Professor Dr Hamdani Saidi

Elected as Fellow in 2013 under the Engineering Sciences Discipline

Professor Dr Hamdani Saidi FASc was born in Selangor. He completed his secondary education at Sekolah Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur, in 1970 before joining the College of Agriculture, Serdang, in 1971. He then continued his tertiary education at Louisiana State University, USA, until 1980 and received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1988, he obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. 

Professor Dr Hamdani started his first career as an Assistant Lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 1977. A few years later, he was appointed as the Head of the Petroleum Engineering Department and then Deputy Dean in 1989. He was then promoted to Professor and Dean, Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering until 1997. 

Professor Dr Hamdani was one of the pioneers in the R&D of membrane technology in Malaysia. In 1990, he initiated the establishment of the Membrane Research Unit (MRU) in UTM, currently known as the Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC). Through this research centre, he started the development of membranes and their applications in the process industry. To date, AMTEC is recognised globally as a reference centre attracting significant researchers from Government and industry, developing expertise and products, and contributing new knowledge. 

In pursuit of knowledge and innovation, he led a team of experts to develop fuel cell technology, a clean and efficient power generation system for stationary and mobile applications. The Government fully funded the program under the prioritised research project. He also pioneered the development work on the implementation of plasma technology for waste-to-energy conversion in Malaysia. His research findings were widely published in many international journals, namely Journal of Power Sources, Advanced material, Mathematical Modeling, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Journal of New Material for Electrochemical Systems and Polymer International. 

Professor Dr Hamdani actively contributed his expertise and experience to the industry, Government and international organisations. He served as a technical consultant to the Malaysia Energy Centre (PTM) and was involved in the planning and implementation of Energy R&D. At the international level, he was appointed as a member of the Council of Energy Advisor of Gerson Lehrman Group, USA. The Council is a leading group of power and energy professionals that provides independent research in the power and energy sector to the investment community by working directly with industry professionals. 

Professor Dr Hamdani is seen as a passionate scientist in the field of membrane technology. He will always be remembered by all.