Hanafi Ismail is currently an Honorary Professor in the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. During his career, he has received many awards for his contribution to research including the Khwarizmi International Award from Iran (2000), the APCTT Asia Pacific International Award (2000), and the ISESCO Prize in Science and Technology (2001) in the UAE. He has also received several Gold Medals for research and innovation. In 2019 at the International Conference on Innovation in Polymer Science and Technology, Prof. Hanafi was awarded the “Innovation in Polymer Science & Technology Award by the Indonesian Polymer Association. In 2019, he was also awarded the “Excellent Research Award for his outstanding achievement in Polymer Science and Technology by the Croatian Inventors Network. Professor Ismail has published more than 700 research papers in various ISI international journals and is currently on the editorial boards for Polymer Plastic Technology and Engineering (Marcel Dekker), The Iranian Polymer Journal (Springer), The Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology (Wiley), Polymer Testing (Elsevier) and The Journal of Rubber Research (Springer). He is also Chief Editor for Progress in Rubber Plastic and Recycling Technology (Sage). S.M. Sapuan is a Professor (Grade “A) of composite materials in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is also the former Head of the Advanced Engineering Materials and Composites Research Centre (AEMC) at UPM. He attained his BEng in mechanical engineering from the University of Newcastle, in Australia and then went on to receive his MSc in engineering design and PhD in materials engineering, from De Montfort University in the UK. He is a Professional Engineer and a Fellow of many professional societies, including the Society of Automotive Engineers; the Academy of Science Malaysia; the International Society for Development and Sustainability; the World Academy of Sciences; the Plastic and Rubber Institute Malaysia (PRIM); the Malaysian Scientific Association and the Institute of Materials Malaysia. He is an Honorary Member and past Vice President of the Asian Polymer Association and Founding Chairman and Honorary Member of The Society of Sugar Palm Development and Industry, Malaysia. During the course of his career, he has produced over 2500 publications, including 989 journal papers, 68 books and 246 book chapters. M. Nuzaimah is a senior lecturer in the Department of Manufacturing Engineering Technology, at the, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Malaysia. She has more than ten years’ experience in teaching and research mainly on materials engineering and manufacturing related subjects. She also has nine years industrial experience working on rubber, latex, and rubber glove manufacturing. She was previously working in R&D on the invention and development of an occupational glove which was applicable for a U.S Patent. She has also explored projects on reuse or recycling of nitrate sludge from plant waste and developing an acrylic polymer blending process for inner glove coatings. Dr. Nuzaimah received her BEng, and MSc degrees in Materials Engineering from the Universiti Sains Malaysia and her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Universiti Putra Malaysia. Her PhD studies included the development of a new polymer composite utilising waste rubber gloves, which were being disposed of in landfill, which created significant environmental issues. She is currently working on developing a rubber-like filament from scrap tire rubber for use in fused deposition modelling. A.M Noor Azammi is a senior lecturer in Automotive Technology and has more than 20 years of hands-on technical experience with a background in materials education. Currently he specializes in Conceptual Design using TRIZ concepts and Structural Analysis using Autodesk, CATIA, and ANSYS software. His PhD consisted of developing a new material using Natural Rubber and TPU with Kenaf blended composites which was applied into the design application and analysis of engine rubber mounting for Automotive component. Recently he has been involved in the development of an electric vehicle (EV) for passenger vehicles and cars with the Universiti Kuala Lumpur and the MFI team.
