P. Raveendran received the B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in electrical engineering from South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, USA in 1984 and 1985 respectively. He was a systems designer with Daktronics, U.S.A before joining the Department of Electrical Engineering at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, as a lecturer in 1986. In 1992, he received a Ronpaku scholarship from Japan to pursue Doctorate in Engineering, which he completed in 1994 at University of Tokushima, Japan. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1995 and was promoted to Professor in 2003. His research areas include image and video analysis, formulation of new image descriptors for image analysis, fast computation of orthogonal moments, analysis of EEG signals, and data modeling of substance concentration acquired from non-invasive methods. His contributions can be seen in the form of journal publications, conference proceedings, chapters in books and an international patent to predict blood glucose levels using non-parametric model. He has successfully supervised to completion 17 Ph.D students and 13 students in M.Eng.Sc (Masters by research). He is currently a Senior IEEE member and also a member of the Signal Processing Society.

ChM Dr Joon Ching Juan is Professor of Catalysis and Nanotechnology at Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. Currently, he has been appointed as Chair of Frontier Natural World Research Cluster at Universiti Malaya and Head of International Co-operation relation at NANOCAT. He obtained his BSc (Hons) Chemical Technology (2003) and PhD in Chemistry (2007) degrees from the National University of Malaysia, Malaysia.             He has been actively involved in various research activities especially in the area of nanomaterial and catalysis. Most of his research activities are focused on understanding the and manipulating nano-structure to be applied in environmental and energy. Up to date, he has managed to publish more than 200 WoS publications with an h-index of 47 (10,348 citations). With his expertise and experience, he has received about RM 9,500,000 (ca. USD 2,000,000) grants from national, industry and international organizations such as The World Academy of Science Grant (TWAS, UNESCO), E-science fund (MOSTI), and industry grants. As a strong believer in research driven innovation, he has filed eight patents to be used in industries.             He is also the recipient of several prestigious awards and recognition including 2% Top Scientist in the World by Sandford University (2022-2020), Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian (2020) by Junior Chamber International,  Future Academician Award by Ministry of Education (2018), Malaysia Research Star Award by Ministry of Education (2017), National Young Scientist Award by Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (2016), outstanding paper award by Elsevier (2018), Pro Vice Chancellor Award in Teaching, Monash (2012), and just few to mention. Besides being engaged in teaching and research, he also serves as Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC, UK), Chartered Chemist (CSci, UK), Chartered Scientist (CSci, UK), Member of Malaysia Institute of Chemistry (IKM), and others.             In term leadership and administration, he is elected as the President of Balai Ikhtisas Malaysia (BIM) which oversee all professional bodies, Treasurer of Federation of Asian Chemistry Society (FACS), National Representative/Associate member of IUPAC in Chemistry and the Environment Division, Associate Member of IUPAC in Chemical Research Applied to World Needs (CHEMRAWN), council member and honorary secretary of Malaysian Institute of Chemistry (IKM). In addition, he also appointed as radiation protection officer (RPO), chemical safety and security officer training (CSSO), deputy quality manager (DQM), National Focus Group Member Globally Harmonized System (GHS), National technical committee member of Nanotechnologies (ISO Standard), National committee Member, Industry Standards Committee on Environmental Management (ISC Z). He has conducted various courses, talks, keynote, and plenary lecture on chemical safety and security, green synthesis laboratory, water pollution, photocatalysis wastewater treatment, biofuel, bioenergy, etc. With his experience and expertise, he has also been appointed as consultant and advisor to many governments’ bodies and industries.

  Dr. Vilashini Somiah is a feminist anthropologist from Sabah, Malaysia, and Senior Lecturer at the Gender Studies Programme at Universiti Malaya. She earned her Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore, an MA from Ohio University, an MRes from Universiti Malaya, and a BA from Universiti Malaya. Her research focuses on underrepresented narratives of women, migrants, and Borneans living in the interiors. She co-edited Revisiting Covid-19 in Malaysia: Plight and Perseverance (UM Press, 2023) and Sabah from the Ground: The 2020 Elections and the Politics of Survival (SIRD/ISEAS, 2021). Her first single-authored book, Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia: Pelagic Alliance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), won the Universiti Malaya Award for Outstanding Achievement (ACUM) for Best Social Science Book of 2022 and has received international acclaim and reviews. Dr Somiah is currently working on her fourth book which explores the lives and resilience of Bornean women.  In 2024, Dr. Somiah was a Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and SEANNET. In 2025, she was appointed a Harvard Asia Centre Associate (2025-2026) https://asiacenter.harvard.edu/vilashini-somiah . That same year, she was elected to the Southeast Asia Council at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in the United States, a position she will hold until 2028  https://www.asianstudies.org/about/governance/councils/southeast-asia-council-seac/.  Beyond academia, she writes ethnographic articles on Malaysia’s socio-political landscape. To learn more about her work, visit www.vilashinisomiah.com.   Dr. Somiah is NO LONGER accepting PhD students for 2025 and 2026.