Dr. Lai received his Ph.D. from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Technische Universität Ilmenau under the DAAD Ph.D. Sandwich Programme, and was conferred the prestigious Chancellor Award by the Queen of Johor. He is currently an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Universiti Malaya, as well as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of BioSight Sdn Bhd, a spin-off company of Universiti Malaya. Dr. Lai has been instrumental in fostering industry-academic collaborations, leading multiple industrial consultation projects. His contributions to science and technology, particularly in medical engineering, have been significant. His research focuses on the development of innovative biomedical devices, including a portable, non-invasive scoliosis detection system and a point-of-care device for knee osteoarthritis diagnosis using vibroarthrography (VAG). More recently, he has pioneered novel machine learning approaches for automated cartilage pattern recognition in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), reducing the need for extensive human intervention. His work has gained substantial interest from both local and international industries. Recognized for his excellence in research and education, Dr. Lai has received more than 30 prestigious international and national awards. These include multiple Special Awards and Gold Medals, as well as Best of the Best Awards from ITEX, MTE, i-ENVEX, AiNEX, PECIPTA, and BioMalaysia Expo, among others. He has also represented Universiti Malaya in global competitions such as iCREATe in Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. Additionally, he has been honored with accolades such as the Best Presentation Award from Fukuoka University (Japan), the Best Sustainable Prototype Award at Digital Wonderland Singapore Expo 2019, an Honorable Mention Award at NSIEC 2020 (Taiwan), and the First Runner-Up Award at the Brunei Crown Prince CIPTA 2021 competition. In recognition of his achievements, he was elected as a Member of the Young Scientists Network - Academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM) in 2021 and as a board member of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Young Affiliates Network (TYAN). Dr. Lai has authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications indexed in ISI/Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus, with an h-index of 22. His work has led to the granting of 17 patents and intellectual property rights. As principal investigator or co-researcher, he has successfully completed 22 funded projects and is currently leading 13 ongoing research initiatives supported by government agencies, industry partners, and international collaborators. As a credentialed engineer, Dr. Lai is a registered Professional Engineer with a Practicing Certificate (PEPC) at the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) and holds several esteemed engineering titles, including Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), APEC Engineer (IntPE Australia), Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng, NER Australia), Fellow and Council Member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Senior Member of IEEE (USA), Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Chartered Engineer (CEng, UK), and Professional Technologist at the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT). Dr. Lai is actively involved in academic and professional service, serving as a Technical Programme Committee (TPC) member and reviewer for over 50 international conferences, workshops, and journals. He has delivered more than 20 keynote and invited talks at international conferences. Additionally, he serves on the editorial boards of several indexed journals, including as Associate Editor of IEEE Access and IET Image Processing, and as Lead Guest Editor for journals such as Multimedia Tools and Applications and Current Medical Imaging. Beyond his academic and research endeavors, Dr. Lai plays a pivotal role in engineering education. He is the key resource person for curriculum development and accreditation reviews (EAC/MQA/QMEC) in his department and serves as an Accreditation Panel member under the Board of Engineers Malaysia. In 2018, he was appointed as a Fellow under the Ministry of Education Malaysia’s CEO@Faculty Programme, working with C-suite executives at PLUS Malaysia Berhad on digital innovation strategies for IR4.0 transformation. He played a key role in developing commercial strategies for the PLUS Video Analytics (VA) Infrastructure, a project with an investment exceeding RM20 million. Dr. Lai’s research excellence has been recognized with numerous awards, including the ACU Fellowship by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (UK) in 2021 for his research on hospital readmission risks among recovered COVID-19 patients. He was also honored with the IEM Young Engineer Award 2021, the IEEE-EMBS Early Career Achievement Award 2021, and the BEM Malaysia Most Prominent Young Engineering Leader Award (Tokoh Muda) 2022, presented by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. In 2024, he received the Anugerah Penyelidik Muda Cemerlang (Bidang Sains) from Universiti Malaya. As the head of the Advanced Analytics Research Group at the Medical Imaging Laboratory, Dr. Lai has supervised 62 postgraduate students (18 PhD, 8 MSc, and 19 MEng completed; 15 PhD and 2 MSc ongoing). His research team has secured over RM4 million in funding for healthcare technology, medical imaging, and bioinstrumentation projects. His innovations have led to the development of clinically impactful diagnostic prototypes, including OsteoKneeKit™ and Scoltech™, both of which are currently undergoing commercialization. The Scoltech™ project has been approved under the UM Deep Tech Accelerator Programme with RM50,000 in seed funding, with Dr. Lai serving as CTO. Additionally, Dr. Lai contributes as an external examiner for PhD and MSc dissertations, both locally and internationally, and serves as a professional mentor for IEM (Malaysia) and Engineers Australia. He is also an external assessor for higher learning accreditation frameworks, an advisor for industry-academic liaison units, and a board member for Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s (USIM) new technologist programme. Furthermore, he serves on the Disciplinary Committee Panel of the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board (ASDB) under the Bar Council Malaysia.  

Dr. Loh Kar Hoe (K.-H. L.) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), University of Malaya. He graduated with a B.Sc. majoring in aquaculture before pursuing his research in fish reproductive for his M.Sc. in NTOU, Taiwan. He obtained his Ph.D. in Fisheries Science from the NTOU in 2009 for doctoral work on taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of moray eels (Mureanidae). After his Ph.D., he spent one year at the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan as a postdoctoral researcher. He joined IOES July 2011 as a research fellow. He’s team have discovery eight new species eels (Gymnothorax pseudokidako 2021, Gymnothorax pseudomelanosomatus 2015, Neenchelys gracilis 2015, Pylorobranchus hoi 2012, Gymnothorax melanosomatus 2011, Uropterygius oligospondylus 2008, Gymnothorax taiwanensis 2008, Gymnothorax shaoi 2007), and a lot of new recorded fish from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Japan, and Taiwan. In addition to studying Malaysian fish otoliths, he is also working on the fisheries assessment work on sharks and rays. A total of 47 ISI articles have been published, and 26 technical reports of the IUCN Sciaenidae Red List assessments in 2020. He has collaborative research on the genetic diversity, population genetics of marine organisms; Reef fish diversity and abundance in Malaysian water through DNA barcoding and eDNA in Malaysia. Another study focuses on microplastics in the gill and stomach of fish. He recently secured a research grant to “Resolving systematics of Cephalopods using morphological and molecular approaches in Malaysia”, and “Environment DNA matebarcoding illuminates the diversity of sharks and rays” funded by WWF-Malaysia.

Professor Ir. Dr. Nukman bin Yusoff, being a Professional CAD/CAM Engineer registered under Board of Engineers Malaysia, he has pioneering the Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) field in Malaysia. He acquired his PhD from Loughborough University (field of research: Laser Materials Processing) in 2009 and Master in Engineering Science, MSc. (Mechatronics) from DeMontFort University, Leicester United Kingdom in 1998. He acquired his first degree in CAD/CAM from University of Central England in Birmingham. Since then he has been teaching undergraduate courses in the field of CAD/CAM and Manufacturing and graduate level of teaching in Manufacturing Automation and Control and other field of subjects in Manufacturing. His administration experience in UM shining when he was appointed as Head Of Department of Engineering Design & Manufacture in 2007 till 2009. Since working in UM Nukman was actively doing research in the field of Laser Materials Processing, Human Factors, CAD/CAM, CNC and Manufacturing Process and Management. Being a Principal Researcher in UM he has secured totaling of several millions of grants from internal and international sources which he managed to supervised more than handfull PhD graduates and quite a number of Masters or other post graduates which currently working under his supervision.  His main research interest is in Green Manufacturing and Human Factors. He successfully helps to improvise the lifecycle of Malaysian long traditional boat used by village people in the remote area such as in Ulu Tembeling Pahang. From the lab research work he manages to optimize the use of vegetable oil as lubricants in machining. He also active in Ergonomics research and consultancies with ORCHID, Ergonomics Research Team in UM. Some of his recent research on Human Factors including Driving behavior of ageing drivers and manual lifting research in Malaysian Industries. Current research going on in Mental workload and Mental Fatigue  among Malaysian service sectors in Malaysia under National Institute of Safety and Health research work. He does a lot of research in laser materials processing using Carbon dioxide lasers, excimer lasers and fibre lasers interacted with metals and non-metals. He authored more than sixty quality ISI and Scopus indexed research articles in Manufacturing Processes and Systems including three scientific books which being referred worldwide.