Realizing that water, energy and food are the three pillars to sustain the growth of human population in the future, this book deals with all the above aspects with particular emphasis on water and energy. In particular, the book addresses applications of membrane science and technology for water and wastewater treatment, energy and environment. The readers are also offered a glimpse into the rapidly growing R & D activities in the ASEAN and the Middle East regions that are emerging as the next generation R & D centers of membrane technologies, especially owing to their need of technology for water and wastewater treatment. Hence, this book will be useful not only for the engineers, scientists, professors and graduate students who are engaged in the R & D activities in this field, but also for those who are interested in the sustainable development of these geographical regions. Thus, it is believed that the book will open up new avenues for the establishment of global collaborations to achieve our common goal of welfare of the human society.

Ahmad Fauzi Ismail is Professor at the Gas Engineering Department, Faculty of Petroleum and Renewable Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Johor, Malaysia and Director of the Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC), UTM. Currently he is also the Dean of the Research for Materials and Manufacturing Research Alliance of UTM. He received his BSc and MSc degrees from the Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, UTM and Ph.D. in Chemical and Process Engineering specialization in membrane gas separation from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK., his MSc in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in membrane gas separation and a BSc in Petroleum Engineering both from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Professor Ismail has published more than 250 papers in academic journals, 23 book chapters and 2 edited books. His R&D inventions and innovations have won more than 90 awards and among the outstanding awards are the Malaysia Young Scientist Award in 2000, ASEAN Young Scientist Award in 2001, National Innovation Award, National Intellectual Property Award, National Academic Award for Innovation and Product Commercialization in 2013 and Malaysian Toray Science and Technology Foundation Award in 2013. Prof. Ismail is currently the Co-Editor of Desalination, The International Journal on the Science and Technology of Desalting and Water Purification. He is also a Fellow of The Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Takeshi Matsuura received his BSc (1961) and MSc (1963) degrees from the Department of Applied Chemistry at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo and Doktor-Ingenieur from the Institute of Chemical Technology of the Technical University of Berlin in 1965. After working at the University of Tokyo and the University of California, he joined the National Research Council of Canada in 1969. He joined the University of Ottawa in 1992 as a professor and the chair holder of the British Gas/NSERC Industrial Research Chair. He served as a professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the director of the Industrial Membrane Research Institute (IMRI) until he retired in 2002. He is currently professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa and a distinguished visiting professor at the University Technology of Malaysia, Skudai, Johor. He has published about 400 papers in refereed journals, authored and co-authored 3 books and edited 4 books.