An international workshop entitled Transforming Oil Palm Residues into New Income Streams was co-organized by Dr. Chong Chun Shiong (Environmental Biotechnology Research Group, Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, UTM) and Prof. Dr. Neil Bruce (Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York, United Kingdom). Prof. Bruce had also been invited as the speaker for Faculty of Science seminar series on 17^th April 2019 at seminar hall, T02, Department of Biosciences.

Prof. Dr. Neil Bruce obtained his PhD at the University of Kent and then moved to the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge as a research fellow. In 1990 he was appointed to a Lectureship at the University of Cambridge and then subsequently a Readership where he expanded his interests in microbial and plant metabolism of xenobiotic compounds. In 2002 he moved to the University of York where he was appointed to the Chair of Biotechnology. Prof. Bruce has established a close relationship with UTM. Apart from Newton Fund project collaboration, Prof. Bruce is currently co-supervising a PhD student (Mr. Lam Ming Quan) from Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, UTM. Moreover, he was recently appointed as a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Science, UTM.

The major research themes of Neil Bruce’s laboratory are environmental and industrial biotechnology. His work includes microbial metabolism of xenobiotic compounds and plant biomass degradation with a focus on enzyme discovery. The title of this seminar was “Mining marine and terrestrial environments for new enzymes to overcome obstacles in lignocellulose valorisation”. Prof. Bruce and his group utilized the multi-omics technology to mine the lignocellulolytic enzymes for degradation of waste from various environment. The staff and students enjoyed the talk given by Prof. Bruce.

Photo 1: Prof. Neil Bruce was giving a seminar to staff and students at seminar hall, T02, Department of Biosciences.

Photo 2: Staff and students who attended the seminar.

Photo 3: Dr Chong Chun Shiong chairing the seminar.

Photo 4: Assoc. Prof. Shafinaz binti Shahir, the Director of Biosciences Department (Faculty of Science) gave an appreciation gift to Prof. Neil Bruce.