ASSOCIATE PROF. IR. DR. ONN CHIU CHUEN

Ir. Dr. Onn Chiu Chuen is an associate professor and researcher at the Department of Civil Engineering Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya. He holds a BSc. in Engineering (Environment), MSc and PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Malaya.  Dr Onn is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) and a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council United Kingdom. In line with his academic background, Onn’s research interest is quite wide-ranging under Environmental Engineering. However, his main interests are Life Cycle Assessment, eco profile and environmental (carbon, water, etc) footprints and impacts measurement, particularly within the context of products/building materials (waste incorporation), waste (WTE, biogas), energy (biofuels) and transportation (energy, modelling). Additionally, Onn is deeply involved in studying carbonation processes, which are crucial for carbon sequestration and reducing carbon footprints. His work in LCA extends to evaluating the entire lifecycle of products and processes, identifying opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and enhance sustainability. He is also involved with a few consultation projects with Unilever Foods (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Daiki Axis Co. Ltd., Uber Malaysia, Malaysia Green Technology Corporation, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad, Panasonic R & D Singapore, TNBR and Jabatan Audit Negara.   He is actively working and collaborating with SIRIM’s Environmental Technology Research Centre in developing the Malaysian Life Cycle Inventory Database (MYLCID). He is also being appointed as the technical expert for the development of Malaysia Climate Action Simulator for sub-sectors of transportation under Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Center due to his involvement in the development of Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint, 2021-2030 for the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA).  

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PROF. DR. ROSNAH BINTI MOHD ZAIN

Rosnah Zain has served as an academician for more than 30 years. She has been involved in managing the dental faculty at the University of Malaya in the capacity of the Head of Department, the Deputy Dean (Undergraduate/Postgraduate/Research) and Dean (2010-2014)  for the last 25 years. Her role in these positions involved managing curriculum and its development, the dental services centre (including human resource infrastructure and dental patients’ general issues). In the research setting, she strongly believes in collective efforts so as to gather a wider scope of ideas yet benefiting the others as well. Through this believe she had embarked on numerous projects with numerous co-researchers within the country and from countries of the region. One of her major research endeavors is a collaborative research project with colleagues from the Oral Health Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia and Aichi-Gakuin University, Nagoya, Japan in 1993/1994. This nationwide project on the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions produced the first population-based prevalence data on oral cancer and precancer in the Malaysia. This study emphasizes her leadership and organizational skill where despite fund limitations, with national and international support, she was able to successfully manage and organize human resource infrastructure and logistics towards the successful completion of the project.Throughout the organization of these researches and in collaboration with Japanese, Swedish and German colleagues, she has developed calibration and training packages/programmes and booklets. These packages/programmes are aimed at tackling methodologic issues such that data on oral mucosal lesions will be standardized for meaningful global comparison. This training programme (DentalDetect) is currently being used widely in Malaysia and also in Cambodia. Another of her major research endeavor is the development of the Malaysian Oral Cancer Database and Tumour Bank System [a ‘Top-down Intensified Research in Priority Areas (IRPA), the 8th Malaysia Plan (RMK-80 project] in 2003, a biobanking intiative linking data and tissue providers, researchers of different disciplines from different parts of the country. With such a system, research on oral cancer in Malaysia shifted from individual/group research to the ‘team science’ approach being a collaborative effort from different institutions. As a follow-up to this, her effort was recognized by the University administration where a University of Malaya Research Centre was officially recognized and supported by the University Management with the formation of the Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre at the University of Malaya (OCRCC-UM) in 2005, which she served as the Director/Head until December 2015. She is currently designated as the Founding Director and Advisor to OCRCC-UM. Her other experiences entails being involved as the Chair of the Document Preparation for Assessments in preparation for the University of Malaya Self-Audit for Programme Accreditation; being Member and Chairman for the Accreditation of Dental Programme for the MQA; Committee Member for the evaluation and monitoring of the the Higher Education Centre of Excellence (HiCOE) of the Ministry of Education; Evaluation Panel for the Malaysian Ministry of Education Research Grant; and a member of the Professional Qualifying Examination for Dentistry. Rosnah Zain has published more than 100 research and consensus papers. Her research expertise and experience lead her to receive the ‘Top Research Scientists Award 2014’(TRSM 2014) and more recently in 2016, she has been inducted as the ‘Distinguished Fellow for Asia, International College of Dentists (FICD)’.  

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ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. HELENA BINTI MUHAMAD VARKKEY

Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor of Political Ecology at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include transboundary haze governance in Southeast Asia and global palm oil politics. Her monograph on “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Politics” was published by Routledge in 2016. Her latest book is a collection of essays on the politics of haze and the environment in Southeast Asia called “The Forests for the Palms” published by ISEAS Singapore in 2021. Dr Helena has almost two decades of experience in qualitative research, including conducting fieldwork, interviews, and focus groups among various government and non-government stakeholders, and has built up extensive research networks in countries across ASEAN. She has edited and produced reports for the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, UNICEF, and the ASEAN Secretariat.

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