The grants, worth RM30,000 each, will fund these research projects:

» "Study of corrosion activities using conductive paint in Malaysian seawater" by Dr Ahmad Azmin Mohamad and Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Arif of Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering;

» "Outbreak detection in oil and gas pollution using the sequential rules mining approach" by Assoc Prof Dr Azuraliza Abu Bakar of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faculty of Information Science and Technology;

» "Stabilisation and solidification of petroleum-based waste using cement as a main binder" by Prof Dr Mohd Ghazaly Shaaban of the Civil Engineering Department of Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Engineering;

» "Removal of drilling fluid filter cake using micro-organisms" by Assoc Prof Issham Ismail, Assoc Prof Dr Rosli Illias, and Assoc Prof Dr Firdausi Razali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering; and

» "Development of low-cost sorbents from agro-waste for mercury removal from oil and gas industry" by Assoc Prof Dr Hanapi Mat of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering.

The grants were presented by ExxonMobil Malaysia subsidiaries public and government affairs manager Farid Jaafar at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Oct 20.

Farid stressed the importance of developing industry relevant technologies, as many oil and gas resources is located in challenging environments which require innovative approaches to energy production.