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Amira Firdaus is an early career academic at the University of Malaya (UM) in Malaysia, serving as a Senior Lecturer at UM’s Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Amira is also the inaugural Unit Head for the Emerging Scholars Leadership Advancement (EmeraLd) program, at UM’s Academic Development Centre (ADeC). She has a deep interest in the career development of early career academics, including postgraduate students. She enjoys close mentoring relationships with her PhD and Masters students, and occasionally conducts postgraduate research talks and clinics for others. Her multi-disciplinary research interests span across the fields of media and communication, positive psychology, and ageing. Amira holds an interest in organizational communication, new media ethnography, and older adults and new media. She is currently embarking on a self-study of positive psychology, wellbeing and active ageing. Amira holds a PhD in Journalism Studies from the University of Melbourne, where her thesis was suggested for The Chancellor's Prize by her external examiner. She is now looking forward to the 2016 publication of her first book Media Globalization and Digital Journalism in Malaysia: Network Newswork by the international publisher, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, UK. *PhD Supervisors: Ingrid Volkmer & David Nolan; PhD Thesis Chair & External Examiners: Robert Hassan; Stephen Reese; Brian McNair

I am currently an Associate Professor of Nanobiotechnology in the University of Malaya's Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre. I am a multi-displinary guy and I received training in multidisciplinary approaches to research during my education. During my bachelor program on biochemistry (University of Dhaka, 1993-1998), I learned how to perform various experiments in biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, and food sciences. Later on, I gained hands-on experience in protein chemistry, spectroscopy, and analytical chemistry during my master’s study at Concordia University at Montreal (2002-2004). I worked on a project, “Modification of Local and Global Conformational Stability of Hemoglobin by the Allosteric Effectors BPG and IHP,” wherein I deeply studied protein structures by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), circular dichroism, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Finally, I became familiar with nanobiointerphase research during my doctoral study on nanobiotechnology engineering at the University of Malaysia Perlis (2009-2011). I developed short-length DNA biomarkers using PCR technology and conjugated them with nanomaterials to develop colorimetric sensors for porcine detection under commercial food matrices. I also learned microfabrication technologies for the fabrication of various nanostructured materials. My works were published in Nanotechnology, Meat Science, Food Analytical Methods, the Journal of Nanomaterials, and many other prestigious journals. I also received several prestigious awards such as the University of Malaysia Perlis Gold Medal 2010 and the Biomalaysia Gold Award 2011. Finally, I took a postdoctoral-cum-academic position in the Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre in the University of Malaya in 2012 and have attracted about RM2.5 million in research grants to explore my areas of interest. Here, I have been leading two major projects, “Development of Multicomponent Systems for the Total Analysis of Food Ingredients,” and “CNT and Graphene Hybrids for Water Purification and Desalination.” I have demonstrated tremendous success in both projects, which have a strong appeal to the international community. In 2015, my desalination work received the prestigious “Atlas” award from Elsevier, and in 2016, my food fraud article was featured by the American Chemical Society. I brought new concepts into PCR technology by targeting double genes to enhance security in molecular diagnosis, and to carbon nanotube engineering to solve the global water crisis by sea water desalination. My work has produced 2 patents, 125 publications in the web of science,40 conference proceedings,2 keynote speeches, and 18 invited lectures in prestigious conferences and universities. IDE technologies (Israel), GreenWater Namibia, and the University of Lille in France have requested my CNT membranes for water desalination, and Nestlé New Zealand and the Shanghai GMO Laboratory have used my PCR-based validation schemes for the tracing of animal materials in the food chain. In the coming years, I will continue my research on the following three projects, all of which have a great demand in global markets:(1) CNT and Graphene Hybrids for Water Purification and Desalination; (2) Development of Multicomponent Systems for the Total Analysis of Food Ingredients and (3) Organ-on-Chip for Molecular Diagnostics.

Naziaty Mohd Yaacob was born in Bentong, Pahang, 54 years ago. Naziaty Mohd Yaacob was trained in Malaysia and England as an architect. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Universiti Malaya, where she worked since 1997. Naziaty obtained her doctorate in 2009 from the University of Salford. Her PhD thesis is titled Accessibility to Historic and Listed Public Buildings: Development Control Processes in England and Wales. She taught architectural design, theory and philosophy, architectural research, history of western architecture, universal design and design theory. She is the head of two research programs worth almost a quarter of a million ringgit in the first year alone. One is entitled: Learning from the Architectural Design Studio and the other is a Grand Challenge collaboration with Kuala Lumpur City Hall entitled: Universal Design and Inclusive Society for Kuala Lumpur Built Enviornment, awarded in 2014. Apart from her academic role, she is well-known amongst disability activists in Malaysia as she became involved in advocacy work since 1998. Her contributions to disability & accessibility advocacy in Malaysia are tremendous. She is one of the national council members for the Persons With Disability Act 2008 for the first two terms, 2008-2012 and expert reference in Accessibility and Universal Design. She also devotes her time and energy in providing advice, consultations, fieldwork and research on access audits of public and private buildings and sites. Naziaty shares her wealth of knowledge and experience via her letters, blogs and articles. She was awarded a special award for her academic work at the National Day for Disabled Persons celebration in 2014. In 2016, she founded ZasVe which is a business pod that will be applying to be a start-up company on universal design products under UM Innovations Sdn. Bhd.. The revenue comes from access audit and building design appraisals. She hopes to get the start-up running end of 2016.