Dr Kok Siew Ng
Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
Summary
Dr Kok Siew Ng is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Chemical Engineering at Brunel University London and an NERC Fellow. He joined Brunel in March 2022 as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) after the completion of his 4-year independent NERC fellowship at the University of Oxford. He is currently leading the and the interdisciplinary MSc in Advanced Chemical Engineering (Hydrogen and Low Carbon Technologies) at Brunel.
Kok Siew was the Co-Investigator and Coordinator of the project () – a university-wide initiative focusing on tackling various environmental challenges using an interdisciplinary approach, funded through the £10 million NERC Changing the Environment programme, from 2022-2023. The sprint project aims to develop strategies for determining the best regional combination of nutrient recovery and utilisation options for both economic viability and environmental benefits. Prior to joining Brunel, Kok Siew was a UKRI/NERC Industrial Innovation (Rutherford) Research Fellow and Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, from 2018 to 2022. During his time in Oxford, he was a Principal Investigator for the project 'A systems approach to synergistic utilisation of secondary organic streams' (£0.5 million), funded by NERC. The project aimed to explore novel approaches to addressing challenges in organic waste management and achieving circular economy. As the first Research Fellow in the Department to be offered a concurrent lectureship contract, he took on the role of delivering comprehensive full-module teaching. This includes conducting lectures, guiding tutorials, managing exams, and overseeing MEng project supervision. He completed his MEng Chemical Engineering with Chemistry (First Class Honours) in 2008, and later gained his PhD in 2011 from the Centre for Process Integration (CPI), The University of Manchester. After completing his PhD, he joined Process Integration Limited (PIL) as a consultant and later took up a position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability (CES), University of Surrey.
Kok Siew is a chemical engineer by training with >15 years of research and industrial consultancy experience in systems engineering, process integration, techno-economic analysis and environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). His research vision is to develop novel and sustainable solutions from a systems engineering perspective, to facilitate the transition of the chemical, energy and waste industries from a fossil-based, linear system to one that is fundamentally sustainable by using renewables as the mainstream resources and by fully embracing circular economy principles. He has contributed to more than 10 UK and international projects funded by NERC, Innovate UK, EU FP7, Royal Academy of Engineering and Newton Fund. His research is significant in terms of addressing global challenges in the 21st century, aligned with the UN SDG 7 and 12, the UK Industrial Strategy, and international ambitions to achieving circular economy and net-zero target.
Kok Siew has published more than 40 articles including journals, book chapters and magazine articles. He has authored "" (2024) and co-authored “” (2014). His work related to decarbonisation of energy systems has been recognised by the (best publication) in 2011. Furthermore, Kok Siew has been nominated for the in 2022 for his contribution in actively promoting environmental sustainability through his research vision, which develops sustainable solutions from a systems engineering perspective. He is an Editorial Board Member of journal and also a reviewer for French ANR and UKRI/EPSRC proposals.
Kok Siew is enthusiastic in establishing international collaboration with researchers from multidisciplinary background. He has been working closely with international academic and industrial organisations in the UK, Europe, China and South East Asia. He has organised and participated in a number of British Council/Newton Fund workshops in Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Kazakhstan and China, and attended the Royal Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering for Development Symposium “From feeding people to nourishing people”. He has a long-term ambition in influencing resources and waste management practices in developing countries towards sustainable development through cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration between the UK and international organisations. His ambition in international development together with the objectives of SYNERGORS are well aligned with the UK Industrial Strategy in enhancing resource efficiency and mitigating pollution and waste materials, while achieving a sustainable industrial growth and a more resilient economy at global level.
Awards and Achievements
- Nominated for the , 2022.
- , Newton-Al-Farabi UK-Kazakhstan workshop “Low-carbon Future: Efficient Management of Resources and Energy”, 26-28 September 2016, Astana, Kazakhstan.
- for the best publication, 2011 - “Ng, K.S., Lopez, Y., Campbell, G.M., Sadhukhan, J., 2010. Heat integration and analysis of decarbonised IGCC sites. Chem Eng Res Des., 88 (2): 170-188.”
- PhD Scholarships (2008-2011): Overseas Research Scholarship (ORS), Manchester Alumni Funds, Process Integration Research Consortium (PIRC) Research Funds, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Scholarship
- MEng Chemical Engineering with Chemistry Specialist Subject Course Prize (ranked 1st in the cohort), 2008, The University of Manchester.
Qualifications
Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA), 2017.
PhD in Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, 2011.
MEng in Chemical Engineering with Chemistry, The University of Manchester, 2008.
Responsibility
MSc Programme Director - Advanced Chemical Engineering (Hydrogen and Low Carbon Technologies)
Marketing and Student Recruitment Champion
Newest selected publications
Li, D., Noori, MT., Ng, KS., Liu, G. and Yu, EH. (2023) 'The development of cathode materials for boosting COâ‚‚ conversion in microbial electrosynthesis cells', in Aryal, N., Zhang, Y., Patil, SA. and Pant, D. (eds.) Material-Microbes Interactions: Environmental Biotechnological Perspective. Cambridge, MA, USA : Academic Press. pp. 171 - 198. ISBN 10: 0-323-95125-2. ISBN 13: 978-0-323-95124-1.
Ng, KS., Yeoh, L., Iacovidou, E., Wan Ab Karim Ghani, WA. and Yamaguchi, A. (2023) 'Towards Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management in Malaysia'. Place of publication: Synergors. Available at: .
Ng, KS. and Aidong, Y. (2022) ''. Journal of Environmental Management, 325 (1 January 2023). pp. 1 - 14. ISSN: 0301-4797
Yeoh, L. and Ng, KS. (2021) ''. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 179. pp. 1 - 11. ISSN: 0921-3449
Ng, KS., Hatton, L. and Martinez-Hernandez, E. (2021) 'SYNERGORS - A Systems Approach to Synergistic Utilisation of Secondary Organic Streams. Final Project Report.'. Place of publication: University of Oxford. Available at: .