Part of the R&D Team: Marimuthu (Lab  Asst.), Salah, Rajeswary, Mas, Judy Oh, Karen and Eng Khoon

WATER-SOLUBLE RUBBER DERIVATIVES
"Meeting The Challenge For Novel And Innovative Utilizations Of Rubber In Aqueous Media"  

Receiving the trophy from the royal highnest The King of Malaysia

Receiving the trophy from The Governor of Penang

Demonstrating and explaining the novelties of RubberFloc™ to the International Jury, Geneva, Switzerland

Biographical Details

Mas Rosemal Hakim bin Mas Haris

Mas Rosemal Hakim was born on 8^th August 1958 in Taiping, Perak.  He is the youngest son of Salmah and Mas Haris.  He obtained his primary and secondary education at the King Edward VII School, Taiping, Perak.  In 1976, he was awarded a scholarship by the Malaysian Government to attend the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA.  He earned his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree from the Department of Chemistry and Physics in 1980.  In 1981, Mas Rosemal Hakim was offered the Academic Staff Training Scheme (ASTS) fellowship from USM and enrolled at the University Of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, USA.  He completed the graduate coursework (composed of a wide variety of subjects: Advanced Solid State Physics, Linear Algebra, Statistic, Analytical, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry) with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.880/4.000 and conducted research under the supervision of Professor Sigred Lanoux.  Mas Rosemal Hakim wrote a thesis entitled Synthesis Of Novel Cyclotriphosphazenes and earned his Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Inorganic Chemistry in 1983. He enrolled in the doctoral program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA in 1984. He worked as a teaching assistant and a research fellow (1984-1986) specializing in the synthesis and characterization of micro- and macromolecules (related to phosphazene chemistry). He won the Best Graduate Research Proposal Award in 1987 and conducted research under the supervision of Professor James M. Tanko.  He earned his doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in September 1989 with a dissertation entitled Stereoelectronic Effects In The Brominations Of Cyclopropylarenes And 9-Alkylanthracenes.  He was a member of the American Chemical Society (1987-1989).

Mas Rosemal Hakim started his career as a Lecturer at the School Of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang in October 1989.  He has taught chemistry courses at all levels: matriculation, diploma, first – final year undergraduate and graduate. He became a member of Institut Kimia Malaysia (IKM) in 1990.  He is also active in giving seminars and short courses in his areas of expertise to the public and private sectors.  He organized and conducted the First Asean Fourier Transformed Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Short Course, 1^st – 3^rd April 1991, and Short Course On Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy, 4^th February 1999, at the School Of Chemical Sciences, USM. He was promoted to the post of an Associate Professor in 1994.  He served as the Program Chairman of the Inorganic Division for several terms (1995-2001) and, concurrently, served as the Program Chairman of the Chemistry Division for the Diploma in Laboratory Technology for the year 1999.  In addition, while serving as the Chairman of FT-NMR Committee (1990-2001), he  wrote a proposal that received funding amounting to more than one million ringgit (RM1,000.000.00) from the Malaysian Government to upgrade the analogue 300 MHz FT-NMR Spectrometer at the School Chemical Sciences, USM to a digital system in the year 2000. 

Mas Rosemal Hakim has supervised 7 M.Sc. and 1 Ph.D. students (local and international) and, currently, there are 4 more graduate students (3 M.Sc. and 1 Ph.D.) who are actively conducting research under his supervision.  Dr. Mas’s expertise and research effort is known to those in his fields of interest not only nationally but also internationally.  He has been invited to deliver a paper by the Director of Research, Sime Darby Technology Centre, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia (1999), by the Main Co-Organizer of The 2000 International Chemical Congress Of Pacific Basin Societies for Symposium On Advanced NMR Characterization Of Polymers, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (2000), and by the Plastics And Rubber Institute Of Malaysia, Shah Alam (2001).

Mas Rosemal Hakim is a scientist with an inventive mind.  Even though deprived of state-of-the-art equipments and working in a fairly modest laboratory at the School Of Chemical Sciences, he managed to develop several novel synthetic and preparative means that enabled him to produce award-winning results (http://www.usm.my/r&d/frontiers/f1/2.html).  In particular, his invention WATER SOLUBLE RUBBER – RubberFloc was awarded a gold medal with special citation and complement of the jury, representing the best of the best (top 1-2% of about 1,000 competitors from worldwide) at the 30^th International Exhibition Of Inventions, New Techniques and Products held at Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland, 1^st – 5^th May 2002 (http://www.moste.gov.my/g_award02.htm). Dr. Mas’s research effort has resulted in USM getting five (5) patents from a comprehensive write-up of the invention “Rubber Derivatives And Method For Their Preparation” in Malaysia (MY20001208; Patent Appl. No. PI20005763), United States of America (US2002072558; Patent Appl. No.10/004,861), European Countries (EP1213303; Patent Appl. No. 01310245.4), Japan (JP2002194005; Patent Appl. No. 2001-373940) and Hong Kong (Patent Appl. No. 02106938.0).  For his breakthrough-achievements in R&D, he received an excellent achievement award “Anugerah Sanggar Sanjung 2001” from the royal highnest, Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail (11^th January 2002) and “Anugerah Sanggar Sanjung 2002” from the royal highnest, Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Fauziah binti Almarhum Tengku Abdul Rashid (24^th January 2003).

Product-oriented research is a time-consuming business. Furthermore, one has to refrain from publishing novel findings so to ensure the work is patentable. For the last 10 years, Mas Rosemal Hakim has focused his research effort towards obtaining novel products (water-soluble rubber and its derivatives) and filing for patents.  His motto is ‘successful research endeavor requires persistent and consistent action’. Mas Rosemal Hakim has also provided consultancy and testing services pertaining to structural characterization of organic and inorganic materials to more than 20 companies. He has been appointed twice as an Expert Penal whose task was to evaluate and recommend research proposals, related to the Polymer Engineering (5^th June 2002) and Chemistry (26^th August 2003), for the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme at Universiti Sains Malaysia.  He has also been appointed as an Examiner of Thesis of several graduate students, an Assessor of Textbook and a Reviewer of Research Article to be published in journal.

Mas Rosemal Hakim was elected to the position of Deputy Chairman of IKM of the Northern Branch for the term 2002-2003 and re-elected for the term 2003-2004.  He is also active in the Parents and Teachers Associations of Sekolah Kebangsaan Seberang Jaya, Persiaran Siakap, Pulau Pinang and Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim, Jitra, Kedah.  Known for his community services, the Resident Association of Taman Siakap Seberang Jaya, Pulau Pinang, has elected Mas Rosemal Hakim to the post of Vice President (16 February 2001- 19 October 2003) and then to the post of President (19 October 2003 – present). 

Mas Rosemal Hakim is married to a medical practitioner, Dr. Hazariah binti Abu Hassan, and they are blessed with three sons (Mas Omar, 14, Mas Adil 11 and Mas Faiz, 9 yrs).

30^th January 2004