Rafidah Md Noor is a Professor of Computer Science at Universiti Malaya with more than 25 years of experience in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Internet of Things (IoT), Mobile and Wireless computing, and Digital transformation. Her research focuses on translating advanced computing technologies into intelligent, secure and sustainable solutions for transportation, smart cities, digital government and society.

She served as Director of the Quality Management and Enhancement Centre (QMEC), Universiti Malaya, from June 2022 to April 2025, where she led institutional quality transformation initiatives, including the development and implementation of the Universiti Malaya Quality Excellence Index (UMQEI). Previously, she served as Head of the Centre of Research for Mobile Cloud Computing (C4MCCR) from 2016 to 2023, Deputy Dean (Science), Institute for Advanced Studies from 2019 to 2021, Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology from 2014 to 2016, and Head of the Department of Computer System and Technology from 2011 to 2014.

Rafidah obtained her BIT from Universiti Utara Malaysia, MSc in Computer Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and PhD in Computer Science from Lancaster University, United Kingdom. She has supervised one postdoctoral fellow, more than 20 PhD students and more than 50 Master Degree students, contributing significantly to the development of future technology researchers and professionals.

Her research has progressed from mobile and vehicular networks towards AI-driven intelligent transportation, IoT-enabled smart cities, privacy-preserving Federated Learning, and intelligent digital platforms. Her work addresses real-world challenges including traffic congestion, road safety, driver fatigue, air-quality monitoring, sustainable mobility and intelligent urban management. Her research has generated patents, copyrights, prototypes and award-winning innovations, including the patented System and Method for Relieving Traffic Congestion and technologies for smart transportation, air-quality monitoring, sustainable mobility and driver safety.

At the national level, she served as Project Leader and Lead Consultant for the RM1 million MATRADE project, "Kajian Pendigitalan Aktiviti Promosi Export bagi Pembangunan Integrated Trade Event Platform (ITEP)," leading the development of a national digitalisation blueprint for export promotion activities. This work demonstrates her ability to translate computing expertise into large-scale digital transformation beyond the university environment.

Rafidah has secured more than RM3million in research funding with collaborations involving universities and research institutions nationally and internationally. Her research achievements have been recognised through numerous national and international innovation awards. In 2025, she received the Malaysia's Research Star Award (MRSA) – Researchers Cluster, a national recognition from the Ministry of Higher Education. She was also awarded the Grand Prize (Champion) in the UMPSA × Huawei Mobile App Competition 2025, recognising technology innovation and application development, and subsequently received Second Prize in the Network Track of the Huawei ICT Competition Malaysia 2025–2026. A strong advocate of research translation and industry-academia collaboration which allow to demonstrate a direct pathway from research to an industry-defined real-world use case. This approach enables students to work with authentic industry problems and datasets while accelerating the translation of academic research into potentially deployable intelligent transportation solutions.

Her scholarly impact is reflected in more than 100 SCIE-indexed journal publications, with approximately half published in Tier 1 journals, an H-index of 38 in Scopus and 29 in Web of Science, and more than 3,000 Scopus citations. She is also recognised among the Top 5% of scientists globally according to the Global Scientist Index, reflecting the international reach of her research contributions.

Rafidah serves as an Associate Editor in Connected Mobility and Automation for Frontiers in Future Transportation, as well as a journal reviewer, guest editor, international conference committee member, distinguished lecturer, keynote speaker and research grant evaluator. Her international academic service includes evaluation and examination roles for universities and research organisations across Asia and Europe, including the European Science Foundation.

Beyond research, she has made sustained contributions to academic governance, curriculum development, quality assurance and technology talent development. She has served as an external examiner, programme accreditation assessor, curriculum advisor, academic promotion assessor and research grant evaluator for universities nationally and internationally.