Prof. Suttichai Assabumrungrat

Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Title: Thailand's Transformation to Bio - Circular - Green (BCG) Economy - A contribution from Chemical Engineers

Abstract: Thailand is one of the countries with immense wealth of natural and bio-resources. It is a global hub for agro-products. Under the Thailand 4.0 policy, the government sets a plan to transform the country to Bio – Circular – Green (BCG) economy, a sustainable growth based on less dependency on fossil-based resources and balance between the economy, society, and environment. Moving forward to the BCG economy requires great effort, interaction and collaboration between different players on various levels. It also provides a new opportunity for industry, research, policy and financing stakeholders to work together and to create new values for the country. This presentation provides the overviews of the strategic development in Thailand. It also addresses major opportunities, challenges and roles of chemical engineers on driving this new BCG economy to success.

Biography: Dr. Suttichai is a professor at Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University. He received his B.Eng. degree from Chulalongkorn University, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Imperial College London. His research interest is on process intensification with particular focus on multifunctional reactors. He has published more than 290 peer-reviewed journal-proceedings articles and book chapters. He is now working on several projects, for examples, hydrogen production technologies, biodiesel production, biorefinery and CO₂ capture and utilization. He was the recipient of Outstanding Paper Award from Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan (2002), Young Scientist Award from the Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Technology under the Patronage of His Majesty the King (2003), Outstanding Researcher Award from the National Research Council of Thailand (2009), Research Group Promotion Grant Award from Thailand Research Fund (2008, 2011), PTIT AWARD (Fellow) from Petroleum Institute of Thailand (2011), Outstanding Scientist Award, Thailand Toray Science Foundation (2012) and Distinguished Professor Grant Award from Thailand Research Fund (2015). He has been a scientific committee of a number of international conferences. He was a former Deputy Dean in Research Affairs, Faculty of Engineering and the Energy Cluster Head of Chulalongkorn University. He is also a working committee member of Thai Academy of Science and Technology Foundation.