Message from Current Group Leader

In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah for His generous favours and blessings on us. After almost 20 years, the research group has grown bigger and stronger, with researchers from various background. I am indeed grateful to the mentorship and leadership provided by our previous group leader, Prof. Dato’ Dr Mohd Ali Hassan who have shaped us to excel in our research and academics.  

The research group is previously known as Environmental Biotechnology Research Group (EB Group). To position ourselves better in the research area, and to make us more relevant to the current trend of biomass research, we re-brand our group to Biomass & Biorefinery (B&B) Research Group. Our team currently consists of 10 principal researchers, 1 post-doctoral researcher and numerous postgraduate and undergraduate students.

We are the first research group in Malaysia to have a pilot scale biorefinery facility in a university compound. Biorefinery Complex UPM which was set up since 2009 comprises a pilot plant for the production of biocompost, biochar, biogas, biodiesel and nanocellulose / biopolymer; as well as Biomass Technology Laboratory equipped with labs, seminar room and meeting room. Our tagline is “Waste to Wealth through Biorefinery”, and we deal with various kinds of biomass / waste such as agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, garden waste, used cooking oil, wastewater from palm oil mill, and etc. Our expertise is not limited to biomass valorization; we are also involved in environmental microbiome research such as bioremediation, biocontrol agent and pollution biomonitoring.     

With our expertise, adoption of green technology and zero-emission concept, we managed to build the rapport and trust among the local and international companies to collaborate with us in biomass technology research. Alhamdulillah, we have collaborated with various local and international private / government agencies such as the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia, Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ), Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), FELDA Global Ventures (FGV), SWCorp Malaysia, Worldwide Landfill, Nextgreen Pulp & Paper Sdn. Bhd. (NGPP), AMPM Sdn. Bhd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Universitas Indonesia, CJ Bio Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Novozymes Malaysia, Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) and Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT), Japan.

As the group leader, I truly appreciate the hard work of all B&B members to uphold our culture of high success. My aim is to position our group and Biorefinery Complex as the referral center in biomass research, which is recognized locally and internationally. The strong collaborations established between B&B researchers with public and private agencies and other institutions across Malaysia and at the international level will drive us towards this milestone, inshaAllah. May Allah SWT grant us the strength and wisdom to continue the good work and contribute to the growth of the university, the ummah, the nation and the research field.

Thank you.

Wassalam.

Prof. Ts. Dr. Hidayah Ariffin

Updated:: 01/08/2024 [athiyah]