Mohammed Rafiq was born in Johor Bahru on the 15th day of the blessed month of Zul-Hijjah 1395 Hijri (December 18, 1975). His father is Dato’ Hj. Abdul Kadir bin Hj. Sam’on, and his mother is Datin Hjh. Sara binti Hj. Mohamed. He is married to Marwati binti Mohd Suhaimi and is blessed with 5 talented children – Ainul Mardhiah, Husna Syakirah, Maryam Sofea, Muhammad & Ibrahim.
Prof Rafiq is a descendant of Sunan Gunung Jati (Syarif Hidayatullah), one of the nine Wali Songo and the famous Commander who led the liberation of Sunda Kelapa, and renamed it to Jayakarta (“City of Victory”). The city that he liberated is now known as Jakarta. Sunan Gunung Jati also established two other Islamic States in Banten and Cirebon. From his mother’s lineage, Prof Rafiq is a descendant of Jenang Login, one of Pahang’s Great Administrators, who looked after the Pianggu Region in Rompin.
Prof. Rafiq received his primary education from Sekolah Kebangsaan Temenggong Abdul Rahman (1), Johor Bahru. He started his secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Maahad Muar until form 3 and then at Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS) until form 5.
In 1993, he received a government scholarship under the British-Canadian Top Universities (BCTU) programme to further studies in the United Kingdom. He spent two years at the Hurstpierpoint College, West Sussex, and completed his A-level with straight As and received awards as the best student in Mathematics and Further Mathematics. He was then admitted to Imperial College London to study mechanical engineering, where he was one of the top ten students in his batch, and completed his final-year project with Rolls-Royce. After graduating in 1999, he went back to Malaysia and worked as an engineer at SNC Laminates Sdn. Bhd. and then at Seksun Technology (Johor) Sdn. Bhd.
He spent a year at the University of Cambridge in 2001 for postgraduate studies before returning to Imperial College London for a full-time research leading to a PhD degree. He completed his medical engineering research in August 2005, where his thesis on cementless hip arthroplasty was accepted without a single correction. He then joined Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as a lecturer with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2008. He was promoted to Associate Professor in October 2010, and three years later promoted to full Professor.
Prof. Rafiq is a pioneer and the country’s leading figure in medical engineering research. He set up the Medical Devices & Technology Group (MEDITEG) in 2006, and within a span of nine years, the group that he pioneered secured 93 research projects with a total grant close to RM10 million. He has published over 250 articles in internationally refereed indexed journals with a cumulative impact factor of 240.798. Some of his works were published in Q1 medical journals, such as Journal of Dentistry and Journal of Orthopaedic Research. He is an associate editor for the ISI Journal of Medical Imaging and Health Informatics and a reviewer for several Q1 ISI journals such as Materials Letters, Journal of Biomechanics, and Journal of Engineering in Medicine. Besides his intellectual role in academics, Prof. Rafiq is also a prolific innovator. According to MyIPO Database on Patents (2001 – 2014), he is Malaysia’s #1 Inventor with 27 Patents Granted. To date he holds 35 granted patents, 25 patents pending, 36 copyrights, and 1 product for dentistry already commercialised by Pharmaniaga Bhd. He has published six books and 93 conference proceedings. In terms of human capital development for the country, Prof. Rafiq has produced 26 PhD holders and 31 Masters holders graduated in various Medical Engineering sub-expertise. He is currently supervising 14 PhD candidates to assist in the country’s need for medical engineering experts.
Prof. Rafiq was instrumental in the establishment of Medical Engineering education in Malaysia, and was the key figure in the development of a new Faculty of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences in UTM. He spent two years with other committee members preparing all the required paperwork and successfully defended the proposal with the relevant ministries until the new faculty was approved by the government in September 2007. He was immediately appointed as the Head of the Department of Biomechanics and Biomedical Materials and held the post for two terms. In 2011, he was appointed as the Deputy Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. After the faculty merger with the Faculty of Biosciences and Bioengineering, he has been entrusted to be the Deputy Dean for Development, and later as the Deputy Dean for Academics.
Prof. Rafiq is registered at the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) with Practising Certificate, and a corporate member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia. He is also an associate member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, United Kingdom. He has been invited in numerous occasions to give presentations to medical practitioners nationwide on the synergies between doctors and engineers.
For academic teaching, he developed and taught four new courses: Biomechanics, Biomedical Materials, Biomedical Engineering Design, and Tissue Engineering. Other courses that he taught include Materials Science, Advanced Materials, Materials Technology, Statics & Dynamics, Solid Mechanics, Engineering Drawing, and Experimental Techniques.
