Ridha is the Director at Centre for Research in Industry (CRI) 4.0 and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. He obtained a Doctor of Engineering from Utsunomiya University, Japan in 2015, specialising in magnetic abrasive finishing for superfinishing of tube internal surfaces for clean-environment applications. Before his doctoral study, he worked at Mazak Corporation as a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, focusing on CNC prototype machine design and evaluation for mass production and customisation. He was involved in the design and development of several CNC machines, including Mazak's Quick Turn Nexus series, and he had performed more than 100 variations of cutting parameters to confirm the machine`s limits and capabilities. Currently, he is collaborating with the Joining and Welding Research Institute (JWRI), The University of Osaka Japan, to develop a friction stir welding process in semiconductor and aerospace applications. The project explores the possibilities of joining similar and dissimilar materials, such as aluminium/magnesium, aluminium/steel, magnesium/steel, and aluminium/copper for various fundamental and applied joining. He was awarded the Distinguished International Associate from the Royal Academy of Engineering UK in 2023 for his project on friction stir welding. He actively applies for research grants, and to date, he has secured more than 40 projects from domestic and international funders. He has supervised 8 doctoral and 8 master's students, and is currently supervising 15 PhD and 3 master's candidates.