About the Presenters:
Dr. Umi Salamah Ramli is the head of the proteomics and metabolomics unit at the Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Dr. Ramli has worked on a diverse range of projects, ranging from classical plant lipid biochemistry and flux control analysis to more recent biomarker discovery in oil palm research related to yield improvement. She also conceptualized and developed MPOB’s proteomics and metabolomics (PROMET) shared resources, which has grown into a reference laboratory for oil palm protein and metabolite studies. The PROMET facility at MPOB under Dr. Ramli’s leadership is helping to meet the increasing need for a range of technical services using mass spectrometry, including identification and relative quantification of proteins and small molecules. She was also instrumental in initiating research on palm oil traceability, in line with the oil palm industry requirements to establish a traceable supply chain of crude palm oil. Ir Shyam Lakshmanan is the general manager, IOI Edible Oils Sdn Bhd, Sandakan Sabah, Malaysia. He is a fellow of IChemE, a chartered engineer and chartered scientist. He is also a first grade steam engineer and a registered electrical energy manager. He has served as an industrial advisory panel member of various universities in Malaysia such as UTP, UTAR and Nottingham. He has also served as an industrial supervisor for master of engineering students for their design projects. Ir Shyam is a results-oriented, hands-on professional with a successful record of technical and commercial accomplishments in industrial chemicals, mineral processing and edible oil processing plants. He also has strong technical and commercial experience, with a track record of more than 30 years in improving plants and their profitability, developing new products, converting wastes into products, business development, marketing and procurement. He has designed and installed mineral processing plants in China and Indonesia. He has also presented and published several research articles on reducing 3-MCPDE and GE in palm oil, which is one of his current areas of focus.