Dr. Michael Quah has just joined the Energy Studies Institute (ESI) as a Visiting Principal Fellow and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) as a Visiting Fellow on a short-term assignment. He is on a leave of absence from his position as Executive Director /Corporate Technology Fellow in Concurrent Technologies Corporation, a non-profit R&D and technical services company in the U.S. Dr. Quah holds the following degrees from Yale University: Ph.D. (1980), M. Phil. (1978), M.Sc. (1975), Chemical Engineering and has a B.A. [magna cum laude] (1974), Chemistry and Physics, from Harvard University. He completed his “O” and “A” levels at St. Xavier’s Institution, Penang, where he was the Head Prefect in 1969.

His working career of almost 30 years was primarily in industry, where he worked for the DuPont Company for about 20 years (1979 – 1999), including a stint with DuPont Japan and Singapore (1990 to 1993). At DuPont, Dr. Quah held positions in R&D, product and business development, and management and his technical work revolved around membrane technologies for reverse osmosis, gas separations, and electrochemical processes, the last area stimulating his interest in alternative energy innovations. When Dr. Quah worked for DuPont in North Carolina (1993 – 1999), he also served as Adjunct Professor, Chemical Engineering, at North Carolina State University.

After early retirement from DuPont, he held management positions in several companies: Lydall Technical Papers, Ocean Power, and NextEnergy, all in areas related to materials, components, and devices for alternative energy systems. He has worked as an independent consultant and served in the US Army RDECOM/CERDEC (Research, Development, and Engineering Command, Communications and Electronics Directorate) in 2003/2004, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Dr. Quah is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Association of the United States Army. He is married with two children and he is a lector at his parish church in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA.