ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. ADELINA BINTI ASMAWI

Adelina Asmawi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Language and Literacy Education. She is also Adjunct Professor at the College of Foreign Languages, Northeast Forestry University, China and College of Women, Seiyun University. She was the Head of Department (2018-2022) and Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Quality Manager at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya (2014-2017). She holds a PhD in Professional Development of Teachers, TESOL, and Instructional Technology from Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia. She has supervised 10 PhD students to completion.  Leadership As then, Deputy Dean, Dr Adelina assisted and worked closely with the Dean and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Internationalization) in the development, implementation and monitoring of progress of the faculty’s strategic plan particularly in relation to Undergraduate Studies. She also took responsibility for the teaching and learning portfolio for the undergraduate programmes. As Quality Manager, Dr Adelina coordinated activities like Self Audits and Internal Audits that are required to direct and control the faculty with regard to quality. She championed and supported improvement initiatives and ensured that process owners maintain their part of the quality management system at the faculty level. As Head of Department, she oversaw department development and growth in programmes, students, human resources, budget, research and strategic planning.  Industry Engagement She spent her sabbatical leave in 2017 attached to Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd under the Strategic Resource and Public Relations Division. She worked with the team on strategic collaboration, knowledge enhancement, quality assurance as well as CSR initiatives.  Research As a researcher, she enjoys exploring innovations in education.  In 2013 and 2014, she co-created the Developmental Instructional Supervision Module and co-trained teachers under the Ministry of Education’s Knowledge Transfer Programme. She has worked on a collaborative project with University of Exeter and Chulalongkorn University on creative thinking and creative teaching for higher education. Her research work in 2017 has led to the publication of an e-graphic book for research in education in 2018. She also worked on an IIRG funded, interdisciplinary research with Dentistry and Computer Science Faculties on an App to prevent smoking initiation among Malaysian children from 2019 - 2021. Concurrently, she has been researching and developing modules for 21st Century English language literacy using emerging technologies among select urban poor pupils and volunteers as an extension from her Pearl projects. In 2024, she works on an international research collaboration with researchers from World University of Bangladesh, Dhaka and University of Bengkulu, Indonesia on a South East Asian research on blended grammar instruction in higher education.           PEARL Project She is Founder of PEARL project (Pedagogy of English language Acquisition among uRban poor Learners) (2018), then extended to PEARL 2.0 (Lembah Subang) (2019), Pearl4PJ (Petaling jaya) (2020), Pearly Starfish (2022), Pearl 3.0 (2023), Auction-a-Pearl (2023), PEARL and Beyond (2024), PEARL Alam Shah (2024), and Pearl for Firdaus (2025). She works closely with select urban poor communities to develop the urban poor and asnaf children's English language acquisition through inventive approaches that focus on informal, fun and safe surroundings. The later projects embed digital literacy, financial literacy and STEM literacy.  Publications Dr. Adelina was awarded Top 10% WoS Indexed Journals Series 2024 -10 in November 2024. She actively publishes in the areas of higher education, instructional technology, creative thinking, TESOL and professional development. Her works are published in international and Malaysian journals. She has written eight books: ‘The Art of Teaching English’ (2014), ‘Understanding Play in Children’s World’ (2014), 'The Art of Reflective Thinking' (2016), The Art of Creative Research (2017). Thesis Easy (2018) (FREE at e-sentral.com or umpress.com.my), From Me to We: Teaching Taboo Topics to Children through Spoken Word Poetry in Malaysia (2022), Revolutionizing Language Education: Multimodal Discourse Analysis and AI in the Digital 21st Century (2024) and Digital Translanguaging for Global Learners: Language Education for the 21st Century (2025). She also wrote for Leaderonomics and was Chief Editor of the special issue journal, 'Language Education for a World on the Move' (2020),  Awards Dr Adelina picked up a silver and two bronze medals from the Research and Innovation Expo for her work on ‘Literacy Activities of Malaysian School Students’ and 'Interactive Whiteboard for Teaching and Learning'. She collected the Best Research Paper Award from Singaporean Global Science and Technology Forum in 2012. She positioned third at the Malaysian National Educational Blogging Competition of 2012 and received the University of Malaya Excellence in Services Award in 2015. In the same year, she co-wrote a paper which bagged the Best Paper Award defeating 50 over papers at the International Conference on Teaching and Learning, Bangkok. In 2017, her team's invention: T.O.P Module won a Silver Award by the MBOT, MHE and UMP and her invention: E-Thesis for Dummies won a Bronze Award at H-Inovasi 2017 Competition. She was awarded Best in Teaching at the 2017 University of Malaya Excellence Award and was double awarded: the GOLD Award and Special Award for Student Support for her research and product: Thesis Easy at the Liter Research Conference 2018. Dr Adelina represented University of Malaya for the prestigious 2018 National Academic Award, AAN12 (Teaching Category). She also received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Education (ICE) in Nov 2018 and won 2nd place for her PEARL project at Community Engagement Academia Conference (PAKUM 2018) in Dec 2018. In Feb 2019, she won a Silver Medal at CITREX 2019 and in April 2019, 2 Platinum medals at the Innovation and Design Expo, UM for her PEARL framework (English language acquisition of urban poor children) and REACH framework (professional development of teachers through community engagement). She is VIWA 2019's Outstanding Woman in Humanities and Social Sciences. 2020 saw another Platinum medal on her belt from INSIDE2020 for her team's innovation 'MAID in Malaysia'- View https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b17BitsWkD0. She is recipient of Melbourne Graduate School International Alumni Award 2020 https://education.unimelb.edu.au/community/alumni/mgse-alumni-award. She was also awarded the Universiti Malaya Excellent Service Award in 2022 and Loyal Service Award in 2023. To boot, she and her PhD student won the Best Paper Award at Malaysia International Convention on Education Research and Management in 2024.  Evaluative duties as an Academic She is an interviewer for the Malaysian International Scholarship, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. She is a programme assessor for National University of Malaysia's (UKM) Master's programmes, Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education (IPGM)'s Bachelor's programme, Kolej Universiti Poly-Tech MARA's (KUPTM)'s Bachelor's programme, MAHSA University's Diploma in TESL programme, and an External Member of the Course Advisory Committee for the Graduate Diploma programme, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak as well as the Industry Advisor for PhD in Education programme at Open University Malaysia.  Dr Adelina is also an external examiner for PhD theses from Taylor's University, University Science Malaysia (USM), University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Putra Malaysia, University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD), SEGI University, Open University of Malaysia (OUM) and many more.  Other scholarly engagements She is an Associate Member of Akademi Professor Malaysia. She is Editor of ‘Issues in Education Journal’ and ‘Global Science and Technology Forum Journal’. She was judge for various storytelling, debate, Three Minute Thesis (3MT), public speaking, innovation, and international exchange student programme (UK-MALAYSIA University Consortium) competitions at school and varsity levels. A passionate educator, she shares her thoughts and ideas as an invited speaker in various settings: Spore's APAIE (March 2018), Xuchang University, China (Spring, 2018), APSS (Nov 2018), TEDXUniversityofMalaya 2019, Dublin's IICE (Oct 2019), and Berlin's ICDTE 2024. She was a keynote speaker for ICOELTICS 2021, IRCW-ELS 2021, URICET 2021, ICMEIM2022, Chengdu, China 2022, ICEHoS, NTU, Singapore 2023, and ICELLIC, North Sumatera 2024. She was a Human Book for National University of Singapore's Human Library programme for student leaders in 2021, a guest lecturer for Woo Song University, Korea (2023) and Malang State University, Indonesia (2023) and a visiting academic at Medan State University (2023). She consistently writes for major newspapers and is an expert panel in the media (printed, electronic, digital), the latest being appearances on mainstream television, ASTRO Awani in July & November 2023 and May 2024 as well as on BFM 89.9 podcast in Dec 2023, March and May 2024 and Malaysia Hari Ini, TV3 in Nov 2024. Dr. Adelina is UM karaoke champ 2018. A runner, she completes marathons from all over and as an avid Rescue scuba diver, loves being submerged in Underwater Awareness projects. She also dedicates her time to organize annual trips/deliveries to selected orphanages. She is also an active Parent Teacher Association representative for Premier schools; Sekolah Alam Shah, Putrajaya (SAS) and Sekolah Seri Puteri, Cyberjaya (SSP).  Researcher ID: B-8137-2010 http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-8137-2010 Orcid ID: 0000-0003-0595-2986 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0595-2986  

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ASSOCIATE PROF. IR. TS. DR. LAI CHIN WEI

Dr. Lai [PhD, BEng(Hons) | PEng, PTech, CEng (UK), MIEM, MIMechE (UK)] is currently an associate professor in Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Centre, University of Malaya. Lai’s main research interests are in the areas of chemically modified/functionalized metal oxide photocatalysts and carbon graphene materials, especially for sustainable development to diverse the inclusive science, technology, and innovation in environmental pollution management and energy storage technology. As a scholar and an indication of the global impact of research work (top 2% scientists in a global list), Lai’s works have been published in more than 275 refereed international top-tier journals with Scopus h-index of 48, 7 patents (granted 3 patents), 100 book chapters, and 100 international proceedings in materials science, physics, chemistry, and renewable energy researches. In all, Lai has reviewed more than 1300 papers in the past few years, mainly for top international journals / conferences and now serving as associate editors, guest editors, topic editors and editorial board members for several prestigious high impact international journals. Lai served as section editor/editor for a book entitled “Encyclopedia of Energy Storage: Capacitors/ Supercapacitors 2022” (Elsevier ISBN: 978-0-12-819730-1), “Encyclopedia of Green Materials: Green Materials for Additive Manufacturing 2024” (Springer ISBN: 978-981-16-4921-9), “Nanotechnology in Cosmeceuticals 2025” (Elsevier ISBN: 978-0-44-330184-1), and "Photocatalytic Oxidation: Techniques, Innovations, Applications for the Environment" (Jenny Stanford Publishing 2025/2026), and "Nanocomposites for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment" (Springer Nature 2025/2026).  The utilization of long-lasting “photocatalysis technology” using nanomaterials to solve global warming and reduce environmental impacts has been the passion for Lai. Lai’s research findings aid in building the fundamentals knowledge and groundbreaking industry collaboration experience with many multinational companies/institutions/NGOs, which help direct research efforts towards critical aspects in nanomaterial development for various innovative advancements. Lai’s research has been funded by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia, MOHE (FRGS, HIR-MOHE); Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia, MOSTI (E-Science fund, National Nanotechnology Development), internal University funding (University of Malaya Research Grant, Impact-Oriented Interdisciplinary Research Grant, Universiti Malaya Research Excellence Grant, as well as University Malaya Research Fund Assistance), international funding and industry grants (consultation services). Meanwhile, Lai is appointed as national and international peer evaluation panel for Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Eurostars 3 (ESTARS3)- a joint program between the EUREKA network and the European Commission, Innovation Fund Denmark Applications,  Qatar National Research Fund and Dean's Research Fund from The Education University of Hong Kong (Eduhk) since 2020. Indeed, Lai is providing leadership development opportunities that privilege to bridge the gap between academia and industry, fostering collaboration and driving innovation to impact the world using nanotechnology. Being a reputable researcher, his enthusiasm and dedication towards research work, Lai has won numerous special awards or medal winners in International exposition on research innovation, invention & solution (> 22 gold/silver awards). Through his work nanomaterials and catalysis field, Lai was awarded as JCI TOYP - Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World 2024 (Academic Leadership and Accomplishment), APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) 2023 National Winner, IAAM Scientist medal 2023, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Best Young Member Award 2022, JCI TOYM - Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians 2021 (Academic Leadership and Accomplishment), National Young Scientist Award 2019 by The Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), MASS Young Researcher Award 2018 by Malaysian Solid State Science & Technology Society, a finalist of National Young Scientist Award 2018 by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia (MOSTI), University of Malaya Excellence Awards 2015 in the category of outstanding researcher - UM Young Researcher (Sciences Discipline) and USM Persada Kencana Award for Best Thesis (Ph.D. Category Engineering) 2014. Lai’s scholastic achievement and thought leadership are recognized locally and internationally. He has been appointed as the "Adjunct Research Advisor" for Shoolini University, India (2022), "Foreign Expert/Professional" for Shanghai JiaoTong University, China (2022), "Visiting Professor", "Adjunct Professor" for Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia (2024), "Visiting Lecturer" for Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia (2024), "Visiting Professor" for National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan (2024), "Visiting Professor" for King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand (2025), "Adjunct Professor" for Faculty of Science and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia (2025), "Visiting Scientist" for West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov Medical University, Kazakhstan (2025) and "Scientific Advisory Committee" for Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, India (2025). Lai is honoured to be listed among the top 2% scientists in a global list since 2020 till up to date (2024) compiled by the prestigious Stanford University, USA and awarded as Top Peer Reviewer in Cross-Field & Materials Science powered by Publons (Top 1% of Reviewers) since 2019. On professional qualifications, Lai successfully registered as a Professional Engineer (PEng) in Material Engineering discipline with the Board of Engineers (BEM) and registered as a Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the Engineering Council, UK as well as registered as a Professional Technologist (PTech) in Nanotechnology discipline with the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT). Meanwhile, Lai is an active member in The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM, MAL), Energy Institute (EI, UK), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE, UK) and Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC, UK). Lai believes that nanotechnology will positively affect the living standards of mankind for a better living environment. Lai is recognised as among the calibre and outstanding young scientists in the country who have the potential of advancing the scientific ecosystem in Malaysia.

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PROF. DR. LIM KHENG SEANG

Professor Dr. Lim Kheng Seang, a University of Malaya (Malaysia) graduate in 1999 with MRCP (UK), is a Professor of Neurology in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, the Head of Neurology Unit, PPUM, and a Consultant Neurologist specializing in epilepsy at the University of Malaya Medical Centre and University Malaya Specialist Centre, Malaysia. He has been trained at the University of Malaya for his neurology subspecialty training (2008), followed by fellowship training in Melbourne (2011) and Cleveland (2017) for epilepsy.  He is the President of the ASEAN Neurological Association (ASNA, 2023-2027), the Chair-elect (2025-2029) and General Secretary (2021-2025) of the Asian and Oceanian Commission, International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE-AO), the chair of the Research Task Force in the commission, the past President of the Malaysian Society of Neurosciences (MSN) and Malaysian Epilepsy Society (PEM), an active member of the Malaysian Epilepsy Council and internationally and ex-chair of the Research Commission in the International Bureau of Epilepsy. He has been involved in many trials of newer treatments (e.g., newer drugs and transcranial magnetic stimulation) in epilepsy. He also specialises in non-invasive and invasive epilepsy surgery assessment, including long-term video-EEG monitoring, intracranial monitoring with stereo-EEG, subdural and depth electrodes, electrocardiography, and cortical stimulation. Other areas of expertise included vagal nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcutaneous direct current stimulation, corpus callosotomy and radiofrequency ablation.  He is currently the Associate Editor for Neurology Asia, a reviewer for a few academic journals, and an organising committee member of multiple national and international conferences. He has published ≥ 150 original papers with an H-index of 24, in journals including Neurology (IF:8.055), Epilepsia (IF:5.562), Neuron (14.403), and JAMA Neurology (IF:29.91). His research work focuses on the psychosocial aspects of epilepsy, clinical studies, especially epilepsy surgery and seizures in brain tumours, genetics in focal and familial epilepsies, pharmacogenomics and pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs, quantitative EEG and quantitative MRI research, and artificial intelligence. He is active in research, being the principal investigator and co-investigator in many local and international research projects, and has a strong collaboration with Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. He was awarded multiple university and national research grants of more than RM1.5 million, and he has supervised 20 postgraduate students and 30 international neurology fellows. 

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