Professor Ir Dr Dominic Foo from The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) has been named winner in the academic category of the Outstanding Young Malaysian Award 2012.
Dr Foo, Professor of Process Design and Integration from the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering; and Director for the Centre of Excellence for Green Technologies joins an illustrious list of past winners including Malaysian actress Datuk Seri Michelle Yeoh and Olympic badminton silver-medallist Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
“I am honored to receive this recognition and also proud to be a Malaysian who has received all his education right up to postgraduate level. Today I would like to acknowledge all the teachers and lecturers who have taught me. I feel that it is they who have made me an outstanding Malaysian,” said Professor Foo.
“Perhaps the judges were impressed that I achieved a full professorship at the age of 34 within 5 years of graduating with a PhD.
My friends in the academic field have said that I am the youngest engineering professor in Malaysia. To me it is hard work and smart work which has paid off” added Professor Foo explains on the possible reasons of why he was given this award.
Professor Ian Pashby, CEO & Provost of The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus also stated that, “This year’s award presentation is especially meaningful to us at University at Nottingham because two of our academics, Dominic Foo and Alain Chong based at the China campus were conferred the title of The Young Outstanding Malaysia Award.”
The awards recognise young people who excel in their chosen fields and are sponsored by Junior Chamber International (JCI), which is one of the biggest non-political youth service organisations in the world.
“The academic community at the Malaysia Campus has an excellent track record both externally and internally for receiving awards for their ground breaking research and their world class teaching and learning. Recently, 10 academics at UNMC clinched the inaugural Chancellor’s Award from The University of Nottingham which is awarded based on nomination and feedback from students,” Professor Pashby adds.
Mentoring young Malaysians
“I am also passionate about working with young people to help succeed in their careers. I spend time with them to provide career guidance and also mentor new researchers and academics in planning their research career.
No doubt that this consumes a great amount of my personal time. But seeing younger generation succeed is very rewarding to me,” said Professor Foo.
Prior to the Outstanding Young Malaysian Award, Professor Foo has also been awarded the Innovator of the Year Award 2009 by the Institution of Chemical Engineers UK (IChemE), as well as Young Engineer Award 2010 by the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM). He also conducts professional training for practising engineers. He is currently the chairman of the Chemical Engineering Technical Division of IEM and also an active member of IChemE (Malaysia branch), and is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineer Malaysia (BEM).
Prof Foo is also an active author, who has published more than 75 journal papers and two books, and has made more than 120 conference presentations, with more than 15 keynote/plenary speeches. He serves on the editorial board for the Elsevier journal – Process Safety and Environmental Protection (formerly known as the Transactions of Institution of Chemical Engineers UK - IChemE), as well as Chemical Engineering Transactions. He has served as an International Scientific Committee member for many important international conferences (PRES, FOCAPD, ESCAPE, PSE, etc.).
About the School of Engineering at UNMC
The Faculty of Engineering is recognised as being amongst the best in higher education. Here at the Malaysia Campus all of our courses are taught in English and the degrees awarded are exactly the same as those in the UK. The school offers undergraduate and post graduate courses with interesting research opportunities.
For more information on courses offered, please consult www.nottingham.edu.my or email: enquiries@nottingham.edu.my (Malaysian students) and international.enquiries@nottingham.edu.my (International students).
-ends-
Released by The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, please contact Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on +6 (03) 8924 8746 or josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is also the most popular university in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and 'the world’s greenest university. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fund-raising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 8th November 2012