Dr. Surina Ismail

Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) Group Head of Sustainability, IOI Corporation Bhd

Dr. Surina Ismail currently holds the position of Group Head of Sustainability, IOI Corporation Bhd. In this capacity, she is responsible for corporate sustainability which includes aligning sustainability policy & implementation for the whole IOI Group. Prior to this, she was the Global Director for Intellectual Property (IP) Management at Emery Oleochemicals. Her main responsibilities include matters related to Emery’s IP Strategy, Valuation & Portfolio Management. At the same time, she was also a Business Development and Operations Director with Emery Advance Material, a subsidiary company of Emery which specializes in the dispersion of Nanocarbon in Materials where she was responsible for developing the business strategy for their patented technology as well as oversee the operations side of this technology.

She holds a BSc. (Hon) Chemistry from Indiana University, MSc. (Polymer Organic) from University of Massachusetts and PhD. (Bio-organic Polymer) from University Akron, USA with past experiences in the academia working as a Research Fellow, Visiting Scientist & Assistant Professor in the USA before returning to Malaysia and entering the Industrial Sector. She joined Sime Darby Technology Center, a technical center focused in the field of rubber and tires, as Materials Testing & Analysis Manager cum Quality Manager. Later on, she moved on to UCB Asia Pacific, a leading multinational company in UV Coating, as Technical Development Manager for Asia. She then joined KLK Oleo as R&D Director at KLK Oleomas, a major manufacturing company in the oleochemicals industry.

Her field of technical experience includes the rubber & palm oil industry, the oleochemical and petrochemical industry, the coating industry specifically UV Coatings and Nanotechnology with emphasis on nanocarbon and nanomaterial. She holds several patents in this field and has been invited to be keynote speakers and present technical
papers related to her field of technical expertise. In Regulatory and Sustainability Matters, she has been involved in activities such as the Supply Chain Certification for RSPO, RSPO’s Trade & Traceability Committee as well as in the sub-working group in Oleo Derivatives, LCA as well as in REACH, GHS, etc.