S. M. Kayser Azam was born in Pabna, Bangladesh. He received a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh, in 2013. He obtained an MSc (research) in Electronics Engineering from the International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2019. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2024. He is now working as an academic staff in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. He had experience working as a Power Engineer at Huawei Technologies Ltd. He has authored and coauthored numerous articles in top-tier journals and reputable conference proceedings, with several receiving Best Paper Awards. He serves as principal investigator and co-researcher on various internally and internationally funded research projects. His research interests include applied electromagnetics, antenna sensors, microwave components, chipless RFID, partial discharge diagnosis, IoT sensors, and transdisciplinary areas. He is an active reviewer in several IEEE Transactions and Journals and Elsevier's Measurement Journal. He is an IEEE member and specifically involved with the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

Started his research career in the think tank sector, Dr. Lee Chee Leong (Karl) is attracted to the rise of non-traditional diplomacy in the international order today. Such appeal has taken Dr. Lee into new research horizons that started with his Monash University's doctoral research on the Chinese sub-state diplomacy in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. With constructive supervision by Professor Helen Nesadurai and Associate Professor Kuik Cheng Chwee, Dr. Lee completed his doctoral thesis that unravels how a faraway and least developed sub-state of Guangxi managed to overcome its own hurdles, navigate the complexities within the Chinese state and become the frontline actor in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. Following his doctoral completion, Dr. Lee's research on non-traditional diplomacy has expanded into Taiwan’s quasi-state diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Such quest has led him spending at great length in comprehending the concept of soft power, a concept that finds its relevance to Taiwan, which has no official diplomatic with Southeast Asia but is heavily connected to the region and has to rely on soft power in its engagements with these Southeast Asian nations. Taking Malaysia as the first case study of Taiwan's soft power in the region, Dr. Lee is developing the third intervening variable correlating both Taiwanese soft power resources and outcomes, in his course of providing a dynamical explanation for such phenomenon. For the coming years, his research focus and publications will be on the different areas featuring Taiwan-Malaysia and Taiwan-Southeast Asia cooperation such as digital social innovation (DSI) for climate change, industry-based education/training programmes, smart cities, tourism, digital democracy, agriculture, public health and medicine, ornamental aquaculture and aquascape. To date, Dr. Lee was the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships in Malaysia and overseas: University of Malaya’s Graduate Fellowship (2010-2011); Monash University’s Merit Scholarship (2016-2019); Chinese Government Scholarship (2018-2019); and Taiwan Fellowship (2020). Prior to his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of China Studies (ICS), he was the Visiting Scholar at Guangxi University for Nationalities (GXUN) (2018-10992019), Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University (NCCU) (2020) and Associate Fellow at ICS UM (2016-2019).He welcomes any potential PhD candidate who would like to work on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan's soft power in Southeast Asia and Taiwan-Malaysia DSI cooperation for climate change. He is also willing to discuss with potential doctoral candidates on proposals related to the Chinese sub-state (provincial) diplomacy toward ASEAN, China's soft power in ASEAN, Southeast Asian sub-state diplomacy, comparative cases of sub-state diplomacy around the world and conceptual innovation of sub-state diplomacy as well as soft power. 

Dr. Sook Mei Khor holds a B.Sc. degree (Hons) from the University of Malaysia (UKM) in Applied Chemistry (2002). She moved on with her M.Sc. studies at UKM under Prof. Dr. Yook Heng Lee and Prof. Dato' Dr. Musa Ahmad's supervision (2002-2004). Since completing her M.Sc. research, she served as an R&D chemist for two years before being assigned to the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, UM (2006-2008) as a science officer. She moved to Sydney, Australia, in 2008 to pursue her Ph.D. after acquiring some work experience in the industry under a Malaysian government scholarship (UM SLAI research fellowship). She received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia (2008–2011) under the guidance of Scientia Prof. Dr. John Justin Gooding (a great researcher, also a kind and awesome supervisor). She works in the field of electrochemistry, focusing on enzyme/affinity biosensors and the modification of the electrode surface. She currently leads a research group focused on the boundaries of analytical chemistry, analytical biochemistry, food safety and risk assessment, and electroanalytical chemistry, designing various types of (bio)sensors for analytical applications.