The research conducted by the Center of Excellence for NaNo Energy & Catalysis Technology (CONNECT) at Xiamen University Malaysia under the leadership of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ong Wee Jun, the Director of CONNECT was featured in the exhibition One Year With the Madani Government, which aimed to disseminate and promote the new policies and initiatives introduced by the Unity Government since November 2022.
Malaysia Madani is a policy framework and government slogan introduced by the administration led by the 10th Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim. The concept focuses primarily on good governance, sustainable development, and racial harmony in the country.
The two photos (Figure 1) were selected to represent the launch of HETR (Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap) and IGEM 2023 (International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia), respectively.
Figure 1. CONNECT’s contributions in the official launch of HETR and exhibition at IGEM are featured in “One Year with the Madani Government” book.
Initiated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI), HETR is a supporting document for the National Energy Policy 2022-2024, envisioning the development of a hydrogen economy in Malaysia.
It was officially launched on October 5 at IGEM 2023, where CONNECT was invited by NanoMalaysia Berhad (NMB) and MOSTI to demonstrate hydrogen product technologies to over 40,000 participants.
IGEM is Southeast Asia’s largest trade event for green technologies and eco solutions. Organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change (NRECC), it provides an ideal platform for solution providers and green energy businesses to tap into the fast-expanding ASEAN market.
Dr. Ong Wee Jun, Director of the Center of Excellence for NaNo Energy & Catalysis Technology, expressed gratitude, saying, “It is our great honor to be selected for this exhibition. We are thankful for the government’s support to XMUM and dedicated to pushing the boundaries of science, particularly in the development of organic and inorganic hybrid nanostructures for the application in clean energy.”
“Anticipated nanotechnological innovations are poised to harness renewable energy sources, particularly sunlight, to convert them into clean energy fuels. This transformative approach aims to diminish reliance on conventional fossil fuels. Consequently, this technological advancement aligns seamlessly with the goals outlined in HETR, emphasizing the promotion of environmentally sustainable practices and contributing to the realization of a vibrant hydrogen and clean energy economy,” Dr. Ong said.
Currently, projects undertaken by the Center of Excellence for NaNo Energy & Catalysis Technology (CONNECT) include solar-driven catalytic hydrogen production from water, prototype development of a continuous sheet reactor toward pilot scale, 3D printing technologies, electrochemical hydrogen production using a precious-metal-free catalyst in an electrolyzer, photoreforming of waste plastics into green hydrogen and value-added chemicals, microwave plasma methane cracking for graphene and hydrogen production, CO2 conversion to renewable energy fuels, solar-to-chemical conversion, and so forth.
Dr. Ong Wee Jun is actively recruiting several postgraduate (Master and PhD) students as well as postdoctoral research fellows at CONNECT starting in 2024 for the special project in collaboration with PETRONAS on the conversion of CO2 greenhouse gas into renewable fuels using photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. If you are interested to work in this project, kindly contact Dr. Ong Wee Jun for further discussion (weejun.ong@xmu.edu.my). Please refer to his recent LinkedIn post.
Click here to get more information about Dr. Ong Wee Jun and his research group.