Dr. Erialdi Syahrial is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia. He served as a Visiting Researcher at Goddard School of Business and Economics, Weber State University in Utah, United States. As a Visiting Researcher, he presented his research at the Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) in Florida, United States. Before transitioning to academia, Dr.Erialdi worked at PROTON, Malaysia’s first national car manufacturing company, where he held roles as Section Head, Lead Engineer, and Project Leader in the Research and Development (R&D) Department. Additionally, he has worked on after-sales service projects in the United Kingdom, Italy, Korea, and Germany. Dr.Erialdi’s work involved collaborating with CEOs, managing directors, customers, suppliers, and consultants from several countries. He is a member of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) and is recognized by the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) as a Professional Technologist (Ts.) until 2023. After his tenure at PROTON, Dr. Erialdi pursued a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Japan, earning his Doctoral degree in Engineering from Keio University in Yokohama. His teaching and research interests primarily focus on Supply Chain Management, Logistics Management, Operations Management, Project Management and Quality Management. In 2022, Dr. Erialdi served as a session chair at the Asia Pacific Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. In 2024, he was appointed as a panel speaker and session chair at the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) in Dubai, UAE, as well as panel chair and session chair at the Asia Pacific Conference on IEOM in Tokyo, Japan. In 2024, he also chaired sessions at the International Conference on ICT Application Research and the Malaysia-Japan Visionaries Conference in Tokyo, Japan. In early 2025, he contributed to the 15th Annual IEOM Singapore as a technical committee member, session chair, and paper reviewer. Additionally, he met with the IEOM CEO and COO during IEOM Singapore to establish the IEOM Student Chapter at UM. Dr. Erialdi is currently an active project member at Universiti Malaya, working on a project funded by the Malaysian government. In Universiti Malaya, he has established initial connections with governments, universities, institutions, and agencies both nationally and internationally for potential future collaborations.

Dr Adibi M. Nor is a multidisciplinary marine biologist and aquaculturist by training, with 20 years of experience in the fisheries sector. His work focuses on fisheries policy, particularly the sustainability of seaweed commercialisation among Malaysian coastal communities and the impact of this activity on their livelihoods. He was an employee of the Department of Fisheries (DOF) Malaysia, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, from 2003 until 2018. Dr Adibi was involved with the development of the national seaweed policy, in particular the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of this policy. He is now a senior lecturer and PhD and MPhil programme coordinator at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Universiti Malaya. Throughout his career as a policymaker, scientist, and business development leader with the agri/aquaculture company, he has developed a deep understanding of and a strong background in food security and agri/aquaculture, specialising in addressing the challenges and complexities of the global food system. This breadth of experience has shaped his insights into the flow of using scientific evidence in the policy-making process. To ensure sustainability and share his expertise with society, Dr Adibi has developed the Student Holistic Empowerment (SHE) academic course known as Nasi Lemak and Food Systems at Universiti Malaya. He has published widely on seaweed and fisheries research related to policy, biology, and value chain aspects. He was appointed as a reviewer for the International Journal of Food Science & Technology, the Journal of Aquaculture, Fish, and Fisheries, the Journal of Quality and Quantity, the Journal of Applied Phycology, the Journal of Socioeconomics and Development, and Botanica Marina in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019. He was a consultant for international and local seaweed projects from 2019 until 2025 and a scientific advisor and business development planner for the Abalone Aquaculture Company in 2018. Currently, he is actively pursuing innovation in seaweed cultivation as nature-based solutions (website: https://drcweedaquasolutions.com/). Dr Adibi experimented with new farming methods, such as Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems, to enhance seaweed production for food security while minimising environmental impact. His research led to discoveries that improved seaweed disease management and optimised the extraction of valuable compounds for various industries, including food, cosmetics, bioplastics, biostimulants and animal feed. He is passionate about making aquaculture development sustainable and equitable for the local community and the environment. Endearingly, his social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) are called Dr C+Weed, which he started in July 2021 as a forum for conversing with and educating people about seaweed. Dr Adibi intends to make seaweed a superfood to combat global and local food security issues. His publications and research areas can be accessed at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adibi_Nor Current Research Endeavours: Seaweed Cultivation for Blue Carbon: Advancing Sustainable Decarbonization Efforts. Evaluating Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) Implementation Among Malaysian Aquaculturists, Using the Quantitative Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) Survey Technique.   Sea Grapes Seaweed Cultivation Offers Avenue Toward Greater Food Security, Healthier Diets, and Better Nutrition in Malaysia. Seaweed Cultivation for Climate Mitigation, Food Security, and Local Community Development in Abandoned Shrimp Ponds in Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah, Malaysia Food Security in Malaysia: The Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Paddy and Rice Industry in Malaysia. The Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) Approach Using Land-Based Farming System Between Seaweed and Marine Finfish. Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) on GlobalSeaweedSTAR program: Safeguarding the Future of the Seaweed Industry in Developing Countries.  Influence of Black Soldier Fly Larvae and Gracilaria sp. seaweed on Physiological and Fillet Quality of Tilapia, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS). Developing Regenerative Aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Seaweed Cultivation: A Nature-Based Solution to Climate Change and Food Insecurity. Revitalising the Malaysia Seaweed Industry through the Blue Economy.        

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 2 filed Malaysian patents. His current standing of h-index is 23 (WoS) / 24 (Scopus) / 27 (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.