UTHM Expert: Professor Ts. Dr. Norzila Othman

Norzila Othman is a Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Johor, Malaysia. She is currently the Director of the Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (ICC UTHM).

Prof. Norzila is a Principal Researcher of the Micro Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC). She has been a member of the grant evaluation panel for the Ministry of Higher Education since 2015, particularly in the area of environment. Her research interests include environmental engineering, water, and wastewater treatment, environmental management, biomaterial-biocoagulant/bioflocculant, green activated carbon, bioconcrete and ecology.

She obtained her Doctor of Engineering (2010) in Civil Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). Prof. Norzila completed her Master of Management Technology at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 2000, and her Bachelor’s of Science (Ecology) at University Malaya (1997). Before joining UTHM, she worked as a tutor at UTM and also as an Environmental Officer at the Department of Environment (DOE).

At UTHM, Prof. Norzila is actively involved in programme development for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. She also serves as a programme evaluator, particularly in the area of environment for various institutions.

Her passion for research and innovation can be witnessed by the various research grants from KPT, industries and UTHM that she is leading. She also actively participates in innovation exhibitions at the national and international levels namely MTE, ITEX, PECIPTA, BioMalaysia, SIIF and BIS. In carrying out research and innovations, she has filed for intellectual property to protect her findings from the R&D process. For now, she has one patent which has obtained granted category. Applications for other categories such as copyright and trademark have also been filed.

In line with her expertise, Prof. Norzila leads several consultation works, particularly in environmental management. These include the preparation of environmental reports on construction projects and preparation guidelines for home filter systems for the Ministry of Health and others.

At the community level, she involve giving CSR especially with government agencies namely water authorities, DOE and DID especially on any issues related to environment that give significant impact to the public.

She currently as a member of International Water Association (IWA), The Clean Air Forum and Society of Malaysia and Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT).