Ong Zhi Chao, received both his Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering (2007) and Master of Engineering Science degree in vibration and rotor dynamics (2010) from University of Malaya, Malaysia with distinction. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in University of Malaya in March, 2013. His expertise includes vibration, modal analysis, rotor dynamics, virtual instrumentation and signal processing, fault diagnostics, energy harvesting, Artificial Intelligence, computational mechanics. He is active in research and developed a new vibration testing technique named as Impact-Synchronous Modal Analysis (ISMA) which has been implemented in teaching, research and real industrial cases. Dr. Ong has been involved in numerous industrial projects on machinery vibration at both on-shore and off-shore petrochemical and oil and gas processing plants in Malaysia since 2008. He is appointed as Technical Consultant by several local companies to provide comprehensive range of advanced machinery diagnostic consultancy, project planning and management to ensure safe and smooth project implementation. He also has experiences in conducting machinery vibration training courses for engineers and technicians from oil and gas industry. He is a certified trainer/ assessor for Vibration Practitioner/ Specialist Certification Program based on ISO18436 by Institute of Materials, Malaysia (IMM). Dr. Ong was appointed as visiting research fellow of Faculty of Science and Technology at Bournemouth University in 2014 for the tenure of 3 years. He is also a Chartered Engineer of Engineering Council, UK under the membership of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, UK since 2014. He became the corporate member of Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) and has successfully registered as Professional Engineer (P.Eng) with Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) in 2016. He is an active committee member of Institute of Materials, Malaysia (IMM) Vibration Committee and Young Professionals Committee since 2015, and had partake as a speaker to share his experience in vibrations in several seminars and conferences organized by the committees. Dr. Ong is currently serving as visiting research professor of Faculty of Science and Technology at Bournemouth University, UK until 2023. In 2021, he registered as ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer (ACPE) under Chartered Professional Engineer Coordinating Committee (ACPECC).

Dr. Nur Hairani Abd Rahman has been a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Administration at Universiti Malaya since 2017. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Universiti Sains Malaysia, a Master of Public Administration from Universiti Malaya, and a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Dr. Nur Hairani is highly regarded for her expertise in social policy, with particular focus on social care, governance, social inclusion and exclusion, inequality, and well-being. Beyond her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Nur Hairani plays an integral role in academic leadership. She currently serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Public Administration and Governance and sits on the Editorial Board of the Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. Her membership in the Social Policy Association in the United Kingdom further amplifies her influence on an international level. In addition to her academic contributions, Dr. Nur Hairani is actively engaged in administrative roles, including coordinating both the Outbound Mobility Program and the Master of Public Administration Program. She is also a member of various faculty and university committees, where she contributes to policy development and strategic planning. Nationally, Dr. Nur Hairani serves as a Field Expert for the Malaysian Research and Development Classification System (MRDCS) under the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI). She has also been involved in consultancy projects aimed at poverty eradication, funded by Malaysia’s Economic Planning Unit. Her international experience includes serving as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Messina in Sicily, Italy. In 2023, she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, allowing her to join the University of California, Berkeley, as a Visiting Scholar. Dr. Nur Hairani’s dedication to her field has earned her numerous accolades, including the Excellent Service Award (2022) and the Certificate of Excellent Service (2021) from Universiti Malaya. She was also recognized with the Best Presenter Award at the Asian Universities Alliance & Universitas Indonesia (2021). Her research has been published in high-impact journals indexed in Web of Science and Scopus, including Public Policy and Administration and Ageing International. For more information on Dr. Nur Hairani Abd Rahman’s work, please visit her profile at UM Expert, or reach out to her directly at nurhairani@um.edu.my.

Dr Yap joined academic life as a senior lecturer in Faculty Languages and Linguistics at the Universiti Malaya in 2016. She was a Programme coordinator of the Chinese Programme at the Department of Malaysian Languages and Applied Linguistics (2017-2018). She completed her Doctoral programme (Applied Linguistics) at the Minzu University of China, Beijing; her Masters of Modern Languages and Linguistics; BA (Chinese Language Studies) and Dip. Education (Chinese Pedagogy) at the Universiti Malaya. Her main research interests are Global Chinese in general, Teaching Chinese as a Second language (CSL) in particular, attitudes, motivations and identities towards and among CSL learners, and the implications of the spread of the Chinese Language. Her teaching interests are broadly within Global Chinese, such as Chinese Specific Purpose (CSP) in Mass Media, Chinese Text Analysis, Chinese Research Methodology and Chinese Language Structure. She is appointed chairperson by the Educational Resources and Technology Division of the Malaysian Ministry of Education for the revision of the Secondary School Standard Curriculum Textbook(since 2019 till now).  She especially welcomes proposals for PhD or Master research projects on any aspect of Global Chinese, areas of particular interest include Chinese as a Second language (CSL), Language ideological debates relating to Global Chinese, Intelligibility issues relating to the spread of Chinese Language, Attitudes and Motivation towards CSL, Chinese language Teaching in higher education contexts around the world, Chinese Specific Purpose (CSP) in Mass media, and Chinese language structure-Chinese syntax, especially Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG).