Sharifah Rafidah Datu Wan Alwi

Sharifah Rafidah Datu Wan Alwi is a Professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in the Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering. She previously directed the Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT) from 2011 to 2021 and maintains affiliations with the Research Institute for Sustainable Environment (RISE) and PROSPECT Sustainability Research Alliance.

Education:

• Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) from UMIST, UK
• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Research Interests: A leading expert in process systems engineering, her work pioneers resource conservation methodologies including water minimisation, energy network optimisation, and sustainable industrial design. Her research has established foundational techniques for heat exchanger retrofitting and cost-water optimisation with significant industrial applications.

Scientific Awards: Globally recognized with prestigious honors including the Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz International Water Award (2008) and ASEAN Young Scientist Award (2014). Her contributions earned Malaysia's National Young Scientist Award (2015) and the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (2015).

• Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz International Water Award (2008)
• Green Talents Award (2009)
• ASEAN Young Scientist and Technologist Award (2014)
• National Young Scientist Award (2015)
• Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (2015)
• Malaysia Research Star Award (2016, 2018, 2019)

Advising and Grants: Secured RM7.54 million across 80 research projects and 17 industrial collaborations, training engineers from 300+ companies. Her mentorship catalyzed OPTIMISE, UTM's spin-off company commercializing sustainable engineering solutions.

Labs and Teams: As co-founder of PROSPECT, she built Malaysia's premier research ecosystem for sustainable engineering, driving industry-government partnerships focused on resource conservation and pollution reduction through advanced process integration techniques.