Dr. Gomaa A. M. Ali is an Associate Professor at the Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt. He has experience working in the research areas of materials science, nanocomposites, humidity sensing, graphene, supercapacitors, water treatment, and drug delivery. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Advanced Nanomaterials for Energy Storage from UMP, Malaysia. He is the recipient of some national and international prizes and awards such as TWAS-AREP (2018), Obada International Prize (2021), Gold Medal (Archimedes, Russia, 2014), Green Technology Award (CITREX, Malaysia, 2015), Gold Medal (British Invention Show, UK, 2015). Dr. Chong received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2004. He joined the National University of Singapore as a postgraduate under Prof. Dr. Kian Ping Loh group where he completed his Ph.D. He started his academic life as a lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic. Dr. Chong returned to Malaysia in 2010 and joined Universiti Malaysia Pahang to establish his research group (Electrochemical Materials & Interfaces Research). Dr. Chong was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. Dr. Chong contribution is well recognized internationally, and he has been appointed as Visiting Professor at Prince of Songkla University from 2017 to 2020. He had been appointed as Head of Programme (Industrial Chemistry), Deputy Dean (Research & Postgraduate Studies), and currently, he is heading the office of the University Corporate Quality and Affairs Center as Deputy Director. Dr. Chong is also the Chairman of the Pahang state branch for the Malaysian Institute of Chemistry (Insitut Kimia Malaysia) and voluntarily serves the IKM.Prof. Makhlouf is an internationally recognized leader in materials science and engineering with many years of independent research project management, teaching, and consulting. He has been included in Stanford University’s List of World’s Top 2% of Scientists, USA, 2020. He has a blend of both industrial and academic leadership as a President of EMC3, Full Professor at Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Egypt, and a Former Full Professor of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas, USA. He is the recipient of numerous national and international prizes and awards, including the Humboldt Research Award for Experienced Scientists at Max Planck Institute, Germany; Fulbright Scholar, NSF, and Dept. of Energy Fellowships, USA; Shoman Award in Engineering Science; and the State Prize of Egypt in Advanced Science and Technology, and more. He is a member of TMS-USA, EPSRC-UK, European Science Foundation - College of Expert Reviewers, Fulbright Alumni, Max Planck Institute Alumni, and Alexander von Humboldt Alumni.
