From Kehinde Adewole
A Professor of Industrial Chemistry at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, (FUOYE), Professor Olayide Samuel Lawal has been listed among world’s top most outstanding scholars/researchers, especially in the area of sciences.
Professor Lawal emerged among these most distinguished scholars with his ratings on the following parameters, i.e Goggle scholar Total Citations: 3,999; Research Gate Score: 29.75; Impact Factor: 280.501; and h-index 32; i10-index 39, respectively.
A document recently released by Elsevier B. V (Netherlands) and a team of researchers led by Prof. John P.A. loannidis from Stanford University, USA displayed comprehensive list of top two percent scholars across all fields world-wide based on metrics obtained from Scopus, the world acclaimed largest database of peer-reviewed scholarly documents, identified Professor Olayide Samuel Lawal among seventy-one of such Nigerian scholars. The facts could be assessed on Mendelley.
The outstanding scholars is current Dean, Faculty of Science and member of the Governing Council of FUOYE. He has also emerged.
Associate, Biophysics of the living state at International Centre for Theoretical Physics, (ICTP) Italy, ap Postdoctoral Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt, (AVH) Germany; Postdoctoral Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, (JSPS) Tokyo, Japan. and Grantee, International Foundation for Science (SWEDEN) to mention but a few.
Lawal bagged his Ph.D in Industrial Chemistry at the prestigious University of Ibadan in 2004.
His specialization is in industrial chemistry. Speaking about his passion for research and area of specialization, Prof. Lawal said: ” my research centres on value-added industrial applications of raw and modified bio-macromolecules. I apply both physical and chemical modifications to biopolymers to enhance applications in diverse industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, textile, medical and house-hold products. Such chemical modifications include oxidation, acetylation, succinylation, hydroxypropylation and carboxymethylation while annealing and heat-moisture treatments are being explored as physical modifications. The bio-polymers of interest are mainly protein isolates from plants, starches and cellulose isolated from different sources, particularly lesser-known underutilized plant resources with a view to bringing them to full industrial utilization. To expand the relevance of natural polymers in diverse industrial applications, recent efforts are now on the preparation and characterisation of novel bio-based hydrogels for drug delivery and other relevant applications as well as modification and utilization of bio-resources such as gelatin, guar gum, chitosan, chitin, gum arabic and dextran for applications in diverse industries.
With a view to embracing interdisciplinary dimension to research, and in line with global trend, my research has expanded to environmental science, using biomass and applying nanoscience and nanotechnology to solve environmental problems. In other to produce cutting-edge and outstanding results, I employ the following state-of-the-art instrumentations for my research works: Wide Angle X-ray Diffractometry, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Rheometry/rheology, Viscometry, Thermogravimetry, Amylography, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, UV spectroscopy, Infrared Spectroscopy, and 1H, 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.”
