USM researchers honoured in Malaysia’s Rising Star Awards 2016

Three research scientists from USM have been awarded prestigious titles at the second Malaysia’s Rising Star Awards.

Three researchers from USM were celebrated at Malaysia's Rising Star Award 2016 on Monday.

Professor Dr Bassim H. Hameed, an Iraqi scientist from the USM School of Chemical Engineering has been named one of the most influential scientific minds in the world for 2015. The title was given by Clarivate Analytics. He is also Malaysia's most cited scientist.

Professor Dr. Lee Keat Teong, from USM's School of Chemical Engineering and the director of Research Creativity & Management Office and International Collaboration, has been crowned among the young scientists of the country. Professor Dr. Wan Saime Wan Ngah, from the school of Chemical Sciences has claimed the title for the most highly-cited review.

The three champions of science were honoured by the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

Universiti Sains Malaysia is one of Malaysia’s most revered public universities in various fields of research and other areas in the higher education sphere. The university dropped in the world ranking from 289 in 2015 to 330 this year.

Bassim expressed great deal of gratitude for the recognition of his scientific work. He aspires to work harder and contribute to USM and Malaysia in providing environmental solutions.

He aims to continue to offer advice to young researchers and urge them to conduct research relevant to global issues like the environment, climate change and energy research. He served USM for more than 17 years and has published more than 215 articles in ISI-extended journals and more than 100 articles in international and national journals. As much as 75 % of his work has been ranked in the top 15% in the field.

Lee hopes that his research and achievement will contribute to Malaysia's needs and motivate other young researchers at USM. He advocates for a positive outlook of the scientific work and encourages researchers to be creative, innovative and work for the best results. He also hopes to see his achievements translated into useful applications that benefit Malaysians and the industry.

Lee is currently working on renewable energy from algae and hopes that it will one day be a good alternative to fossil fuel. He has also been listed as one of four most cited researchers in the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities 2016 by in the field of energy science and engineering.