Dr. Kamarul Ariffin Noordin is a distinguished academic and researcher in the field of wireless communications, with a decade-long focus on advancing communication technologies through impactful research and international collaborations. Since 2014, he has served as principal or co-principal investigator for competitive research grants totaling over RM1.4 million from esteemed bodies such as the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI), the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, the EPSRC UK, and UAE University. He is currently a Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Malaya. His research has spanned a range of groundbreaking topics, including seamless mobile communication in heterogeneous networks, device-to-device communications for disaster management, and dynamic resource allocation using AI and UAVs for future 5G/6G networks. A notable highlight was his role in a three-year Global Challenges Research Fund project with the University of Surrey and other UK institutions, where he led efforts to develop emergency communication strategies in disaster zones. Dr. Kamarul has published over 70 papers in reputable ISI-indexed journals and conferences. His collaborative works include research with scholars from Vietnam, the UK, Norway, Greece, and the UAE, with contributions to emerging topics such as NOMA, SWIPT, and AI-driven wireless systems. His growing international visibility has led to increasing PhD supervision requests and global research partnerships.

Mala Rajo Sathian is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies and the founding coordinator of the Thai studies programme, both at Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She previously held visiting research affiliations at Prince of Songkla University, Pattani campus, Thailand, and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, US. Her areas of research include Thailand, south Thailand and north Malaysia, relating to ethnicity and marginalisation, diasporas, conflict, governance and histories of nation building. Her publications include: Siamese in Malaysia: Beyond sixty years of heritage (2018) and various articles and chapters on ethnic minorities, identity, conflict and methodology in area studies.  She hopes to advance a message of peace and tolerance towards minority communities living in multicultural Southeast Asia through her research and writing.

Professor Sr Dr. Hafez Salleh , a former Deputy Dean (Undergraduate) and former Head at Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has an educational background in quantity surveying and IT in construction. Currently, he is Head of Centre for Building, Construction & Tropical Architecture (BuCTA) Research. He has a BSc, MSc and PhD Degree from School of the Built Environment and top rated, 6* Research Institute for the Built and Human Environment, University of Salford, United Kingdom. He has 30 years’ experience in both academia and industry practice and has been an active researcher and research supervisor. He is the recipient of Excellence Service Award by University of Malaya in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2022 and recipient of Loyal Service Award 20 Years in 2017. He has supervised a wide range of undergraduate and post graduate research students in various research themes. His main research interest is IT/IS strategic management in construction and sustainable design. His previous research was the development of IT/IS Readiness Model that focuses on evaluation of organizational readiness prior IT/IS investment. He is currently working on the theme of IT/IS evaluation in construction with interest in the links between ‘hard’ & human issues and BIM Implementation in construction industry. He is a Registered Consultant Quantity Surveyor (CQS) with Board of Quantity Surveyor Malaysia (BQSM), Fellow of Royal Institute of Surveyor Malaysia (FRISM), the technical committee member of Malaysian Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP) 2005-2015, Strategic Thrust 6: Leveraging Information Technology, Editorial Board Members, Journal of Surveying, Construction & Property, Associate Editor for Journal of Design and Built Environment (JDBE) and Lead Auditor for QMS ISO 9001:2008, University of Malaya. He was a Member of Quantity Surveying Accreditation Council (QSAC), BQSM, for Session 2019-2021, Auditor for QMS ISO 9001:2015 (BQSM) 2021,2022, 2023 and he is also a regular Assessor Panel of Accreditation for Quantity Surveying Programme for both RISM and BQSM and has been appointed as an External Examiner for more than 28 thesis of Master and PhD examinations.