Dr Norhayati is an Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the Associate Director of UTM International Kuala Lumpur and recently completed her tenure as a Guest Scholar in January 2019 at the Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (Shishu-kan), Kyoto University, Japan.
As an ASEAN S&T Fellow, Dr Norhayati will focus on the policy for science, technology, and innovation for water management, which will include the mechanisms of water management policy and technology development. Under the fellowship programme, Dr Norhayati will be working with the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.
Dr Norhayati is recipient of the 2018 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Fellowship. She was a member of the International Water Association (IWA) Board of Directors, an IWA Fellow, and Vice President of the Malaysian Water Association. At a global level, Dr Norhayati has been involved with the IWA program and activities since 2000 and received the IWA Young Water Professional Award in 2012. Dr Norhayati Abdullah represented UTM and Malaysia at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor for the Fulbright US-ASEAN Visiting Scholar Initiatives in 2016-2017. In February 2018, she was conferred as one of the Top 50 Most Impactful Leaders in Water & Water Management (A Global Listing) during the World CSR Day.
Dr Norhayati received her Bachelor of Civil (Environmental) Engineering (2002) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Master of Environmental Engineering (2004) from Newcastle University, United Kingdom. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Biosciences via collaborative works between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Newcastle University in 2012.