Dr. Kishneth Palaniveloo received his early education in Kedah (1991–2003) before obtaining his Bachelor of Science in Marine Science (2007) from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). He is a trained PADI Divemaster and actively participated in teaching, recreational diving, and scientific diving activities that supported educational and research programmes. Thereafter he was briefly attached to the Kota Kinabalu Fisheries Department and Marine Research Foundation (MRF), contributing to research on marine resource management and conservation. He later completed a Master’s degree in Fermentation Biochemistry (2008–2010), followed by a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Advancement of Biodiversity with a focus on Marine Ecological Chemistry at UMS. His doctoral research centred on the isolation, characterization, and structural elucidation of secondary metabolites from marine invertebrates. His work discovered novel compounds and chemical skeletons from soft corals (Alcyonacea) and the sea hare Aplysia dactylomela. During his PhD, he isolated nearly 80 secondary metabolites from both marine and terrestrial sources. His training, which included a research attachment at Jeju National University (Korea), emphasized advanced analytical and spectroscopic techniques, linking natural products chemistry with ecological function and pharmaceutical potential. After completing his PhD, Dr. Kishneth joined a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project as a researcher for a research training at Kyushu University (Japan) where he investigated the structure and diversity of soil microbial communities, expanding his expertise from marine chemical ecology to terrestrial microbial ecology and strengthening his capabilities in environmental molecular biology and natural products research. In 2017, Dr. Kishneth joined the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), Universiti Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. He was appointed Laboratory Coordinator in 2020 and, since 2023, as the Head of the Marine Biotechnology Unit. His research integrates biodiversity, marine chemical ecology, and biogeochemistry, focusing on: (1) soft coral species and chemical diversity; (2) algal metabolites; (3) microbial community profiling using next-generation sequencing (NGS); and (4) carbon stock assessment and mangrove adaptation under environmental and climatic changes, contributing to blue carbon and conservation initiatives. His passion for chemical diversity supports collaborations with pharmaceutical scientists and drives his interest in product development. Dr. Kishneth publishes and reviews for numerous indexed scientific journals, including Ecological Indicators, Journal of Applied Phycology, and 3Biotech, reflecting his multidisciplinary reach across marine biodiversity, chemical ecology, and sustainable bioprospecting. He has secured approximately RM5 million in total research funding as principal investigator and co-researcher. His projects cover soft coral chemotaxonomy, mangrove genetic diversity, bioactive compound discovery, and composting technology, aligning with national priorities for marine resource sustainability. He currently has 25 ISI-indexed publications and an H-index of 12 with over 540 citations. He actively supervises MSc and PhD students and teaches Marine Biotechnology annually. He is also involved in developing the Master’s curriculum for IOES. Beyond academia, Dr. Kishneth plays an active role in professional societies and scientific advocacy. He served three terms as the Honorary Secretary of the Malaysian Society of Marine Sciences (MSMS), contributing to national task forces and committees on biodiversity conservation with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Fisheries Department, resulting to the gazettement of marine protected areas in Melaka. He is also a member of the International Association for Biological Oceanography, the Malaysian Society of Natural Products, and an associate of the Centre for Natural Products Research and Drug Discovery (CENAR), Universiti Malaya. His achievements are recognized through various local and international collaborations and awards, including the Universiti Malaya Excellence Service Award (2022), the JICA Training Award on OTEC and DSW Applications (2022), and several gold awards at research innovation competitions (2009, 2012, 2025). Dr. Kishneth Palaniveloo aims to continue advancing research and teaching in marine science, natural product chemistry, and ecosystem sustainability in line with national and university aspirations for scientific innovation and marine resource stewardship.

Professor Ts. Dr. Rafidah Md Noor served as the Director of the Quality Management and Enhancement Center (QMEC) at Universiti Malaya from June 2022 to April 2025. Previously, she was the Head of the Centre of Research (COR) for Mobile Cloud Computing (C4MCCR) from 2016 to 2023. Her prior roles include Deputy Dean (Science) at the Institute for Advanced Studies from December 2019 to November 2021, Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Studies at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology from August 2014 to July 2016, and Head of the Department of Computer System and Technology at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaya, from February 2011 to July 2014. Rafidah received her BIT from Universiti Utara Malaysia in 1998, and MSc in Computer Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2000, and PhD in Computer Science from Lancaster University, United Kingdom in 2010. Throughout her career, she has mentored 1 Postdoctoral Fellow, guided more than 15 PhD students, supervised 5 Master of Computer Science (by Research) candidates, and over 30 Master of Computer Science (Mixed Mode) students, as well as taught various courses.  Rafidah’s research is related to a field of transportation system in computer science research domain. For many computer scientists, her research interests related to Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), improving the road traffic system and safety for urban environments. Her research interests include vehicular networks, mobile and wireless networks, Internet-of-Things, Cloud and Fog computing, Quality of Service (QoS), and Energy Management. She is actively involve in research grant's evaluation at University and Ministry Level. Rafidah has successfully secured over 2.5 million Ringgit Malaysia in research grants from both internal and external sources, with 1.3 million Ringgit Malaysia attributed to her role as the Principal Investigator. She is also a co-researcher grants with other local universities such as Sunway University, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, UCSI, and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM). To contribute her research ideas into a community, she has designed and patent a novel framework, System and Method for Relieving Traffic Congestion (PT/5503/UM/14) (granted 23 June 2020 until 12 November 2034) for emergency rescue operations. She has filed and granted several copyrights from her research works since 2012 to current. Rafidah’s efforts are driven by the courage to implement the framework that challenges the existing protocol/standard.  She is actively publishing journals in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE - with Cumulative Impact Factor (CIF) more than 200) and Scopus. She has published more than 100 SCIE indexed journals (50% published in Tier 1), H-index (26 in Publons and 32 in Scopus), and 3170 Scopus Citation. She involves in International journal and textbook reviewers, and national research grant assessors (Ministry of Higher Education, Private Universities and International Institutions). Rafidah is an Associate Editor in Connected Mobility and Automation (Specialty Section), Frontiers in Future Transportation Journal, Guest Editor for a Special Issue, SCIE indexed journal reviewers, served as advisory and technical committee for International conferences, Distinguished lecture for IEEE VTS Summer School (Malaysia), and Keynote speakers for International conferences.  Rafidah won 14 awards (GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE Medals) from Research Innovation, Exhibition and Competition at National and International Level for her works on Urban Transportation and Computing Solutions (since 2012 until present). She served as external examiners for PhD thesis for public and private universities locally and internationally.   She is actively involve in curriculum development and monitoring, therefore her skills is recognised and has been appointed as the Panel Assessor/External Examiner for Existing Academic Programme and Programme Accreditation (Bachelor, Master and PhD Degrees) at Sunway University, Taylor's University, Monash University, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). Rafidah also served as a Panel Assessor for Academic Promotion at Private University in Malaysia and overseas institution.

Dr. Saturveithan Chandirasegaran is a Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon at Universiti Malaya with a strong academic and research portfolio in spine surgery. He completed MBBS (UM) in 2011, followed by Master of Orthopaedic Surgery (UM) in 2020, where he graduated as the Top Student of Universiti Malaya. He subsequently undertook Subspeciality Training in Orthopaedic Spine Surgery at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and Fellowship in Spine Surgery at National University Hospital (Singapore), gaining expertise in spinal deformity, complex spine disorders and advanced surgical techniques. He is an active contributor to the regional spine community and a committed member of several professional bodies, including AO Spine, Asia Pacific Spine Society (APSS) as a Life Member, Malaysian Spine Society (MSS), and the Malaysian Orthopaedic Association (MOA). He has received multiple international awards in recognition of his clinical research in spine surgery. His recent accolades include the English Presentation Award Gold Prize 2025 from the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research, as well as the Presidential Best Research Award at the International Malaysian Spine Society Scientific Congress for 2 consecutive years, 2023 and 2024. He has been regularly invited as a speaker at major scientific meetings, including the AO Spine Asia Pacific International Spine Conference. As an academician, Dr. Saturveithan has authored over 23 publications in leading ISI-indexed spine journals and continues to be actively involved in clinical and translational spine research.