SYNOPSIS

Microalgae biotechnology has recently emerged into the lime light owing to numerous consumer products that can be harnessed from microalgae. Product portfolio stretches from straightforward biomass production for food and animal feed to valuable products extracted from microalgal biomass, including triglycerides which can be converted into biodiesel. For most of these applications, the production process is moderately economically-viable and the market is developing. Considering the enormous biodiversity of microalgae and recent developments in genetic and metabolic engineering, this group of organisms represents one of the most promising sources for new products and applications. With the development of detailed culture and screening techniques, microalgal biotechnology can meet the high demands of food, energy and pharmaceutical industries. This session discusses the technology, production platforms and challenges for development and creation of different valuable consumer products from microalgal biomass.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Dr Razif Harun is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia. He received his Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2006 from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and also Doctorate Degree (PhD) in 2011 from Monash University, Melbourne Australia.  In the framework of his PhD work he worked on bioprocess engineering of microalgae for bioethanol production.  After his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratoire Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement in Narbornne, France for 2years on microalgal conversion technology related projects. He is currently developing a new technology to extract bioactive compounds from microalgal biomass for biofuel and pharmaceutical products. He has published more than 25 publications in international refereed journals, 10 publications in conference proceedings and 8 chapter in scientific books. He has granted research grants from different institutions e.g. Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Tenaga Nasional Berhard Research (TNBR) and Universiti Putra Malaysia.