Information
Membership Number: FCA3523
Membership Type: Fellowship
Division: Engineering and Applied Sciences
Corresponding Email: sapuan@upm.edu.my
Homepage(s): https://eng.upm.edu.my/department/department_of_mechanical_and_manufacturing_engineering/academic_staff-1903
Present and Previous Positions
Professor (Grade A) of composite materials at the Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia
Head (Appointed by Vice Chancellor, UPM), Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia
Fields of Scholarship and Research Interests
Materials Science
Energy Materials
Materials Engineering
Natural Fibre Composites
Biocomposites
Biopolymer Composites
Nanocellulose Biopolymer Composites
Bio-based Polymer Composite Packaging
Materials Selection for Polymer Composites
Design for Sustainability – Fully Degradable Biopolymer Composites
Concurrent Engineering for Polymer Composites
Conceptual Design for Polymer Composites
TRIZ in Polymer Composite Product Development
Nanocellulose Composite Piezoelectric Sensors
Graphene/PLA Composites in Electric Vehicles
Product Design and Innovation
Circular Economy
Life Cycle Assessment
Design for Manufacture
Strength of Materials
Industrial Safety and Health
He is a prominent researcher in the field of natural fibre composites. His research and development work on various local natural fibres, particularly kenaf, has led to the commercialisation and development of various products, including sugar palm plants for starch. This is evident by the commercialisation of three patents and publications. He has published more than 500 publications. Professor Mohd Sapuan was a founding Head of Advanced Engineering Materials and Composites Research Centre, UPM. He is currently the Head of Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), UPM. This laboratory is part of HiCOE in Tropical Wood and Fibres.
He was also the founding Chairman of the Society of Sugar Palm Development and Industry Malaysia. He was also the immediate Past President of the Asian Polymer Association based in IIT Dehli for 10 years and serves as an Honorary Member of the association. He is the first and the only Malaysian elected as a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers, International, USA. As a reputed expert in natural fibre composites, he was invited to review over 1000 journal papers in his areas of expertise. He served as a reviewer of international grants for research agencies such as Qatar Foundation, Swiss National Research Foundation, the Research Council of Sultanate of Oman, the Dutch Research Council, Austrian Science Fund and many more. He also contributed as a member of the editorial board of international journals such as the Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites by sage (Q2), Defence Technology by Elsevier/ KeAi China (Q2), IOP Functional Composites and Structures and Non-Linear Engineering by De Gruyter (Scopus), and organised 19 journals’ special issues as guest editor.
Honors, Awards and Other Membership
Founder Chairman and Honorary Member, Malaysian Society of Sugar Palm Development and Industry
Immediate Past Vice President, Asian Polymer Association, New Delhi, India (2008–2018)
Fellow, Society of Automotive Engineers, International (FSAE), USA
Honorary Member, Asian Polymer Association (MAPA Hon), New Delhi, India
Fellow, Malaysian Scientific Association (FMSAE)
Fellow, Institute of Materials Malaysia (FIMM)
Fellow, Plastic and Rubber Institute Malaysia (FPRIM)
Life Fellow, International Biographical Association (LFIBA), UK
Member, International Association of Engineers (IAENG)
Member, International Network on Engineering Education and Research (iNEER)
Life Member, Institute of Energy Malaysia (LMInTeM)
Professional Engineer, Board of Engineers, Malaysia (PEng)
Member, Malaysia Design Council
Member, Rakan Alam Sekitar
Member, Persatuan Pegawai Akademik, UPM
Member, International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS), Japan
Member, International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM)
Fellow, Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Selected Publications
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=unN9lzMAAAAJ&hl=en
Other Information
https://twas.org/directory/salit-mohd-sapuan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohd_Sapuan_Salit
https://www.akademisains.gov.my/experts/profile/es0078/
Dr. Mohd Sapuan Salit is currently a Professor (Grade A) of composite materials, specializing in natural fibre composites and product development, at the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). He was the Founding Head of the Advanced Engineering Materials and Composite Research Centre (AEMC), UPM (2018–2025), and previously served as Head of the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UPM. He is also an Honorary Adjunct Professor at the National Textile University, Pakistan.
He was among the founding staff of the Advanced Materials Research Centre, ITMA, UPM, and the founding Head of the Engineering Composites Research Group (ECRG), Faculty of Engineering, UPM. He also served as Head of the Laboratory of Biocomposite Technology, INTROP, UPM for five years. In addition, he was a member of the founding management team of the Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) on Tropical Wood and Fibres, a center under the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, and served as Head of the Materials Science and Technology Cluster, UPM for nine years.
Dr. Mohd Sapuan earned his BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Newcastle, Australia, his MSc in Engineering Design from Loughborough University, UK, and his PhD in Materials Engineering from De Montfort University, UK. He is a Professional Engineer with a Certificate of Practice and holds numerous fellowships, including: Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers International (USA), Fellow of the Industry Academy International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance, Founding Fellow of the International Academy of Bionic Science, Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Fellow of the International Society for Development and Sustainability, Fellow of the Plastics and Rubber Institute Malaysia, Fellow of the Malaysian Scientific Association, and Fellow of the Institute of Materials Malaysia.
He is also an Honorary Member of the Asian Polymer Association (IIT Delhi), as well as the Founding Chairman and Honorary Member of the Society of Sugar Palm Development and Industry, Malaysia. Dr. Mohd Sapuan has served as a Visiting Professor at UNITEN, UTeM Melaka, UTM Kuala Lumpur, MSU Shah Alam, Universiti Malaya, Universitas Malahayati, Universitas Andalas, and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia. He has also been a Visiting Researcher/Fellow at the University of Bradford, UK and UNIMAP, Malaysia.
He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Natural Fibre Polymer Composites (currently under Scopus evaluation), Co-Editor-in-Chief of Functional Composites and Structures, and serves on the editorial boards of over 30 journals. He has authored over 2,000 publications, including 1,007 journal papers, more than 75 books, and 269 book chapters. He has delivered 84 plenary and keynote lectures and 180 invited talks, organized 33 special journal issues as guest editor, reviewed over 1,500 journal papers, and holds 10 patents. He has successfully supervised (as main or co-supervisor) 109 PhD students, 85 MSc students, and 17 postdoctoral researchers.
His scholarly impact is demonstrated by an h-index of 128 with 60,405 citations (Google Scholar) and h-index of 107 with 41,994 citations (Scopus). He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the ISESCO Science Award (Azerbaijan), Khwarizmi International Award (Iran), National Book Awards (Malaysia), Endeavour Research Promotion Award (India), Citation of Excellence Award (UK), Frontier Researcher Award, Malaysia’s Research Star Award 2025 (Clarivate), Publons Peer Review Award (USA), Alumni Award (Australia), Professor of Eminence Award (India), and the Top Research Scientists’ Malaysia Award.
He has been listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists (Stanford University, USA), selected in the Asian Scientist 100 (2024) by Asian Scientist Magazine (Singapore), and ranked as a Highly Ranked Scholar (Top 0.05% worldwide) by ScholarGPS (USA). His further distinctions include the SAE Subir Chowdhury Medal of Quality Leadership (USA), International Society of Bionic Engineering Outstanding Contribution Award (China), IET Achievement Award (UK), TWAS Award in Engineering Sciences (Italy), Materials Science Leader Award by Research.com (Algeria), IET Malaysia Leadership Award, William Johnson International Gold Medal (Ireland), Academia Icon (MoHE, Malaysia), Lifetime Achievement KnowTex Award (Pakistan), Excellence Award (Best Book, ModTech, Romania), COMSTECH Best Scientific Book Award (Pakistan), and the Special Mention of International Engineering Award (SMIEA) by the Board of Engineers Malaysia.
Acceptance Letter
