Dr. Meor Hakif is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Geology, University of Malaya (UM). He has written at least 100 publications including one article in Nature. He teaches undergraduate courses in Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, as well as postgraduate topics in Reservoir Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy. Previously, he was the Coordinator for the MSc in Petroleum Geology Programme for 5 years. Currently, he is President of the Geological Society of Malaysia. Dr. Meor graduated with a BSc. (Hons) in Geology from UM in 2002, which included an early exposure to the petroleum industry through an internship with Esso Production Malaysia Inc. (EPMI) on abnormal pressure in offshore Sabah. While being a Tutor at UM, he graduated with a MSc. (with distinction) in 2005, with a dissertation revising the stratigraphy of NW Peninsular Malaysia.  The MSc. included research and training on graptolite biostratigraphy at the Technische Universitat Berlin in Germany, which was supported by a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Scholarship. In 2005, Dr. Meor worked as an Executive Geoscientist in the Petroleum Resource Assessment and Marketing division, Petroleum Management Unit (PMU) of PETRONAS, mainly working on sequence stratigraphy and sequence biostratigraphy of the Sarawak Basin, and also gaining experience in resource assessment, well log interpretation, seismic interpretation and well operations monitoring. Dr. Meor graduated with a Ph.D and DIC from Imperial College, University of London in 2011. His Ph.D project was on the sedimentology of the Nyalau Formation and Balingian Province of the Sarawak Basin. Since then, he has been actively involved as a consultant on many sedimentological related studies with several oil and gas companies. Part of the PhD included fieldwork in Bintulu, Sarawak, core description at PETRONAS and a secondment to Petrofac Malaysia (PM-304) Ltd in Kuala Lumpur. Dr. Meor also took the advantage during his PhD to visit the textbook outcrops of the Book Cliffs (Sego Fm, Ferron Sandstone, Chinle Fm., Morrison Fm.) in Utah, USA, as well as the Welsh and Wessex Basins of the UK. Dr. Meor Hakif frequently leads sedimentology, stratigraphy and petroleum geology fieldtrips to the Palaeozoic strata of NW Peninsular Malaysia and the hydrocarbon-bearing, Neogene strata of Sarawak and Labuan. He maintains good relationships with industry, with several consulting projects and fieldtrips organized for companies. He is also the Faculty Advisor for the AAPG Student Chapter of UM.  Dr. Meor's current research interests in sedimentology mainly lies in the facies composition and stratal architecture of siliciclastic rocks, and how they are used to infer depositional and basin history. In particular, many of his publications are on tidal deposits preserved in the Oligo-Miocene rock record of Malaysia. The work involves integration with fields and specialists beyond traditional geology, including geophysics and engineering. His work is mainly field-based, with field experience in northwest Peninsular Malaysia (Perlis, Kedah, Langkawi), Pahang, Kelantan, Sarawak (Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri, Marudi, Limbang, Lawas), Labuan and Sabah (Klias, Kota Kinabalu area, Kudat). Dr. Meor is also a worker on the stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic succession of northwest Peninsular Malaya, specializing in the palaeontology and biostratigraphy of Devonian tentaculitoids and graptoloids and Carboniferous ammonoids. Results of this work include the discovery and naming of a new species of ammonoid, Praedaraelites tuntungensis, from Bukit Tuntung in Perlis as well as a new species of foraminifera, Crenulosepta perlisensis. Dr. Meor also uncovered a previously unknown Devonian stratigraphic unit, now called the Sanai Limestone. Dr. Meor is a certified Professional Geologist (P.Geol.) with the Board of Geologists Malaysia.  

Dr. Issa Khan joined in 2015 at the Department of Shariah and Management, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer after completing his Ph.D. in Takaful (Islamic Insurance) with Bright Sparks Scholarship from the University. He was also awarded an amount of money for completing this degree within three to four years. Prior he had been awarded the University of Malaya Fellowship for the Master's Programme in Islamic Financial Transactions.   In 2014,  he received Bronze Medal Award from APIUM Academic Open Week (Minggu Terbuka Akademik) and the Best Paper Award from Islamic Finance and Property Research Seminar (Seminar Penyelidikan Kewangan Dan Kehartaan Islam), the University of Malaya in 2013.  Moreover, he achieved his B.A.(Hon’s) degree in Islamic Studies and Da’wah from Darul Ihsan University, Bangladesh. Earlier, he completed Takmil (Dawra Hadith) in Hadith from Jamiyah Arabiyah Makzanul Ulum, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.    

Dr. Tahmina Akhter is a Senior Lecturer in Finance at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya. She holds a PhD in Finance from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her research spans behavioural finance, sustainable finance, energy economics, fintech, and financial wellbeing. She is currently leading and contributing to projects on financial resilience and retirement planning, clean energy transition and critical mineral dependency, corporate ESG practices, and fintech adoption. Her work applies advanced empirical methods to address contemporary challenges in financial behaviour and sustainability. With over 12 years of academic experience, she is committed to developing future leaders in finance and banking.