PROFESSOR IR. DR. WONG YEW HOONG

Prof. Ir. Dr. Wong Yew Hoong received his B.Eng. (Hons.) in Materials Engineering and Ph.D. in Electronic Materials from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Before joining Universiti Malaya (UM), he was a Research Fellow at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He is now a Full Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UM.  On professional qualifications, he is a Professional Engineer (PEng) in Material Engineering discipline registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), Chartered Engineer (CEng) registered with the Engineering Council UK, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE) UK, Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (FIEM), Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (SMIEEE) USA, Member of Young Scientists Network – Academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM), and Project Management Professional (PMP®) registered with the Project Management Institute (PMI), USA.  Prof. Wong is a passionate engineer, researcher, educator, innovator, and leader in materials engineering, particularly specializing in the processing of electronic materials for energy-related applications. To date, he has published more than 140 research papers in high impact factor WoS/ISI-indexed journals, more than 30 proceedings, 5 invited book chapters, and 1 filed Malaysian patent. His current standing of h-index is 25 (WoS) / 26 (Scopus) / 30 (Google Scholar).  In terms of research funding, Prof. Wong is actively collaborating with both local and multi-national industries, securing fundings and consultancy work to solve industry problems. Thus far, he has successfully secured 48 funded projects from the government ministries, industries, international agencies, and university, as Principal Investigator (PI) / Project Lead and Co-PI (37 projects completed; whilst 11 projects ongoing), with a total of more than RM 8 million (RM 6.8 million external grants and RM 1.2 million internal grants), in which, he serves as the PI for 25 projects, worth more than RM 1.6 million (mostly from external sources).  To run the research activities, Prof. Wong heads the Electronic Materials Laboratory and Semiconductor Thin-Film Laboratory. To date, he has supervised 62 postgraduate students (13 PhD, 9 MEngSc, and 20 MEng graduated; whilst 17 PhD, 2 MEngSc, and 1 MEng on-going) and mentored 3 postdoctoral research fellows.  Owing to his expertise in the field, he served as a Visiting Professor to National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan in 2018 and currently serving as an Adjunct Professor to Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia in 2023–2025. He is an Editorial Board Member for reputable journal, i.e., "Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing" [WoS/ISI, IF 3.927, Q1 (2020)], a Section Editor of "ASM Science Journal" (Scopus), and Editorial Board Member of "Soft Science" (Scopus). Also, he was being invited several times as Keynote Speaker for international conferences and seminars and as a Guest Speaker to the industry relevant to the semiconductor sectors. Prof. Wong also serves as External Assessor (EA) for various Engineering Academic Programs at various universities. Besides, he often serves as a Reviewer, reviewed more than 300 manuscripts for several WoS/ISI-indexed journals. Moreover, Ir. Dr. Wong's involvement as Internal and External Examiner for master and doctoral theses, as Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) Panel Evaluator, as IMM Auditor, as well as Panel Evaluator for National and International Grants underscores his active engagement in scholarly discourse and academic assessment. These engagements not only contribute to the advancement of knowledge but also reinforce his standing as a respected academic within the global community.  Within UM, for more than 12 years (since 2013), Prof. Wong has taken on various administrative and leadership roles, including serving as Program Coordinator (Head of Program) for Mechanical Engineering for 5.5 years (Jan 2016 – Jun 2021) and leading accreditation efforts that culminated in the attainment of Full Accreditation (2021 – 2026) by the EAC. Prior to that, he served as UM Auditor, appointed by the Vice-Chancellor in 2015. These experiences demonstrate Ir. Dr. Wong's capacity to manage academic affairs effectively and ensure adherence to quality standards. With these experiences, Ir. Dr. Wong currently heads and manages the UM–Changsha University of Science and Technology (CSUST) Joint Education Program, Open Distance Learning (ODL) Program, and Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) – Joint Lecture Series Program that contribute to the income generation as well as brings up the reputation of UM internationally. On top of that, Ir. Dr. Wong is also the current Protem Head, Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Future Sustainable Energy and serving as UM Taskforce Committee Member for the Preparation of Cost Data Documentation, appointed by the Associate Vice-Chancellor (Infrastructure and Information Services).  Outside UM, Prof. Wong's engagement with professional bodies such as IEM, IEEE, IMechE, IMM, and YSN-ASM showcases his commitment to advancing the engineering profession and nurturing future talent through Chairmanships, Deputy/Vice-Chairmanships, Secretary, and Academic Liaison roles. He is IEM Council Member from 2022/2023 to 2024/2025 and Chairman of IEM's Material Engineering Technical Division (MaTD) in 2023/2024. Prior to that, in IEM, he served as the Deputy Chairman of MaTD in 2022/2023 and 2021/2022, Protem Deputy Chairman of MaTD in 2020/2021, Secretary-cum-Treasurer of Electronic Engineering Technical Division (eETD) in 2016/2017 and Committee Member of eETD from 2013 to 2022. In IEEE – Electronics Packaging Society (EPS) Malaysia, he serves as the Vice-Chair in 2021 – 2023. Prior to that, he served as the Secretary for 4 years, from 2017 to 2020 and Executive Committee Member in 2016. He also serves as an Academic Liaison Officer (ALO) for the IMechE-UM Student Chapter since 2018, Secretary of IMM Standard Assurance Committee (SAC) since 2023 and IMM SAC Committee Member since 2018. As a Member of YSN-ASM for the term 2020 – 2023, he served as Committee Member in the Science Policy and Governance Working Group and in the Research Synergy Working Group.  With more than 18 years of research experiences (since 2007) and over 16 years of teaching experiences (since 2009) in the field of materials engineering, as well as significant contributions to the society, Prof. Wong earns numerous accolades. In recognition to the engineering research excellence and contribution to the profession and nation, Prof. Wong was bestowed the Anugerah Tokoh Muda Kejuruteraan Negara (National Young Engineering Icon Award) 2023 by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Following that, Prof. Wong was recently conferred the IEM Young Engineer Award 2024 by the President of IEM during the 65th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and IEM Presidential Award of Excellence 2024 during the 65th Annual Dinner. Prior to that, he received the prestigious international IEEE–EPS Outstanding Young Engineer Award 2020 by the President of IEEE-EPS, USA for his contributions to the field of electronic packaging materials and semiconductor fabrication technologies through novel material and process development (https://eps.ieee.org/awards/outstanding-young-engineer-award.html). With the dedication and vast contribution to IEEE-EPS Malaysia and IMechE Malaysia, he was awarded with the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award 2023 and Outstanding Regional Leadership Award 2023 from IEEE-EPS Malaysia as well as IMechE Best Young Member 2023 from IMechE Malaysia. Moreover, he received UM Excellence Service Awards in 2017, 2019, and 2020. He has also won more than 10 awards at international exhibitions pertaining to his research and innovations, such as MTE and ITEX Gold Medals, Silver Medals, Best Invention Awards, Outstanding Innovation Awards, and Special Merit Awards. 

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PROF. DR. THONG MEOW KEONG

Professor Dr THONG Meow Keong studied medicine and trained in Paediatrics at the University of Malaya. He received genetics training in Singapore and was a Fellow in Clinical Genetics at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide and as a Senior Fellow at the renowned Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. He was recognized as the first board-certified clinical geneticist in Malaysia and helped established Clinical Genetics as a subspecialty in the National Specialist Register Malaysia. He established the first Genetics clinic with genetic counselling service at the University Hospital Kuala Lumpur in 1995 and headed the Genetics & Metabolism Unit at the Department of Paediatrics. He received a Doctorate in Medicine from University of Malaya in 2004, for research on the molecular genetics of beta thalassaemia and discovering the molecular basis of beta thalassaemia in the Kadazandusuns in Sabah.   Professor Thong was a Fulbright scholar at the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, USA and a past recipient of the 8th Royal College of Physicians of London and Academy of Medicine of Malaysia Annual Research Award, Australia-Malaysia Fellowship in Research Excellence, the Travel Award by the Asian Society for Pediatric Research Japan, University of Malaya Distinguished Service awards. He also won three gold medals in ITEX and Biotechnology Asia invention and innovation competitions. In 2019, he received the Minister of Education of Malaysia Award for Curriculum Design and Innovation as well as University of Malaya's Excellence Award for 'Distinguished Research in Science'. He was also the recipient for the prestigious American Society of Human Genetics Advocacy Award 2022. Professor Thong has published over 110 peer-reviewed publications on research work done on genetic disorders that hitherto have not been well documented in the various Asian subpopulations. He co-authored 8 books, including Handbook of Hospital Paediatrics (2nd edition), Problem-based Learning in Medical Sciences and Rare Journeys of Love and 15 book chapters, including a chapter in the prestigious Oxford monograph Genomics and Health in the Developing World and presented in many national and international conferences, including 180 proceedings and 6 keynote lectures. He worked closely with the Ministry of Health Malaysia in developing the counselling module for thalassaemia and other clinical practice guidelines. He collaborated with the World Health Organization and March of Dimes in preparing a document on management of birth defects and haemoglobinopathies as well as rare diseases. He was the lead author for two policy papers on 'Rare Diseases in Malaysia' written in conjunction with the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) He was the past President of the Asia-Pacific Society of Human Genetics, founding Vice President of the Medical Genetics Society of Malaysia, Chairman of the Clinical Genetics sub-speciality committee of the National Specialist Register Malaysia, appointed member of the Education committee member in Paediatrics by the Malaysian Medical Council and President of the College of Paediatrics, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. He was the Head, Department of Paediatrics, University of Malaya from 2009 – 2011 with the notable achievement of overseeing the successful transition of the Department of Paediatrics to the new Women’s and Children’s Health Complex of UMMC. He was also appointed as the founding Head, Genetic Medicine unit of the University Malaya Medial Centre. He was elected as a Fellow of Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, Academy of Medicine Singapore and Academy of Sciences Malaysia. He was elected a steering committee member of the Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative (G2MC) in 2022. Professor Thong is also a reviewer for international journal manuscripts, research grant applications as well as an examiner for national and international medical examinations in Sydney, Melbourne, Dhaka and Hong Kong. He co-authored the new Malaysian Paediatrics postgraduate curriculum in conjunction with the National Postgradaute Medical Curriculum Writing project. He organized the 10th Asia-Pacific Conference on Human Genetics and is the founding National Advisor to the Malaysian Rare Disorders Society since 2004 and a Trustee of the Rare Disease Alliance Foundation of Malaysia. He helped established the Genetic Counselling Society of Malaysia. He organised the first UM-Chinese University of Hong Kong Certificate Course in Clinical Genetics and Genomics at the University of Malaya. His current interests include delineation of rare disorders, preventive and curative strategies for genetic disorders, genetic counselling, inborn errors of metabolism. medical education and access to genetics and genomics services in developing countries. He is involved in gene therapy for patients and  other clinical trials for genetic diseases. He has obtained over 20 research grants and has international collaborations with renowned centres in Australia, Saudi Arabia, USA, Japan and Hong Kong. 

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DR. HASHEM SALARZADEH JENATABADI

Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya. He holds Postdoc, PhD degrees in Applied Statistics, from University of Malaya, and Master, Bachelor degrees in Mathematical Statistics areas from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. His expertise involves application of Statistical and Mathematical modeling in Engineering, Management, Public health, Chemistry, and Economics. 

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