Prof Dr Vikineswary started her academic career after completing her PhD in the Institute of Postgraduate Studies in 1989 as a lecturer.  She ventured into search, discovery and utilisation of indigenous microorganisms including actinomycetes and phototrophic bacteria for feed, feed or fine chemicals. Her research activities diversified and while studying the potential of mushrooms and in particular the white - rot fungi in environmental biotechnology, she had the opportunity to work with mushroom farmers.  Together with the growers, the Mushroom Research Association of Malaysia was founded in 2000 and as the founding  president she has highlighted the importance of mushrooms and the industry in Malaysia.  She is well known for the research conducted which includes systematic and bioactivity of marine actinomycetes, mushroom biology and their bioactive metabolites, phototrophic bacteria for bioremediation and as a live feed enhancer. She has  successfully trained 50 Masters and 20 PhD students and a number are currently pursuing their postgraduate studies under her supervision. Her research activities are sponsored by national and international grants including industrial funding.  Prof.  Vikineswary has won several awards for her research findings both in Malaysia and at International Exhibition.  She has collaboration with overseas scientists through CICHE, JSPS and EU programmes. She has published 265 papers in peer reviewed journals, proceedings, bulletins, chapters in books  and  books.  In recognition of her contribution in microbiology and active participation as member of the Malaysian Society for Microbiology she was elected as the first woman President of the Society in 2001. In 2014 she was nominated as one of the Top Research Scientist Malaysia by Academy Science Malaysia. In 2015 she was nominated as a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

Nurliana Kamaruddin is senior lecturer at the East Asian Studies Department, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Universiti Malaya. She is also a fellow at the Centre for ASEAN Regionalism, AEI, UM. Previously she was Deputy Executive Director (Academic and Students Affairs) at the Asia-Europe Institute (2021-2024). Her recent publications include books by Routledge (Southward Bound: Examining the Regional Policies of Taiwan and South Korea, 2024) and Palgrave-Macmillan (The New Normal and Its Impact on Society: Perspectives from ASEAN and the European Union, 2024). Nurliana was a recipient of the Korea Foundation ASEAN Fellowship (2013-2015) and the POSCO TJ Park Foundation Asia Fellowship (2009-2011). Her research interest includes international security and development with a focus on East Asia and specifically Malaysia-Korea Relations.

Dr. Nur Nasuha Binti Mohd Daud is a Senior Lecturer in Software Engineering at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya. She obtained a Doctoral Degree in Software Engineering Tools and Methods from the University of Malaya in 2022. Her areas of research include knowledge graphs, knowledge representation, link prediction, large-scale processing, Apache Spark framework, Azure cloud deployment, docker containerization, social networks, and autonomous computing. Dr. Nasuha is also a member of the Malaysian Special Interest Group in Software Resilience, Quality, and Automation. She is dedicated to advancing her research, teaching, and learning and is always seeking new opportunities to improve and expand her skills.