As a scholar and an indication of the global impact of research work (top 2% scientists in a global list), Lai’s works have been published in > 300 refereed international top-tier journals with Scopus h-index of 51, 8 patents, 100 book chapters, and 100 international proceedings. Due to his expertise, he has been invited as keynote/plenary speaker and invited speaker in more than 40 conferences and workshops. Now he is serving as associate editors, guest editors, book editors, and editorial board members for several prestigious high impact factor international journals. Meanwhile, Lai was appointed as university, national and international peer evaluation panel for many research grants, research papers/chapters/proceedings, MSc/PhD thesis, book proposals. In total, Dr. Lai has secured research funding exceeding RM 7.5 million and he has successfully supervised 16 PhD and 20 MSc graduates to completion. Through his work nanomaterials and catalysis field, Lai received 6 international academic awards and 6 national academic awards and more than 20 awards at international technology expos. Lai’s scholastic achievement and thought leadership are recognized internationally. He appointed as "Foreign Expert/Professional", "Visiting Professor" and "Adjunct Professor" for many international universities.