Professor Nidal Hilal holds a chair in Water Process Engineering and the Director of Centre for Water Advanced Technologies and Environmental Research (CWATER) at Swansea University in the United Kingdom. He obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wales in 1988. In addition to three years of industrial experience, he has worked continuously in academia since graduation in 1981. Over the years, he has made a major contribution becoming an internationally leading expert in the application of atomic force microscopy to chemical and process engineering, particularly in water resources development. His research interests lie broadly in the identification of innovative and cost-effective solutions to real world process engineering problems within the fields of nano-water, membrane technology, water treatment including desalination, colloid engineering and the nano-engineering applications of atomic force microscopy. Professor Hilal is internationally recognized as a world-leader in developing and applying the force measurement capability of AFM to the study of membrane separation and engineering processes at the nanoscale level. In recognition of his outstanding research contribution in the field of Scanning Probe Microscopy and Membrane Science &Technology he was awarded a DSc (Doctor of Science) from University of Wales in 2005. The world-leading reputation for research that Professor Hilal has earned in the fields of membrane technology and water treatment have now been formally recognized by the award of the prestigious Kuwait Prize of Applied Science for Water Resources Development for the year 2005. This has been awarded by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). This prize is one of the highest scientific honours which are awarded in the Middle East for intellectual achievement. Professor Hilal's research has produced several breakthrough innovations with applicability to water purification and treatment, including the development of novel membranes; the first demonstration to the world that nanofiltration membranes have pores; the smallest AFM colloid probe reported in the literature; the first AFM coated colloid probe technique; the first AFM cell probe technique; the first AFM Calcium Carbonate probe technique to study Desalination; the first direct measurements of the interaction of single live cells with surfaces; the first use of AFM in meso-scale cavitation studies. This work has led to the development of a ground-breaking AFM-HSMP technique that combines AFM force-distance measurements with ultra-high speed micrography to study rheology and extensional fluid properties. All these techniques/technologies have widespread applications in process optimisation and the development of novel processes. While of great importance to process engineering in general, the ability of these techniques to quickly and accurately predict the performance characteristics of novel water filtration membranes can truly be regarded as a breakthrough in water purification technology. Professor Hilal pioneered the application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to process engineering problems. These studies have led, for example, to the use of AFM in the development of new membranes with optimised properties for difficult separations. He has recently published a pioneering book on Atomic Force Microscopy and Nano-Process Engineering by Elsevier in 2009 and a book entitled Membrane Modification: Technology and Applications by CRC press in 2012. He has also published 4 textbooks, 27 book chapters and around 300 articles in the refereed scientific literature. Professor Hilal is the Editor-in-Chief for the international journal Desalination and on the editorial boards of a number of international journals, and is a member of the advisory boards of several multinational organizations. He is a registered European Engineer, a Chartered Engineer in the UK and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical En