Dr. Mohammed H. Alaqad is an Assistant Professor of Translation & Interpreting Studies at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya. He has more than 15 years of academic and research experience. His main areas of research interest include translation studies and conference interpreting, forensic linguistics, artificial intelligence (AI), and socio-ideological aspects of the Arabic language. He is also the founder and CEO of the Asian Federation of Translators and Interpreters, Malaysia, where he contributes to advancing professional standards and fostering regional collaboration in the language services industry. Previously, he served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Hashim Sani Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Malaya. From February 2019 to January 2024, Dr. Alaqad was an Assistant Professor at Management & Science University (MSU), where he led both the diploma and bachelor programs in translation and interpreting. During his tenure, he made significant contributions to establishing and shaping the university’s translation programs. He also served as an Associate Professor of translation and interpreting in the English Language Department at the Faculty of Humanities, Israa University, Gaza, Palestine, from 20 September 2023 to 31 December 2023. Dr. Alaqad has held several academic appointments at the University of Malaya, including: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Hashim Sani Centre for Palestine Studies (July 2024 - August 2025) Universiti Malaya Elite Fellow, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics (December 2024 – December 2025) Visiting Lecturer, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics (February 2023 – February 2024) Lecturer (English & Arabic subjects), Center for Continuing Education (July 2017 – July 2018) Research Assistant, Asia-Europe Institute / The Centre for ASEAN Regionalism Universiti Malaya (CARUM)/ Humanities Research Cluster, IPPP (February 2013 – July 2017) He has been invited as a keynote/guest speaker at more than 40 international conferences and academic events, contributing to global discussions on language, translation, education, and artificial intelligence (AI). He is also a seasoned conference interpreter, having participated in over 150 conferences and events; this experience informs his academic work and deepens his understanding of the practical challenges and complex scenarios in interpretation and communication. His scholarly contributions include numerous peer-reviewed research articles, books, and book chapters. In addition to his research, Dr. Alaqad is the managing editor of The International Journal of Palestine Studies, UM. He also serves on the editorial boards of Cambridge Scholars of Language & Linguistics (UK), the International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (IJALT) (USA), and the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (a Scopus-indexed Routledge journal) from 2022 to 2025. He is also an editorial board member of The Southeastern Philippines Journal of Research and Development (a Scopus-indexed Q2 journal) in the Philippines from 2022 to 2027.   

Dr. Hanee Farzana is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Malaya since 2016. Dr. Hanee first join UM in 2012 as an Academic Fellow. Prior to that, she worked as a Safety and Risk Engineer with ExxonMobil Malaysia from 2009 to 2011. She resigned to pursue her studies and a career in academia. Her primary research interests are design and development of novel solvents (e.g., ionic liquid and deep eutectic solvents) for various applications in chemical processes, particularly in the separation of fluid mixtures (liquid-liquid and gas-liquid mixtures), with a special interest on separation and recovery of precious metals, critical minerals and rare earh elements, and in CO2 capture and utilization. Dr. Hanee is also passionate about engineering education and Outcome-Based Education (OBE) implementation. She was the Programme Coordinator for the Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree program from 2019 to 2021 and was in charge of coordinating accreditation matters related to the program. She is currently the Head of Department for Chemical Engineering until 2027.

Professor Dr. Raja Jasmin is a consultant rheumatologist and the Head of Rheumatology at Universiti Malaya and University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Her areas of expertise include scleroderma, lupus, connective tissue diseases and autoimmune related arthritis. She obtained her advanced subspecialty training in Rheumatology at the Royal Free Hospital, University College of London (UCL), focusing on scleroderma. Her research work in various field of rheumatology was presented in international conferences and published in ISI-indexed peer reviewed journals. Dr Raja Jasmin is also actively involved as principal investigator in rheumatology clinical trials. She is a committee member of Malaysian Society of Rheumatology (MSR) and she has various appointed positions in the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) including scientific committee member, co-convenor and steering committee of scleroderma special interest group. She is the founder of Arthritis PPUM Care Fund in UMMC. She is also actively involved as a coordinator of University Malaya Medical Programme (UMMP) curriculum at University Malaya