Professor Azlan Shah Ali, PhD FRISM FRICS FCABE Reg BS   Prof. Azlan Shah Ali is a highly accomplished academic and practitioner specializing in building surveying and construction management. Currently, he holds the prestigious position of Professor in the Department of Building Surveying and serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment at Universiti Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur. His academic journey at UM began in 2004, and his dedication and expertise led to his promotion to the rank of full professor in July 2013, making him one of the youngest professors at the university. In addition to his role at UM, Prof. Azlan is a Visiting Professor at the School of Built Environment at Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom, contributing his extensive knowledge and experience to the global academic community. Throughout his career, he has held various leadership positions within UM's academic administration, including Dean, Acting Dean, Deputy Dean, and Head of the Department of the Faculty of Built Environment. Before entering academia, he gained valuable industry experience in the building sector, starting in 1998. In 2020, Prof. Azlan was appointed as the Director for Building Surveying at Unit Perundingan Universiti Malaya Sdn Bhd (UPUM Sdn Bhd), UM's consultancy arm. Under his leadership, UPUM Sdn Bhd secured ten significant Building Condition Assessment (BCA) consultation projects from the Malaysian government, totalling over RM6 million, highlighting his expertise in building condition assessment. He earned his PhD from Universiti Teknologi MARA, specializing in building refurbishment, with a research focus on building maintenance and refurbishment management strategies. Prof. Azlan has a substantial track record, with involvement in numerous academic research and consultancy projects, securing more than RM6 million in funding. Noteworthy collaborations include software development projects with Spanish companies CYPE, totalling over RM2.5 million. He has a prolific publication record, with over 200 peer-reviewed technical contributions in journals, proceedings, and books. Prof. Azlan's outstanding contributions to education and research have been recognized with awards such as the University of Malaya's Best Lecturers Award in 2012 and the Excellence Service Award from UM, received three times for his significant contributions to teaching and research. He also boasts an impressive array of professional credentials and holds esteemed titles such as Fellow of The Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (FRISM), Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, UK (FRICS) and Fellow of The Chartered Association of Building Engineers, UK (FCABE). His commitment to the profession is further demonstrated by his 15-year tenure as a committee member, including the role of secretary, for the Building Surveying Division of the Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM). Prof. Azlan Shah Ali's multifaceted career reflects his unwavering dedication to the field of building surveying and construction management, where he continues to inspire and lead in both academia and industry.

Loo Fung Ying is Associate Professor of cultural musicology and the Dean of Faculty of Creative Arts, Universiti Malaya. She teaches cultural musicology and research methodology. After obtaining her Fellowship (Trinity College of London) and Bachelor of Music (Hons) in piano performance (Universiti Putra Malaysia), she furthered her music study at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she received her Master of Music in Piano Performance with distinction. She studied piano under Michael Schreider, Barno Haknazarov, Larisa Rakhmanova, and Lillian Joseph, and had master classes conducted by Artur Pizzaro, Boris Berman, Irina Osipova, Julian Jacobson, Richard MacMahon, Olga Malissova, and Ng Chong Lim. As a pianist, her performances locally and abroad included the first piano concertos of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky under the baton of Zakhid Khaknazarov, recitals at St. John’s Smith Square and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and a recording for Ceri Richard’s Themes and Variations published by National Museums and Galleries of Wales, UK. Fung Ying continues to pursue research in music and completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield, UK in 2009. Her research interests include cultural musicology, performance practice, popular music, music and movement perception, and Tai Chi in application to the physicality of piano performance.  She joined Universiti Malaya in 2009 and has published over sixty refereed articles and book chapters. Her work has appeared in International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Muzikološki Zbornik, Revista Música Hodie, Asian Theatre Journal, International Journal of Music Education, IEEE Multimedia, Women's History Review, Media Watch, Journal of Popular television, New Ideas in Psychology and The Routledge Companion to Women and Musical Leadership. Her research has been supported by grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, Universiti Malaya, and Universiti Putra Malaysia, and won her gold and silver awards at local and international research exhibitions. She is a member of the International Editorial Board of eTropic and Media Watch. She has held positions such as Deputy Director (Postgraduate study and Research) of Cultural Centre (now Faculty of Creative Arts), Universiti Malaya (from 2010 to 2018, and April 2024 to March 2025), Chair of Academic Programmes Accreditation Panel for PhD, Master’s, and Bachelor degree level (Malaysian Qualifications Agency), Internal Auditor of MYRA (Malaysia Research Assessment, Ministry of Higher Education), and Associate Editor of Malaysian Journal of Performing and Visual Arts. As an active composer and musician with the multiple award-winning Dama Orchestra (now Dama Asia Productions) from 2001 to 2016, she has over twenty productions to date, five albums and three sold-out musicals: Empress Wu, I Have a Date with Spring and Butterfly Lovers. In addition, her composition titled Freedom won second prize at the 2022 Seoul International Meditation Music Competition.

Associate Professor Dr Rafidah Aga Mohd Jaladin (BSc. (Hons) Psych (UWA, Perth), M.Couns (Hons) (Malaya), PhD (Monash, Australia)) is a counselling psychologist at the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She was a recipient of Excellent Service Award (2018) and Excellent Service Certificate thrice (i.e., 2005, 2013, and 2015) during her service at the university. She has been executive member of the International Counselling Association of Malaysia (PERKAMA International) since 2015 and a mentor for University of Malaya Counselling Association (PERKUM) since 2013. She was a program coordinator for Bachelor of Counselling programme from 2012 to 2014. She was appointed Head of Department from 2014-2015, dealing with staff, students, human resource, curriculum and more. She was also appointed as a Director of UM Family Research and Development Centre in July 2020 to 30 June 2022. She is involved in curriculum review exercises, national and international networking, as well as community works. She was also a resident fellow at both private and public universities in Malaysia for a total of six years (1999 - 2005), thus has had hands-on residential experience on student affairs. Rafidah has more than 20 years of experience as a professional practitioner-cum-educator in psychology and counselling at various work settings. She has educated and trained diverse client populations including, school and college students, corporate staff, and local communities. Her publications comprise counselling and psychology books, book chapters, learning modules, journal articles, and magazine entries. Some of her published works are Professional Issues and Ethics in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2013, 2017), Introduction to Crisis Counselling (2016), Multicultural Counselling (2015), Group Dynamics (2016), Intervensi Krisis dalam Hubungan Menolong (2020, awarded as 50 Best Malaysian Titles), and Teori Kaunseling: Panduan Pemilihan dan Pembentukan Orientasi Teoritikal Kaunselor (2022). Her research areas include multicultural counselling, counsellor education, supervision and training; and mental health literacy and counselling. Rafidah has been involved in about 30 research projects. Her current projects are funded by the Ministry of Higher Education: Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) -  Development of Continuous Professional Development Training Module based on Multicultural Counselling Competencies for Professional Counsellors in Malaysia and Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) – Empowering Disabled Youths’ Psychological Wellbeing for Career Development (DiY-PsychKit).  Rafidah’s contribution to society involves giving numerous motivational and mental health awareness talks, conducting short courses, sharing psychology-related topics in media, and offering counselling and consultancy services for diverse populations in Malaysia. Her love for communities has resulted in her engagement with cultural minority groups such as at-risk teenagers (RU04I-2016), urban poor children (RU013-2017N), single mothers (RU013-2017H) and disabled youths (MRUN2019-1D). Fit as a fiddle, Rafidah is also active in sports and recreation activities. She has been representing Faculty of Education and University of Malaya in Inter- and Intra-Varsity Sports Carnivals since 2002, especially in Volleyball, Netball, Badminton, and Table Tennis. She was recipient of Highest Achievement in Sports Award by the Vice Chancellor in 2004. As a certified HRDF trainer (No. 5469), Rafidah is currently looking into exploring academia-corporate training and consultation through HRDF community network.