An average person with simple needs. Initially trained as an aero MRO artisan, aznijar went beyond that to designing aerocrafts and performing aerodynamic analyses and experiments. Currently busy figuring better ways to cut metals at UM.   His personal homepage at http://103.18.1.124/~aznijar/ is no longer available (ask the sys-adm what happened?), while his facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/aznijar. Occasionally he tweets at https://twitter.com/aznijar and his affiliates can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aznijar-ahmad-yazid-46672b1.

VGR Chandran is Professor of Industrial Development at the Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Business and Economics at University of Malaya. He has also worked as Principal Analyst of Economic and Policy Studies with Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and his research interests are mainly on innovation, technology development, trade and globalization that relate to industrial development. His field research covers sectors such as electrical and electronics, automotive, food, chemical, oil palm, machinery, iron and steel, ICT, and the newly emerging sector - renewable energy. He had extensive fieldwork covering the Asian region that includes countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, India, China, Thailand, and Malaysia. In recent years, his research interest expanded into investigating newly emerging enterprises within the context of social innovation and social enterprises, as well as open innovation. His interest has also expanded in studying the issues of NTMs, mainly regulatory and procedural requirements that serve as a barrier for firms to integrate into the Global Value Chain. He has also worked as a consultant for international organizations such as UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNESCO, UNEP, ERIA, OECD as well as governmental organizations in Malaysia. He has published articles in international journals - Economics of New Technology and Innovation, Policy Modelling, as well as book chapters and books on industrial development and innovation. He is the recipient of various national and international grants – to name a few - European Union Horizon 2020 and IDR, Canada, among others. His work is widely quoted in government policy documents contributing to numerous policy changes. He has contributed to the Malaysian regulatory reform efforts, STI and Industrial policy development at national as well as state level. His work via Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Economic Planning Unit, Academic of Sciences, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, MIGHT, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysian Productivity Corporation and Institute Darul Ridzuan (state level) was instrumental in making the policy changes. His engagement with the industry are mainly in the form of undertaking studies and providing expert opinions. He has received various awards, e.g., excellence in teaching award and outstanding paper award from Emerald and Elsevier. Details of his current projects as follows: (1) Catching-up along the GVC: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/214786/factsheet/en (2) Regional Economic Corridors: http://www.crisea.eu/researchers/chandran-vgr

Siti Zubaidah Ismail's field of expertise is Islamic criminal law and criminal justice. She graduated with Bachelor of Shariah from University of Malaya, Master of Comparative Laws from IIUM, LL.M from Birmingham University and PhD (Malaya). Her main research interest  is on the Islamic law and criminal justice in contemporary Muslim countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. She also focuses on the application of Islamic criminal law on the society  and on the development of Islamic criminal law implementation in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Her current research is on the intersection between islamic punishment and human rights and the potential of diyat as an alternative to death penalty in Malaysia She is also active in research relating to interaction of Islamic law in society relating to new-Muslim reverts, inter-religious marriage and freedom of religion. She was Visiting Fellow at Asian Law Institute, National University of Singapore in 2010, Visiting Scholar at Faculty of Law Universitas Indonesia in 2016, Visiting Lecturer at UNISSA, Brunei, Visiting Fellow at IAIS in 2022 and Visiting Scholar at Law Faculty, Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara Turkey in 2025. She was one of the recipients for AUA Scholars Award 2019 and Universitas Indonesia's UI-Resolv Visiting Scholar Awards 2016. From 2023-2024 she was Honorary Fellow at IKIM. She was also invited to teach her subject of expertise in Universitas Brawijaya Law School in Malang, Indonesia under 3-in-1 program in 2025. She has supervised 20 Phd and 40 masters students. She was Head of the Shariah and Law Department from 2011 until January 2016, Deputy Dean for Humanities and Ethics Research Cluster of UM in 2018 and Deputy Director for Research and Development from 2019-2021. She contributes her expertise in Islamic law as member of Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Perak (2024-2027) and as Law Committee Member for Majlis Agama Islam Kelantan (MAIK) and advised on the amendments of shariah laws including Islamic Family Law Enactment 2002 and Shariah Criminal Offences Enactment 2019. Her contribution in the society is also significant in the area of human rights activism and advocacy. She is Senior Research Fellow with Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (CENTHRA) since 2017 and Senior Fellow for Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process (MACSA) assisting in preparing the civil society report for UPR Process in Geneva, Switzerland every five years. She has more than 165 articles published and the author of four books.  Her book Undang-Undang Kesalahan Jenayah Syariah di Malaysia won Anugerah Cemerlang Universiti Malaya 2018 and Hadiah Karya Ilmiah 2019 from Dewan Bahasa Pustaka. She also received "Anugerah Penulisan Artikel Terbaik dalam Jurnal Hukum 2019" by Jabatan Kehakiman Syariah Malaysia.  She is married with seven children.