Prof. Mika Sillanpää obtained an M. Sc. (Eng) in Analytical Chemistry in 1992, followed by a Lic. Sc. (Eng) in 1996, and a Dr. Sc. (Eng) in 1997, all from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland.

Throughout his career, he has held professorial roles at institutions such as the University of Oulu, University of Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland, Lappeenranta University of Technology, University of Jyväskylä and King Saud University. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Aalto University and a Courtesy Professor at Florida International University. Currently, he holds the position of Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Department of Chemical Engineering Technology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.Prof. Sillanpää's research focuses on chemical treatment in environmental engineering and environmental monitoring and analysis. More specifically, he has worked extensively with adsorption, photocatalysis, electrochemical treatment, membrane biological processes and advanced oxidation processes as well as ion mobility spectrometry, chromatographic methods, electrochemical sensor development and real-time monitoring.