PROFESSOR IR. DR. UBAGARAM JOHNSON ALENGARAM

Professor Ir. Dr. U. Johnson Alengaram is the Director of the Centre for Innovative Construction Technology (CICT), a Research Centre under the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is listed among the top 2% of the world’s scientists by Stanford University through Elsevier Data Repository and is also the recipient of outstanding achievement awards in most of the institutions he served. He has been serving as a research fund evaluator of different countries, including South American, Asian, and European countries. He is also recognized as an external examiner for doctoral theses and an evaluator for promotional exercises. He was the programme coordinator for developing a new MEng by coursework at the Universiti Malaya. He is also an advisor and examiner for the MEng programme in other universities. His industrial collaboration resulted in bringing research projects from industries to solve some of the imperative issues in material, mechanical, durability, and structural properties.  He is a Chartered Civil Engineer of the world-renowned Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE, UK) and the Engineering Council (UK); he is also a Companion Member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (CIEM), a member of the American Concrete Society (ACI-Kuala Lumpur Chapter), and a life member of the Concrete Society of Malaysia (CSM). Professor Ir. Dr. U. Johnson Alengaram has supervised 32 research candidates, including Doctoral (PhD) and Master of Engineering Science by Research Mode (MEng Sci.), to graduation. In addition, he has a number of patents and copyrights for his inventions. His current Web of Science (WoS) h-index stands at 56 based on the publication of over 190 journal articles from the Web of Science Core Collection. He started the University of Malaya's Institution of Civil Engineers Student Chapter (UMICESC), and currently he is the staff advisor. UMICESC serves as the professional student body for undergraduate students to enhance their professional attributes, so they can strive towards becoming CEng MICE after graduation and appropriate training. In his Master of Engineering in Structural Engineering, as part of his MEng thesis, he utilized jute as a sustainable replacement material for conventional wood. His MEng research project was acclaimed as one of the best innovative works, and the specimens of his research project, Sandwiched Plywood, were displayed at the International Exhibition held in Delhi, India. Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India (then Union Finance Minister) who inaugurated the exhibition, had a special word for his work on jute; he continued his research for his doctoral research using sustainable industrial by-products and investigated mechanical and structural behaviour that provided in-sight into vital characteristics on the ductility behaviour of oil palm shells—that he went on to develop as a blast-resistant concrete—using oil palm shell as a whole replacement for normal aggregate. Professor Ir. Dr. U. Johnson Alengaram has been in academic, consultancy, research, and administration for over twenty-five years and has contributed to society in different capacities in India, Bahrain, and Malaysia. His current research involves the utilization of industrial by-products, low-carbon footprint materials, and waste materials in the development of one-part geopolymer, low-carbon cement, and limestone calcinated clay cement (LC3) in mortar and concrete; other research aspects include lightweight aggregate, material characteristics, crack-healing mortar using microalgae, lightweight aggregate concrete, foamed concrete, geopolymer concrete, and impact & blast-resistant concrete. His experimental works revolve around investigations on microstructural behaviour, mechanical properties and durability characteristics, structural behaviour, functional behaviour etc. He is the recipient of outstanding achievement awards in most of the institutions he served. He and his research team won gold and silver medals at international and national exhibitions on concrete engineering & technology. He was the project director of two housing projects at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that utilized industrial by-products. His decade-long research work on geopolymer concrete enabled him and his team to construct the first cement-free house (superstructure) in Malaysia with the collaboration of Vinci Construction, a French-based construction conglomerate; this house is currently being used by bus drivers and serves as a research hub. He is the Principal Investigator of many research projects and has received numerous research grants from the University of Malaya research fund, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, and national and international grants, including the prestigious Newton-Ungku Omar Coordination Fund: UK-Malaysia Research & Innovation Bridges Competition. He has a research collaboration with various universities in Malaysia, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Jordan, Oman, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. He has been invited by various universities in different countries to give keynote lectures at international conferences, seminars, and research workshops.  Prof. Ir. Dr. U. Johnson Alengaram serves as an Associate Editor in the Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Material, Australian Journal of Civil Engineering, and Editorial Board Member of the Jordanian Journal of Civil Engineering (JJCE); he also served as Chairperson of the SIRIM Committee for "Eco Labelling of Criteria for Reused By-Products Aggregates" and reviewer of multiple international journals. He has organized workshops, conferences, and seminars and trained school students to win local and international awards; further, as the Director of CICT, he has pioneered the activities of the centre to contribute to society, and thus many national and international researchers and students are being trained regularly in the centre.  He has been the organizing secretary, co-chair, and advisor of international conferences and workshops.  

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ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. SAAIDAL RAZALLI BIN AZZUHRI

Dr. Saaidal Razalli Azzuhri holds a BEng in Telecommunication from the University of Malaya. After graduation, he began his career as a Wireless Network Engineer at eB Technologies, a second-tier Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Malaysia. He later joined Telekom Malaysia, the country’s largest ISP, where he worked as a Network Engineer. He pursued his MSc in IT at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST), through a collaborative program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2014, he completed his PhD in Wireless Network Systems at the University of Queensland, Australia, with a research focus on wireless ad-hoc routing systems. He is currently serving as an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer System & Technology, Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology, University of Malaya. In 2018, Dr. Saaidal established the university's first Blockchain Technology Lab using private funding. He later secured a government-to-government research grant to study transborder blockchain infrastructure between China and Malaysia, sponsored by the publicly-listed company MyEG Services Berhad. He has also received government and industry grants for artificial intelligence applications in wireless communications and drone systems, as well as an International Newton Mobility Grant for optical microfiber research. Dr. Saaidal holds two patents related to unmanned aerial vehicles and fiber optic biosensors. He is frequently invited by the media to provide expert commentary on cybersecurity, 5G networks, and other technology issues. His areas of expertise encompass wireless networks, mobile ad-hoc networks, autonomous systems, fiber lasers, fiber sensors and Blockchain. Some of Dr. Saaidal's media appearances include: ‘UM Miliki Makmal Teknologi Blockchain’, Utusan Malaysia, Nov 13, 2018 ‘UM Tubuh Makmal Teknologi Blockchain’, Berita Harian, Nov 15 2018 ‘Makmal Blockchain UM’, Harian Metro, Nov 25 2018 ‘Malaysia Perlu Tingkatkan Keselamatan Cyber Terutama Menuju Era 5G’, Buletin Pagi TV3, 24 Jan 2019 'Industri Halal Di Indonesia Butuh Dukungan Teknologi dan Inovasi', Ayo Bandung Portal, 29 September 2020 'Malaysia and China Collaborate to Enhance Cross-Border Supply Chain Traceability', Digital News Asia, 17 February 2023 'Malaysia hormati perjanjian dengan Ericsson, terbuka bekerjasama dengan pihak lain', Benar News Portal, 5 March 2023'Malaysia bincang kerjasama dengan Elon Musk, SpaceX bantu capaian akses internet', Malaysia Institute of Economic Research (MIER) News Portal, 18 July 2023 'MyEG, UM to include AI technology in collaborative research with China' The Star, 14 Jun 2023 'Watch what Dr Saaidal and Dr Kamarul of University Malaya have to say about 5G technology and how it will change our lives! #5GMalaysia', Richard Ker Tik Tok channel (Digital Media and Technology Influencer), 29 December 2023

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DR. KUMAR A/L SELUAKUMARAN

Dr. Kumar is a seasoned medical lecturer with over 16 years of experience at the Department of Physiology, University Malaya. He holds a medical degree from Univerisity of Malaya and a PhD in auditory neuroscience from the University of Western Australia, where he was awarded the IPRS scholarship. As a dedicated educator, Dr. Kumar has taught physiology courses to medical students and mentored graduate students. He is also the principal investigator of an auditory research lab, focusing on innovative hearing screening methods. His research interests include audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, and auditory neuroscience. Dr. Kumar's work is driven by a commitment to improving the quality of life for individuals with hearing impairments. His research aims to develop affordable and accessible hearing screening methods to address the global burden of hearing loss.

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