefineries. Jaka has published more than 320 journal articles in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science fields with total citations of 14,375 and an h-index of 56 (Scopus). He has actively supervised 1 Postdoctoral Researcher and 15 Ph.D. and 8 M.Eng. by Research students.

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Dr. Chung Siung Choo

Cluster Leader: Rural Urban Development

Dr. Choo is currently a Senior Lecturer and Discipline Leader for the Civil Engineering program at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. He has over 6 years of experience as a researcher and as a lecturer of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. He received his PhD as a part of an industrially supported project that assessed the challenges of local Sarawakian geology on geotechnical engineering. His research interests are in tunneling and trenchless technologies and deep excavations specifically those involving soil-structure interactions. He is also pursuing research endeavours in re-purposing and re-utilising by-products for industrial applications, fundamental constitutive modelling of highly weathered lithologies, and particulate mechanics of geo-materials. To date, he has presented the findings of his research in Q1 geotechnical engineering journals and in several international conferences. Dr Choo also has industrial experience as a specialist geotechnical engineer. He is a graduate engineer registered with Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and is also a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) of the Institution of Engineers Australia (IEAust).

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Dr. Jiuan Jing Chew

Cluster Leader: Sustainable and Clean Energy

Dr. Chew completed her BEng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from Curtin University of Technology (Malaysia) in 2006. She went on to gain industry experience working as process engineer in the industry. In 2010, she pursued her PhD in Chemical Engineering with Monash University, working in the area of biomass conversion to solid biofuel involving torrefaction or low temperature pyrolysis. Joining Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak in 2014, Dr Chew has led the Biomass Research group in her department where her interest is in the field of conversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals using existing waste stream. She is also interested in the repurposing of second generation biomass to value-added products such as biochars and has recently ventured into the area of heterogeneous catalysis to enable selective conversion of biomass.

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Dr. Daniel Lee Tung Tan

Cluster Leader: Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Environments

Dr. Daniel Tan obtained both DVM and PhD at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). He has worked on shrimp White Spot Syndrome Virus for his PhD project. While in the University, he was also involved in PCR based diagnostic kit, which won multiple awards including Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2000), Salon International des Inventions de Genève (2001), and International Invention and New Products Exposition (INPEX 2002). After coming back to Sarawak, he served in Sarawak Biodiversity Centre for about seven years, helping to establish the microbiology labs for research on antibiotic producing microorganisms. His current research is on forest microbes, aiming to use these beneficial microbes as biofertiliser, bioremediation, and biological control agents.

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Assoc. Prof. Moritz Mueller

Member

Upon graduation at the United Kingdom (UK) National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK, Dr. Mueller accepted a lectureship position at Swinburne Sarawak where he initially established the BSc (Biotechnology) program and later set up the Aquatic and Environmental Sciences (AquES) Research Group. His research focuses on (biogeochemical) cycles in the Anthropocene, mainly on greenhouse gases, dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, environmental microbiology, nutrients, trace metals, microplastics, and the use of remote sensing. Dr. Mueller’s collaborative work has been published in Nature Communications, as well as other A* journals such as Nature Scientific Reports and Global Change Biology. Recent results are being published in a Special Issue in Biogeosciences. Over the past five years, he has secured national and international grants totaling over four million AUD as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. Recent projects are funded by the Australian Academy of Sciences (with CSIRO, establishment of a DataCube for Sarawak) and the UK GCRF (with UEA; establishment of a centre in Kuching to analyse microplastics in Borneo). Dr. Mueller has represented Malaysia at international meetings such as the multilateral Coral Triangle Initiative or the IMBeR Continental Margins Working Group, a core project of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and Future Earth. He has also been appointed the Sarawak node of the Malaysian Society of Marine Sciences.

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Dr. Matthew Ngie Hing Wong

Member

Dr. Wong specialises in the field of environmental engineering, with particular interest in unit operations and processes of water and wastewater treatment plants, and solid waste engineering and management. He has 20 years of teaching and industrial experience with supervisory roles under KPI driven environment in USA, Singapore, and Malaysia. He has also been involved in the development of strategic plans and proposals to secure research grants from the government agencies and industrial partners, such as Zabel Grant (USA), NEA-ETRP Grant (Singapore), MIT-SMART Grant (Singapore), and Sarawak Research and Development Council (Malaysia). He has been nominated and received a few learning and teaching awards for his unique Problem-based Learning (PBL) pedagogy approach, including Vice-Chancellor’s Industry Engagement Award (2019), Top 3 Winner of Most Innovative Project Awards (2015), Commendation Award from Sembcorp Marine’s Green Wave Environmental Care Project (2015), and Most Appreciated Student Mentor (2013 and 2014), Best Certified PBL Facilitator (2011). Lastly, he has also been actively involved in several corporate social responsibility and community engagement projects in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, Taiwan, USA, Singapore, and Malaysia.

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Dr. Daniel Ting Wee Looi

Member

Dr. Looi is a Civil Engineer, specialised in Structural and Earthquake Engineering. He obtained his BEng from University of Malaya, PhD and Postdoctoral Fellow from The University of Hong Kong. Daniel practiced as a structural engineer in the industry for five years before he pursued his PhD research. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng – Structural) of Engineers Australia (IEAust) and a member of the Earthquake Committee of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM). He is a key contributor to the development of the National Annex to Eurocode 8 on the seismic design of building structures for Malaysia. Besides seismic engineering, he has also published research works in modular buildings, concrete mechanics, and fastening technologies. His research in concrete structures was recognised by the HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Researcher/Engineer (2015).

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Dr. Kok Heng Soon

Member

Dr. Soon is experienced in material science and polymer based composites. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast. He is a registered Chartered Engineer (CEng) of the Engineering Council, United Kingdom. His research interests include the processing-morphology-properties relationship of plastics and polymer composites, including nanocomposites, green and biodegradable composites. He also has additional interest in the computational mechanics of polymer and semiconductor materials.

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Dr. Bing Shen How

Member

Dr. How Bing Shen received his Ph.D. from University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus with a research project on development of sustainable biomass supply chain in Malaysia. He is currently working as a senior lecturer in Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak. Dr. How is keen in conducting high impact research related to biomass supply chain, circular economy, Process Integration. He is currently leading the Biomass Waste-to-Wealth Special Interest Group in SUTS which have published numerous works in top tier journals. Aside from that, he is also the secretary of IChemE Palm Oil Processing Special Interest Group (POPSIG), which plays important role in assisting knowledge transfer, exchange of best practices, and sharing experience to all oil palm stakeholders in Malaysia. With his excellent track record in publication and the significant contributions made towards the community, he has won the Young Researcher Award at both the 2021 IChemE Malaysia Awards and 2021 IChemE Global Awards and he is the recipient of SCEJ Award for Outstanding Researcher and Engineer 2022.

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