Proceedings of 2nd World Conference on Byproducts of Palms and Their Applications: Bypalma 2021, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This book presents the selected papers presented at the 2nd World Conference on Byproducts of Palms and their Applications (ByPalma 2021), held as a virtual conference on September 28–30, 2021. The conference focused on the byproducts of palm plantations around the globe and their current and potential applications. It provided an interdisciplinary platform for leading academic scientists, researchers, artisans, entrepreneurs and industry professionals as well as palm growers to exchange recent developments, technologies, innovations, trends, concerns, challenges, and opportunities, related to palm by-products R&D, manufacturing, and crafts. As a reference, it will be of interest to students, scientists, engineers, government officials, and industrial practitioners.

Dr. Mohammad Jawaid is currently working as Senior Fellow (Professor) at Biocomposite Technology Laboratory, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, and also has been Visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since June 2013. He has more than 20 years of experience in teaching, research, and industries. His area of research interests includes hybrid composites, lignocellulosic reinforced/filled polymer composites, advance materials: graphene/nanoclay/fire retardant, modification and treatment of lignocellulosic fibers and solid wood, biopolymers and biopolymers for packaging applications, nanocomposites and nanocellulose fibers, and polymer blends. So far, he has published 55 books, 75 book chapters, more than 400 peer-reviewed international journal papers, and several published review papers under top highly cited articles in ScienceDirect. He also obtained five Patents and six Copyrights. H-index and citation in Scopus are 68 and 21578, and in Google scholar, H-index and citation are 82 and 29647. He worked as Chief Executive Editor of Pertanika UPM Journals from 2021–2022. He is founding Series Editor of Springer-3 Series: Composite Science and Technology; Sustainable Materials and Technology; and Smart Nanomaterials and Technology and also Series Editor of Springer Proceedings in Materials, Springer Nature and also International Advisory Board Member of Springer Series on Polymer and Composite Materials. He worked as Guest Editor of special issues of SN Applied Science, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Current Organic Synthesis and Current Analytical Chemistry, International Journal of Polymer Science, IOP Conference Proceeding. He is also Editorial Board Member of Journal of Polymers and The Environment, Journal of Natural Fibres, Journal of Plastics Technology, Applied Science and Engineering Progress Journal, Journal of Asian Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Recent Innovations in Chemical Engineering. Besides that, he is also Reviewer of several high-impact international peer-reviewed journals of Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Saga, ACS, RSC, Frontiers, etc.
Dr. Mohamad Midani is Assistant Professor at the Materials Engineering Department, German University Cairo, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University. He is also Managing Partner of inTEXive consulting and Secretary General of the International Association of Palm Byproducts. Dr. Midani has long experience in the textile industry, with a focus on technical textiles and composites, with an ongoing research collaboration and consulting to the industry. His research mostly focuses on natural fibers and their composites, and he is the Co-Inventor of the long textile fibers from date palm byproducts (PalmFil). He is also Co-Founder of the World Conference on Palm Byproducts and their Applications (ByPalma). He published more than 30 articles in international journals and conferences in addition to three books. Dr. Midani is Reviewer of several international journals from different publishers. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites as well as New Product development and Innovation Management. In 2022, Dr. Midani received the distinguished young alumni award from Wilson College of Textiles NC State University in recognition for his impact in the textile field. Dr. Midani has his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Ain Shams University (2006), M.T. in Textiles & Apparel Technology and Management (2012), and Ph.D. in Fiber and Polymer Science from the College of Textiles NC State University (2016). Dr. Midani is certified New Product Development Professional (NPDP) and Member of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and Co-Founder and Member of the board of PDMA Egypt chapter.
Dr. Ramzi Khiari is Associate Professor at Institut Supérieur des études Technologiques de Ksar-Hellal (Monastir, Tunisia) in the department of Textile Engineering and Research and Development Specialist at Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science and Graphic Arts LGP2 in Grenoble Institute of Technology, University of Grenoble. Dr. Ramzi has an H-index of 26 and co-authored more than 80 publications receiving 2353 citations. His research interests focus on the valorizationof biomass at multi-scale levels, namely: fibers, nanocellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, and their use as potential raw material in several industrial applications (textile, papermaking, polymeric materials, composites, and nanocomposites). A particular focus is given for vegetal biomass from annual plants and particularly agricultural residues and industrial wastes.