Lau Wee Yeap is Professor at the Faculty of Business and Economics, academic board member of the Asia-Europe Institute (AEI), and researcher at the Malaysia-Japan Research Centre (MJRC), Universiti Malaya. He was an Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholar at UAE University and Visiting Scholar under National Taiwan Library Fellowship in 2024. He previously served as Deputy Dean (Postgraduate) of the Faculty of Economics and Administration (2020-21), and Head of Department (Applied Statistics) for two terms (2013-14 and 2021). Apart from lecturing Statistics and Econometrics at FEA since 2006, he was invited to teach MBA and undergraduate classes in International Finance and Financial Econometrics at the Faculty and Graduate School of Business (GSB), University of Malaya, and both MBA and undergraduate courses in Economics, Malaysian Economy and Financial Management at the International University of Malaya-Wales (IUMW) between 2009 and 2010. Prior to joining academia, he worked for four years in financial institutions specializing in credit and trade financing before being awarded the Monbusho Scholarship (MEXT) by the Japanese Government. He studied at the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Kazuhiko Nishina, Professor of Finance, Dean of the Graduate School of Economics, and Vice President of Osaka University. In addition to presenting his work at the Nippon Finance Association Conference in Tokyo (2004 & 2005), he was selected for the Asian FA / FMA Doctoral Student Award for presenting his work at the Asian Finance Association Conference in Taipei (2004), Kuala Lumpur (2005) and Auckland (2006).  From Sept 2012 to May 2013, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Risk Management Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS RMI), a research group member in credit rating dynamics. He also attended the Executive Education Program in Portfolio Management, Asset Allocation, and Behavioral Finance conducted by Emeritus Professor Burton Malkiel, Yacine Ait-Shalia, Harrison Hong, and colleagues at the Bendheim Center for Finance, Princeton University, in June 2013. Despite having his sabbatical leave, he assisted in organising the Malaysian Economic Convention in June 2019. In addition, he was also the Local Organising Chairperson of the ISBIS Satellite Conference in August 2019.  In October 2019, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages. He was invited by the Malaysian Productivity Centre (MPC) to collaborate in the Competitiveness Opinion Survey 2014-2015 and contribute to Malaysia's Business Optimism Index (BOI) study by Dun & Bradstreet, authoring a professional text for the Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII) from 2014 to 2015. He participated in a consultative project with RAM Holdings Berhad in 2020-21 and was also part of a team in an international project under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), led by Heriot-Watt University and funded by the UK Government (https://researchcovid19pandemic.com/research-collaboration-and-funding/). Universitas Airlangga has also invited him for an International Research Collaboration from 2023 to 2025.  He has worked and supervised students in applied finance, financial economics, econometrics, and capital markets. To date, 23 of his PhD students have passed their viva voce (20 PhD students graduated), and more than 90 students have passed their research papers under Master of Economics and Master of Applied Statistics. His earlier work confirms the relationship between equity style and fund performance (MF, 2007). His later work establishes economic content and information transmission in equity-style indices as leading economic indicators (Ekonomie an Mgmt, 2015) and information content on Islamic equity-style indices, joint work with Dr. Shahrin Shaharuddin (EMFT, 2017; CEF, 2017; CMR, 2017; JIMEF, 2020). His joint work with his former PhD student, Dr. You-How Go, has new findings for spot futures relation in the Crude Palm Oil Market (Resources Policy, 2017; J. Commodity Markets, 2020; NAJEF, 2021; JES, 2023; NAJEF, 2024). Their work has been ranked by ScholarGPS as top 5 percent under Palm Oil research area (https://scholargps.com/scholars/49750352394767/ and https://scholargps.com/scholars/42032014657743/). His recent work explores market participants' trading behaviour in the Japanese Stock Market during QE tapering (APFM, 2019) and the Indonesian Stock Market (ICMR, 2021). To date, he has authored two books for Palgrave Macmillan. The first book titled "New Initiatives in the Malaysian Capital Market (2024)", and the second book  titled "Pension at Stake (2024)", and currently, he is working on his third book on modelling trading behaviour. Source: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-97-2324-9, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-97-0980-9, In addition, he has published a professional text on "Insurance Business and Economics (2015)" for Malaysian Insurance Institute, one module on "Portfolio Investment Management" for Open University Malaysia, two BOI reports, and two edited books in Statistics under UniMAP (2023) and UUM University Press (2023). In addition, he has been cited by the press and interviewed by the media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBmCmC5eHRM).  He has been invited to present his work at BNM Economics Research Workshop, the Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) Half-Baked Seminar at the World Bank Research Hub in Malaysia, the Asian Finance Association Conference, Nippon Finance Association Conference, JEPA International Conference (Awaji Yumeibutai International Conference Center), Japan Finance Association (Kobe & Tokyo), PBFEAM Conference, Malaysian Finance Association International Conference (MFAIC), Malaysian Statistics Conference (MyStats), National Financial Literacy Symposium (NFLS), FAEA Conference, ISI Regional Conference, BMEB Conference by Bank Indonesia Institute in Bali, 13th NCTU and 16th NYCU  International Finance Conference (National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan), ISBIS Conference in Barcelona, Piraeus, and Kuala Lumpur, DTI Conference organised by the Institute of Economics (Ural Branch) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Wenzao Ursuline International Conference on Southeast Asian Studies (ICSEAS) and the 22nd ASJA-ASCOJA-JAC Symposium (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). He received the Best Paper Award at the 23rd and 24th Malaysian Finance Association International Conference in 2021 and 2022 and the Best Paper Award at the University-Industry Talent Bridging Conference organized by the Institute for Capital Market Research Malaysia (ICMR) in 2023. He was also a joint recipient alongside Dr Muhammad Irfan for the 15th MAPIM-KPT Anugerah Pemenang Utama Makalah Jurnal Terbaik Kemanusiaan dan Sains Sosial - Indeks Kebangsaan (Best Journal Paper Award in Humanities and Social Sciences- National Index) in 2024.  He was selected for an international joint training workshop on Environmentally Green Technology and Net Zero Emission at the National Tsing Hua University from 17 to 28 Oct 2023, funded by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Taiwan. In addition, he was selected as a recipient of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholars Award Program 2023-2024 and the National Taiwan Library Fellowship for International Visiting Scholar in 2024.. Dr Lau is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI), ISBIS Council Member (2019-2023), and EXCO member of the Malaysian Economic Association (since 2008 - present). He has also served as the Jan Tinbergen Awards Committee member under the International Statistical Institute (ISI). Before this, he was the Hon. Secretary (2018 to 2022) and Hon. Treasurer (2014-2018) of MEA. He also served as Hon. Secretary of the Malaysian Finance Association (MFA) from 2015 to 2019 and was a founding member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Malaysian chapter in 2008. Beyond academia, he was an Officer Cadet at PALAPES USM (1992-95) and commissioned by HM the King as Reserve Officer (Lt M) on 17 June 1995. At present, he is the Vice Chairman of the Japan Graduates' Association of Malaysia (JAGAM) Central Branch.

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 150 research papers in high impact factor WoS/ISI-indexed journals, more than 30 proceedings, 5 invited book chapters, and 1 filed Malaysian patent. His current standing of h-index is 25 (WoS) / 26 (Scopus) / 30 (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. 

She is the distinguished recipient of the highly prestigious Anugerah Tokoh Akademik Bahasa Melayu 2024, a remarkable honour bestowed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. The first milestone of her commendable journey began when she was conferred the Anugerah Penghargaan Makalah Jurnal Terbaik in the year 2021, a notable recognition by MAPIM-KPT. With a distinguished academic background, she holds a First Class Bachelor's Degree (Malay Language Programme) from the Department of Malay Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya (1989). Subsequent to her undergraduate studies, she embarked on a journey to acquire a Diploma in Education from the Faculty of Education, University of Malaya (1990) and henceforth, served as a dedicated teacher in a full-boarding school (SBP) in Kuala Lumpur. Her illustrious career as a lecturer commenced in 1996 following the completion of her master's degree and was further amplified when she was granted the Hadiah Latihan Cuti Belajar, enabling her to pursue her Ph.D in 1999. During her remarkable Ph.D journey, she was accorded an opportunity to partake in a six-month training at Leiden University, Netherlands, to learn the PRAAT software, a vital tool in her field of study at the Ph.D level, Acoustic Phonetics. Her exemplary skills in the Malay language led her to be appointed as a visiting lecturer at the Yunnan University of Nationalities, Kunming, China, and as a visiting professor at Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. Her profound expertise in the Malay Language, Malay Studies and the Malay World has been acknowledged by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, leading her to be entrusted with roles such as Head of the Phonetics/Phonology Panel, Panel Penilai Buku Terbaik MAPIM-KPT, Penilai Buku Terbitan MAPIM, Malay Language Editor, Penilai Geran Penyelidikan Fundamental Research Grant Schemes (FRGS), and Penilai Artikel for Scopus-indexed, ESCI and MyCite journals. She was also appointed to the editorial board of two prestigious journals in Indonesia and often referred to as an expert in research instruments. She has been invited as a Keynote Speaker and Invited Speaker in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. From an administrative perspective, she has held notable positions such as Head of the Malay Language Department, Coordinator for the Academic Writing course, and Deputy Dean (Research, Value Creation, and Enterprise). Currently, she holds the esteemed position of Deputy Dean (Postgraduate Studies, Research & Innovation). She has also contributed significantly as a Course Developer for the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), University of Malaya for the course Introduction to Malay Language. In addition, she has taken on the responsibility as the Chairperson for the APM (Akademi Pengajian Melayu/ Academy of Malay Studies) social service for Sekolah Dalam Hospital (SDH), at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).