Rate My Professor Saman Ilankoon

Dr. Saman Ilankoon serves as an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering at Monash University Malaysia campus, a position he has held since 2015. He possesses a PhD in Minerals Processing from the Royal School of Mines, Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, awarded in December 2012 for his thesis entitled “Hydrodynamics of unsaturated particle beds pertaining to heap leaching,” which examined fluid flow and mass transfer in heap leaching systems. Ilankoon also holds a First Class BSc Engineering in Mining and Minerals Processing from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Prior to Monash, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London, investigating hydrodynamics and mass transfer in heap leaching funded by Rio Tinto. His extensive experience spans mining, minerals processing, chemical process engineering, and industrial rock blasting, gained at Imperial College London, Monash University Malaysia, and the University of Moratuwa.

Ilankoon's research specializations encompass critical waste extraction from low-grade and secondary resources, e-waste management and value recovery, rare earth elements supply chains, plastic waste recycling, waste policy development, and carbon capture and utilisation, including microalgae-based technologies. He leads the Waste and Critical Metals Sustainability Research Group and has supervised projects on AI-monitored microalgae CO2 fixation and metal leaching from e-waste. In teaching, he is Chief Examiner for Separation Processes (CHE3165) and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CHE4803), and develops materials for Fluid Mechanics (CHE2161). Notable awards include the Fellowship of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM, 2022), Chartered Engineer (CEng, Engineering Council UK, 2022), AdvanceHE Fellow (FHEA, 2024), Andrew Carnegie Research Fund (IOM3, 2016), Pro-Vice Chancellor Award for Excellence in Education - Innovations in Teaching (2017), and recognition in the 2023 Stanford list of the world’s top 2% scientists. His team recently received a global sustainability award for algae innovation. Key publications feature “Rare earth permanent magnets for the green energy transition: Bottlenecks, current developments and cleaner production solutions” (Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2025), “Deep-Sea Mining Finance: Balancing Investment Risks, Environmental Responsibility and Financial Opportunities for Sustainable Technology and Impacts” (Sustainable Development, 2026), “Characterization and experimental modeling of rockwool, hot-sprayed polyurea, and casted polyurea as thermal insulation for heat mitigation in landfill liner” (Applied Thermal Engineering, 2025), and “Response surface methodology optimisation of catanionic surfactant mixtures in de-inking packaging plastic waste” (Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2025). Ilankoon serves on the editorial board of Minerals and Mineral Materials and contributes to UN SDGs on clean energy, responsible consumption, and climate action.