Prof. Dr. Mohd Yamani Idna Idris has been a dedicated faculty member at Universiti Malaya since 2000, contributing significantly to education, research, and innovation. With interest and expertise in Internet of Things (IoT), image processing, computer vision, and pattern recognition, his scholarly work has enriched both academic knowledge and practical applications. His extensive experience in teaching, learning, and research has influenced countless learners, and his research is widely published in reputed journals. As a mentor, he has successfully supervised 25 Ph.D. candidates, providing invaluable emotional and motivational support to ensure their success. His expertise is also sought after in academic circles, where he serves as a reviewer and editorial board member for journals like MJCS, Pattern Recognition, and IEEE Transactions on ITS. Additionally, he has been an external examiner for Ph.D. candidates and has contributed to international technical review panels. Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Idris has held key faculty leadership positions, including Head of Department and Deputy Dean (Undergraduate (acting) and Research & Development), playing a vital role in shaping academic direction and fostering innovation. He also has experience as the Industrial Training Coordinator, where he bridges the gap between academia and industry, providing students with valuable real-world insights. His contributions also extend to national progress, as he has actively participated in digitalization initiatives for government agencies like KPDNHEP and MATRADE. Recognizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, he has pioneered research efforts that integrate computer science with other fields, driving innovative solutions. Dr. Idris’s unwavering dedication has earned him three Certificates of Excellent Service and three Excellence Service Awards, highlighting his outstanding contributions to academia. His impact is further recognized internationally, having been listed among Stanford’s Top 2% Scientists in 2024. Through his leadership, mentorship, and groundbreaking research, Dr. Idris continues to shape academic excellence, industry collaboration, and scientific progress.

  Dr Vilashini Somiah is a feminist anthropologist from Sabah, Malaysia, and a Senior Lecturer in the Gender Studies Programme at Universiti Malaya. She holds a PhD from the National University of Singapore, an MA from Ohio University, an MRes from Universiti Malaya, and a BA from Universiti Malaya. Her research centres on underrepresented narratives of women, migrants, and interior Bornean communities, with a particular focus on marginality, survival, and lived political realities. She is co-editor of Revisiting Covid-19 in Malaysia: Plight and Perseverance (UM Press, 2023) and Sabah from the Ground: The 2020 Elections and the Politics of Survival (SIRD/ISEAS, 2021). Her first single-authored monograph, Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia: Pelagic Alliance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), received the Universiti Malaya Award for Outstanding Achievement (ACUM) for Best Social Science Book and has gained international recognition. She is currently completing her fourth book on the lives and resilience of Bornean women, under contract with University of Hawaii Press. Dr Somiah was a Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics in 2024, supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and SEANNET, where she researched Indigenous women entrepreneurs in Sabah and forms of entrepreneurial resilience in the post–Covid-19 period. She was also an ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute Visiting Fellow in 2025, focusing on subaltern politics in East Coast Sabah in the lead-up to the 2025 Sabah state elections. She currently serves as a Harvard Asia Center Associate (2025–2026) and was elected to the Southeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), where she will serve until 2028. In 2026, she was awarded the Greenberg Chair Visiting Scholar Bursary at the University of Ottawa. Beyond academia, she writes widely on Malaysia’s socio-political landscape and is co-founder of the Datum Initiative, a regional research observatory working at the intersection of data, justice, and inclusive socio-economic transformation in Southeast Asia. To know more about her works as a scholar and with Datum visit www.vilashinisomiah.com and www.datum-initiative.com      

Dr. Goh is a fellowship-trained Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgeon who completed his specialty training at the University of Malaya. He further pursued subspecialty training in sleep surgery and medicine, with exposure to trans oral robotic surgery (TORS) and hypoglossal nerve stimulation therapy, at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Sleep Center in Singapore. He is also recognized as an International Sleep Specialist by the World Sleep Society.Currently, his clinical practice is at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and UM Specialist Center (UMSC) , where his interest is on General Otorhinolaryngology disorder, Sleep disorders in Otorhinolaryngology and Functional airway surgery.