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Professor Nidal Hilal (born 1958) is a chartered chemical engineer. He currently holds a chair in water process engineering at Swansea University in the United Kingdom, where he directs the Centre for Water Advanced Technologies and Environmental Research (CWATER).
He received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1981 followed by a master's degree in advanced chemical engineering from Swansea University in 1986. He received his PhD degree from Swansea University in 1988. In 2005 he was awarded a Doctor of Science from the University of Wales and the Kuwait Prize for applied science “Water Resources Development”.
He is a registered European Engineer (Euro Ing) and is an elected fellow of both the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and the Learned Society of Wales (LSW).
He is the author of over 400 publications, 9 patents and 7 books. His research interests lie broadly in the identification of innovative and cost-effective solutions within the fields of nano-water, membrane technology, and water treatment including desalination, colloid engineering and the nano-engineering applications of AFM. His internationally recognized research has led to the use of AFM in the development of new membranes with optimized properties for difficult separations. His research has produced several breakthrough innovations, including: smallest AFM colloid probe reported in the literature, first AFM coated colloid probe technique, first AFM cell probe technique, first direct measurements of the interaction of single live cells with surfaces, first use of the atomic force microscope in meso-scale cavitation studies and development of novel and tailored membranes.
He is the Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal Desalination. He sits on the editorial boards of a number of international journals, is an advisory board member of several multinational organizations and has served on/consulted for industry, government departments, research councils and universities on an international basis.