Professor Dr. Mohd Rafie Bin Johan is an Award Winning Scientist and International Keynote Speaker. He is true example of how theoretical and fundamental research leads to remarkable progresses in the applied, engineering and industrial use of nano-designed advanced materials. Born in Melaka, in 1968, Professor Rafie graduated with a BSc(Hons) in Physics from University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 1993 and BEng in Chemical Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2023. He continued his studies at Institute for Advanced Studies, Universiti of Malaya, where he obtained his MPhil in Quantum Optics in 1997, moving then to Department of Physics, University of Malaya where he obtained his PhD in Theoretical Physics in 2005. From 1999 to 1991 he was also Head of Biomedical Engineering Program in Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. He later moved to Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya where from the year 2005 until 2009, as a senior lecturer and played the role of Coordinator for Materials Engineering Undergraduate Program. In 2010, he is promoted to Associate Professor to steer research in Nanomaterials Engineering. Then, in 2015, he is promoted to Professor of Materials Engineering. In 2016, he is transferred to Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), University of Malaya Centre of Excellence (UMCOE), an internationally well-recognized center with the mission to be the world leader in “nanotechnology and catalysis” coining sustainability resources and green technology. In 2017, he is appointed as a Director of NANOCAT. Prof. Rafie is well recognized internationally in the field of Nanotechnology. Testimony to this, he has been elected in Evaluation Panels for AET and ITR clusters and UPGP and for grants applications at UMRG, PRGS, FRGS, and Qatar Foundation. He also has been appointed as panel for Yang di Pertuan Agong Scholarship and COMSTECS for Islamic Organization Country for evaluation of best scientific papers for Muslim Scientist and Qatar Reseach Foundation. Prof Rafie also has been invited as a speaker to numerous talks and conferences and also Guest Editor for Symmetry (ISI journal) and editor for Asean Engineering Journal. In 2010, he was a visiting scientist at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Cambridge and at 2012, he was a visiting scholar at Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. The educational contribution of Prof. Rafie may be summarized in few numbers: 40 PhD completed (20 on-going), 30 Master completed (10 on going). These supervised students span over a quite broad scientific area going from science (chemistry, physics, material science, biology) to engineering (chemical, material). He had published more 350 ISI papers with H index 40 (WoS) and 44 Google scholar with 7791 citations. He had various research project (National, International (Jica) and Industry (Petronas, Hartalega and NanoMalaysia) with total amount more than RM 19 million. He is awarded Top Research Scientist Malaysia (TRSM) 2021 by Academy Sciences Malaysia and winner of Top in Tech Innovation Award (Most Impactful Academia-Industry Collaboration. He was awarded UM Excellence award for Best HICOE-UMCOE (2022) and elected as Fellow Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) 2023. He was promoted to Senior Professor (VK6) in 2023. Recently, he was elected as  Fellow Academy Science Malaysia in 2024.

Dr. Jamilah Syafawati Yaacob completed her B.Sc (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology & Biotechnology) from University of Melbourne, Australia in 2007, and her M.Sc (Crop Biotechnology) from University of Nottingham (Malaysia campus) in 2009. She received her PhD in Biotechnology from University of Malaya in 2013 and was one of the recipients of the University of Malaya Excellence Awards in 2014 for completing her PhD in less than 4 years. In 2010, during her PhD candidature, she had also won a Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Biosciences & Biotechnology during University of Malaya Innovation and Creativity Expo. After successfully completing her PhD, she then joined the Institute of Biological Sciences at the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya as a Senior Lecturer. Since then, she has taught and coordinated various undergraduate courses such as Biology of Organisms, Genetic Engineering in Animals and Plants, Cell and Tissue Culture and Higher Plant Physiology. At the postgraduate level, she has also helped in teaching Research Methodology, a compulsory course upon entry into postgraduate studies at the department. Since her employment as an Academic, she has served the department and University in various administrative duties, such as the programme coordinator for Bachelor of Science with Education (ISB), BSc in Biotechnology, academic advisor, final year project coordinator and many more. Her current research interest is on manipulation of plant tissue culture system for biotechnological applications, with special emphasis on stress-induced plant secondary metabolites and proteins for medicinal applications and sustainable production of functional food colorants. Her present research works include projects on understanding and manipulating plant’s response towards abiotic stress for over-expression of valuable bioactive compounds, such as in Azadirachta indica (neem). The regulation of proteins involved in the biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites are analyzed through proteomics-based approach, to allow for a better understanding of the biosynthesis pathways that has been affected. In addition to that, she is also working on the epigenetics aspect of plant phenotypic plasticity, to understand the epigenetic regulation (with focus on histone modification) in DNA repair and somaclonal variation. In recognition of her work and scientific achievements, she has won several awards such as a Gold Medal at International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX) in 2013 and a Bronze Medal at Bioinnovation Awards/BioMalaysia & Bioeconomy Asia Pacific 2013. Other than that, she is also actively participating in the scientific community and the public by taking on various roles as a judge or jury in scientific competitions and innovation programs at national and secondary school levels. These include her role as a judge for Malaysian Agricultural Invention Show (MAgIS) competition organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in 2016, and judge for science videos and scientific poem recitation competitions organized by Ministry of Education in 2017-2018, among others. Professionally, she was also one of the representatives in the working group for pineapple planting material for preparation of Malaysian Standard (organized by SIRIM Malaysia) in 2018. Outside of work and research, she also loves to join various events that promote sustainability and green environment.

Dr. Noorhayati Idros holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons.) in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia, and an M.Sc. in Nanoelectronics from The University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Her M.Sc. research at Manchester focused on the fabrication of polymer-based thin-film transistors (OTFTs), examining the effects of elevated temperatures on OTFT performance and the active layer's morphology. Following her M.Sc., Dr. Idros joined the Centre for Photonic Devices and Sensors Group at Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering as a Ph.D. candidate. Her doctoral research centered on developing biochemical sensors to detect water contaminants, specifically targeting explosives like 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and heavy metals. This interdisciplinary work utilized aptamer/DNA and chemically functionalized nanophotonic crystal surfaces, integrating microfluidics paper-based devices, sensitive optical detection, and systematic colorimetric analysis in RGB-space via digital imaging and color calibration. Her sensors were designed for low-cost, portable applications. Dr. Idros is an alumnus of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge (UCAM), and was active in university sports, serving as netball team captain for the Cambridge University Malaysia Society and as a netball player for the Malaysian Students' Society of Manchester. Upon completing her Ph.D., Dr. Idros continued as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, where she developed fluorescence-based biochemical sensors for detecting heavy metals in water for Peruvian environmental projects. She also conducted environmental quality assessments in the Rio Cañete drainage basin, using Andean River Shrimp as a bioindicator species. This work involved DNA barcoding for species identification and dietary analysis of the shrimp. Dr. Idros also trained university staff and students in laboratory and field methods, presented her findings, and contributed to the PERU-UCAM staff and student exchange program. In addition to her academic accomplishments, Dr. Idros brings significant industry experience from her time as an engineer at Intel Microelectronics Sdn. Bhd., where she supported System Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) testing for Vista and XP PV milestones, executed CPU and platform test plans, and led Vista Debug installations for CPU Product Release Qualification (PRQ). She also contributed to the Mobile Internet Device (MID) project and gained expertise in Linux-based application porting, as well as electrical and electronics debugging. Currently, Dr. Idros is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Universiti Malaya and a Core Member of the Centre of Printable Electronics, specializing in the development of nanotechnology-based sensors for water quality and environmental monitoring.