Dr. Mahendra Rao Somalu is currently a Principal Material Scientist and led Research and Innovation of rare earths oxide materials for various applications at Lynas Rare Earths Ltd located in Kuantan, Malaysia. Previously, he served as a Senior Research Fellow and Assoc. Prof. at the Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) since 2007 before moving to Lynas in 2024. He was awarded the PhD degree from the Imperial College London in 2012. He is an active Associate Member of the professional organizations such as the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), a Member of the Malaysian Association of Hydrogen Energy (MAHE) and Member of the Malaysian Association of Solid State Science (MASS). He has published over 150 articles and received several awards, including the NESIN Award 2023, UKM’s Honorable Award 2018, Article of the Year 2021 Award from the Hindawi, etc. As a principal investigator, he has successfully completed more than 7 projects funded by the Malaysian Government and Industries. He has extensive expertise with over 17 years in the development of high temperature fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies, battery, materials synthesis, nanomaterials, biomass gasification etc. He has published more than 150 scientific articles in various high-impact journals and has been invited as a keynote, invited and guest speakers in various national and international conferences.