Dr. Kurniawan pioneered the fields by using digital technology in water treatment and waste recycling. His impactful and visionary work has contributed to the field of study in recent decades.

His focus on sustained scientific research is evident from more than 220 articles in refereed journals, 25 articles in conference proceedings, twelve monographs, and 9 book chapters. To date, Kurniawan is the first author of 20% of the works with an h-index of 60 and citations of over 15,230 counts (Scopus), while being the corresponding author of one third of the same works. The scientific contributions are tangible manifestations of his competence and research impact in the discipline.