Kok-Sing Lim received his B.Eng in Telecommunication from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya in 2008 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the same university in 2012. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Photonics Research Centre, University of Malaya. His research interests include Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), Optical Measurement and Instrumentation, Spatial Division Multiplexing Technology and medical laser devices. Currently, he is actively involved in the development an optical remote sensor for oil palm fruit ripeness assessment. He is a corporate member of Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), a registered Professional Engineer (Telecommunication) with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) and a senior member of IEEE. He was given the ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award in 2020.

Dr. Song Sze Looi is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Universiti Malaya, specialising in Phylogenomics and eDNA Metagenomics. She obtained her PhD in the field of Algal Biotechnology in 2013. Following her doctorate, she was appointed as a Postdoctoral Researcher on a high-impact research project in Molecular Phylogenetics and Systematics. In 2016, she took on the role of Research Fellow, focusing on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Bioinformatics. In 2019, Dr. Song joined the China-ASEAN College of Marine Sciences (CAMS) at Xiamen University Malaysia as an Assistant Professor. She returned to Universiti Malaya in 2021 and currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) and the Program Director for Future Studies. Dr. Song’s research integrates high-throughput sequencing technologies and advanced analytical tools to explore the evolutionary relationships and biodiversity of a wide range of organisms, including both marine and terrestrial taxa. Her projects examined the phylogenetic and phylogeographic structures of biota of economic, agriculture and public health importance, such as seaweeds, parasites, insects, and vertebrates, as well as microbial communities associated with host organisms and environmental samples. She has published over 60 WoS–indexed journal articles. In addition, she has led or contributed to numerous research projects funded by national, international, and industry bodies, including the Japan Toray Science Foundation, the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), the National Conservation Trust Fund (NCTF), and a Petronas-funded project in collaboration with UCSI University. Her recent work focuses on the application of eDNA for assessing marine biodiversity and ecosystem health, particularly in sensitive estuarine and coastal habitats. Her research excellence has been recognized (1) through multiple awards, including being a co-recipient of the Malaysia Toray Science Foundation 2023 Science and Technology Award, and (2) as a lead speaker at conferences.

He received a bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 1995. Then, he joined Indonesian Aircraft Industries Ltd. (PT. IPTN/ Dirgantara Indonesia/ Indonesian-Aerospace Ltd), Bandung, Indonesia as a Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics engineer from 1995 to 1999. ALHAMDULILLAH, while working with PT. IPTN, he was given a sponsorship by the Ministry of National Education, Indonesia,for pursuing master degree in Mechanical Engineering at Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia (completed in 1998). In October 1999, he was awarded a prominent PhD studentship from the Queen Mary and Westfield Research Council, University of London, and ALHAMDULILLAH he successfully accomplished his PhD in Computational Mechanics in 2003.Prior to joining Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia, in July 2004, he was working as a visiting researcher at Inter University Center, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. In 2010, he joined University of Malaya, Malaysia, for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Next, prior to joining University of Pertamina in 2019, he was working with Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Brunei Darussalam (in 2016). In 2025, ALHAMDULILLAH, he was very pleased to make a return to Universiti Malaya (Department of Mechanical Engineering), Malaysia.