Category: 2024 Speaker

Norahim Bin Ibrahim holds a B.Eng. in Applied Chemistry (2001) from Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan under the Look East Policy Scholarship funded by the Public Service Department (JPA). Since 2007, he has been working as a tutor in the Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, UTM. In 2008, he completed a Masters in Chemistry at University of Bath, UK, with a scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education and obtained his PhD from the same institution in 2012. He then served the Department of Student Affairs and Alumni,UTM for 8 years as a Residential College Principal where he dedicated his time and expertise to student development and welfare. Since his return, he has been involved in promoting sustainable agricultural practices and raising awareness about organic waste management across the country. His community service projects have earned him recognition both nationally and internationally. He currently collaborates with local and international companies and organizations in research on organic agriculture. His research interests include water treatment and applied biology in agriculture.

Currently, the President and Vice-Chancellor of UCSI University, Malaysia following appointment on October 1, 2021. A former civil servant with over 34 years in the Government; held various portfolios under six different ministers, most notably in higher education and science, technology and innovation.

Prior to retirement from the civil service in September 2021, played an instrumental role in overseeing the coordination of the National Immunization Programme (PICK) as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), which was mandated to implement PICK in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH). The national vaccination programme exceeded expectations by inoculating at least 80% of the adult population in Malaysia by September 2021. Initially expected to retire in March 2021 but service was extended by six months to
lead MOSTI in rolling out PICK.

In 2019, was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) to lead the policy development and strategic management in science, technology and innovation as well as the environment and climate change.

Served as the Director-General of the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) from 2017 to 2019. Responsible for the implementation of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015 – 2025 – the Integrated Cumulative Grade Point Average (iCGPA), the CEO@Faculty programme and the 2u2i programme as the key initiatives. Introduced Malaysian Quality Evaluation System for Private Colleges, also known as the MyQuest rating system, to evaluate and subsequently improve the performance of private higher education institutions of college status in Malaysia. Prior to that, served as the Deputy
Director-General for both public and private universities at MOHE from 2009 to 2017. The policy enhancement of private higher education was captured in two books namely; ‘The Way Forward of PHEI’ and “Framing Malaysian Higher Education 4.0: Future Proofing Talents’ and quality of PHEIs”. Was also responsible for the governance and regulatory of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in Malaysia.

Worked briefly as a Civil Engineer in the Public Works Department, Malaysia and Bethel & Duncan Associate, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA.

Started career as a lecturer at University Technology Malaysia (UTM) in 1987 and then as a Dean of Pusat Pengajian Diploma. Subsequently Deputy-Vice Chancellor in charge of academic matters and internalization at UTM.
A registered professional engineer with the Board of Engineers, a Fellow member of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia and a Professional Technologist of the Malaysia Board of Technologists. President of the Malaysia Board of Technologists since 2021 and a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia since September 2022. Completed Advanced Management Program at Harvard University, Boston, USA in 2014.

Upon retirement from full time civil service, was appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer of UCSI Group and Vice- Chancellor of UCSI University in October 2021. Mainly oversees the strategic agenda of the education, technology, hotels and travel segments as well as monitoring the performance and fiduciary duties of the UCSI Group and its group of companies. In May 2022, was appointed as the Chairman of the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force established by the Ministry of Health Malaysia to cover aspects of work culture as well as human resources
management of healthcare personnel. The task force has ended in August 2022. In 2022, was appointed as the one of the committee members of Merdeka Award Nomination Committee for Education and Community Category.

On board of several public listed companies; the Chairperson of Independent Board of Director of Oppstar Berhad, on board of Sime Darby Bhd., Institute Intergriti Malaysia and Malayan Cement Berhad. Was the Chairperson of Independent Board of Director of KitaCon Berhad till June 2024.

Mohd Fadhil is a passionate person in New Academia, especially to inculcate the essential knowledge of the environment among engineering students and later become responsible engineers who practice sustainable development and help preserve the natural environment for Planetary Health. He adored the terms name as Public and Private Merits. His greatest satisfaction is a mutual contribution to the community and society (Public Merit) as the top outcome in the New Academia with sustainability-related highlights. Since 2005, he involved with various practical exercises, including the sustainable concept of civil works, environmental management program, living laboratory for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “circular economy” activity, disaster management in sustaining climate & resilience adaptation and policy-to-action works. Until now, he published more than 200 indexed papers, 300 conferences proceedings, 15 Book Chapters, 4 Edited Books, 30 articles in newspaper and many other platforms. His sustainable work covers a widest aspect particularly management in environmental sciences and application, and environmental management system (EMS), environmental impact assessment (EIA), risk management and, sustainable and consumption projects. The subject focuses on the current development of environmental engineering aspects, such as membrane technology, sludge treatment, recovery and reuse water, and innovative decision making in sustainable environment.

Apart targeted for Public and Private Merits, the most of his R&D initiative is to inculcate the motivation of translational project within organization, as similar to the knowledge transfer. Since 2010, he has involved with several community knowledge-transfers (CSR and USR), including water and marine rehabilitation program, planting trees for National Restoration Plan and, energy and climate change awareness programme. Also, been invited for the society and community contribution, named Local Agenda 21, River of Life (RoL). This is a continuous program for volunteerism, public awareness/participation and technical assistant under the special engagement with various stakeholders. Furthermore, his core research and academic expertise are as follows:

1. Water and Wastewater Management and Engineering Study
2. Sustainability and Engineering Practices
3. Municipal and Industrial Quality Effluent
4. Biochemistry and Biotechnology Engineering
5. Environmental Management System and Environmental Assessment
6. ESG for Sustainability Policy and Reporting
7. Artificial Intelligent (AI) Principles for Sustainability Framework

Mohd Fadhil is now serving Sustainable Action Plan and Youth Sustainable Program as the pre-requisite administration and management in promoting the sustainable activity within the stakeholders. The targeted scope is to create a platform together with the youth in order to produce a leader/champion with green and sustainable mindset in the near future.  Mostly, the energy and climate change is the major concern the contributions from data collection and promoting the green index within organization. Furthermore, he has been selected as educational taskforce for the professional body and this will enforce more “bridges” among stakeholders. Many issues have involves different stakeholder level, including the impacted community and institution. The science diplomat action is a key factor in his recent roles as at country level and the practices among Malaysia leader-to be, associated with mission to transform the national agenda. Ideally, the combination of science-to-action and engagement with regional/international platform may enhance the current issues and future challenges. There are many possibilities to inculcate the revision works especially to be together in the aspect of responsibility to bring the SDGs in the multi-various sectors and level of institutions within the region. Contribution from the research and innovation may serve diplomacy and volunteerism spirit among the leaders. Transformation of urban life, biodiversity of nature, awareness on economic reputation and global health among the ASEAN countries will be the major factor among the ambassador of science-to-action. International science diplomacy could be the advocacy for the government plan/action towards the actual roles and responsibility. He had been invited to participate the “Technical Working Group” among the stakeholders across the ministry level to share ideas and knowledge on environment and sustainability action to the country. The part of action, triple helix contribution and collaboration among academia, industry and community is a must for any research and innovation involvements. Therefore, science diplomacy practices among country and ASEAN platform may create the balance of future planning and monitoring across the level of stakeholders. The spirit between scientist and engineer is always being manipulated in a wrong perspective. In the new era, both parties have to communicate in the “common language” to explore the potential of Policy-to-Action.

Dr Ain Naadia Mazlan is a senior lecturer from the Faculty of Civil Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Dr Naadia specialises in risk management and value engineering. Since her appointment in 2018, she has been the project leader for four grants, including two national and university grants. In addition, she is an associate fellow for the Construction Research Centre, Institute for Smart Infrastructure and Innovative Construction, and a former residential fellow at Kolej Rahman Putra College.

She has published twenty-four articles with twelve indexed papers in SCOPUS and the Web of Science Indexed publications. Dr Naadia Mazlan currently supervises six PhD students. She co-owns a micro-credential course and is a consulting expert in the field of construction management.

She was previously one of the Faculty of Engineering External and Global Engagement coordinators responsible for the School of Civil Engineering internationalisation agenda. Since October 2022, she has been appointed as the manager for international alliances, accountable for twenty-three UTM alliances, including ERASMUS, WTUN, ASAIHL, and GE4. Her office is responsible for any strategic alliance agenda that include promotion, updates, and news.

Dr. Zainul Akmar Zakaria is an Associate Professor of Environmental Technology under the Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) where he works on waste treatment and resource recovery. He has a Scopus H-index of 22 and has published 2 Research Books and 9 Edited Books with one of his research books awarded the “National Book Award 2018” under the biochemistry category. Dr. Zainul is currently the Associate Editor for the Environmental Quality Management journal under Wiley Publishers, USA. He has been involved as Project Leader in various research projects with cumulative amounts of RM1.9million. He also has had the opportunity to serve as Visiting Scientist to Argentina, Mexico, Indonesia and India as well as being the Program Head for the UTM-CONICET, Argentina R&D Program (2015-2018).

Dr. Nur Azaliah Abu Bakar is a transformative leader in academia, IT practice, research, and consultation, with 24 years of expertise. As an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence and Associate Director of UTM International at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, she drives digital transformation, enterprise architecture, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. With a Ph.D. in Information Systems, Dr. Nur Azaliah has pioneered the “Enterprise Architecture Implementation Assessment Model” for the Malaysian Public Sector. She leads large-scale initiatives as a Lead Enterprise Architect, crafting transformative roadmaps for cyber technology, devising AI strategies, and engineering digitalization frameworks. Her collaborative spirit extends globally, fostering partnerships between academia and industry. Dr. Nur Azaliah’s work is driven by a commitment to innovation, shaping the future of research, industry collaboration, artificial intelligence, and international academic excellence.

Dr. Nurul Hazrina Idris is an Associate Professor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in the Geoinformation Department of Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying (FABU) since 2005. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia in 2014. Currectly, she is the Assistant Dean of External and Global Engagement of FABU, and  a Fellow member of the Geoscience and Digital Earth Centre, UTM. 

She was a proud recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Malaysian Scholar 2022/2023 holding a 3-month research program at the Ohio State University, United States. In 2017, she received the Australian Awards (Endeavour Research Fellowship) from the Australian Government holding a 6-months fellowship program at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

She has published 30 peer-reviewed papers with a cumulative impact factor of more than 10, 10 chapters in research books, and four edited research books in various national and international outlets. In support of her research, she garnered RM2 million through 29 international, national, and institutional grants. She recently published an edited book ‘Coastal Altimetry Selected Case Studies from Asian Shelf Seas’ with Elsevier Publishing.

Her research interests primarily involve marine remote sensing with foci on 1) coastal altimetry, 2) sea-level rise and climate change and 3) artificial intelligence and expert systems in Remote Sensing. International institutions recognize her expertise by supervising international research internships and visiting researchers inbound to UTM. 

Other noteworthy accomplishments include an appointment as the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee of 15th Pan Ocean Remote Sensing Conference and Tutorial Capacity Building in Malaysia (2020/2021); the Chair of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Ocean Remote Sensing towards Climate Resilience (2021); she was elected to be an Exco Member of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Malaysia Chapter.

Engobo Emeseh is a Professor of Law, with extensive experience in higher education spanning over 28 years within and outside the UK. In 2017, she was appointed as the Head of the School of Law, University of Bradford, and since April 2024 has been the Interim Dean of the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences.

Engobo’s research expertise is broadly in environmental law and policy, particularly within the context of the regulation and governance of the extractives industry in Africa. She has worked on these issues with distinguished international organisations such as UNECA IDEP, Oxfam Mozambique, the African Capacity Building Foundation, and the African Community of Practice on Managing for Development Results (Governance and Social Responsibility in Natural Resources Exploitation). She recently completed a four year-long project as a member of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission, which published its report in May 2023: An Environmental Genocide: The Human and Environmental cost of Big Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria. She holds various editorial board membership of academic journals, including being the founding Managing Editor of the Nigeria Yearbook of international Law (Springer).

Engobo obtained her PhD from the Centre for Energy Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee. She graduated with first class from the Nigeria Law School and Distinction from the University of Wales Cardiff. She is a former British Council Chevening Scholar, and a Ford Foundation (IFP) doctoral fellow. Prior to her academic career, she practiced as a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria.

Dr. Supattarayan Thongjit is the Vice Dean, Director of the Advance Dental Assistance Program, Institute of Dentistry, Suranaree University of Technology.

Supattarayan worked in a government hospital in 2006, starting as a dental public health officer. Supattarayan performed duties to the best of his ability, helping people to promote, prevent, treat, and restore health in the area without expecting anything in return. Supattarayan always tried to study and seek knowledge until graduated with the highest level of education, which is a Doctor of Philosophy in Community Health Development, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University.

Dr. Supattarayan continues to attend various training courses that can be used to help in studies and research to find new knowledge in solving health problems in the community until Supattarayan has the opportunity to work with Suranaree University of Technology in the Institute of Dentistry as a lecturer.

Currently, Dr. Supattarayan is the Vice Dean and Director of the High Dental Assistance Program and is still interested in research along with teaching with people in the community to explain the phenomenon of solving health problems continuously so that it can be applied to solve problems and monitor health, especially dental health, Supattarayan thinks will be able to help people and create innovations from the research process in the future.

Dr. Qun Shao is an Associate Professor and Deputy Director of Open Innovation in the School of Management at the University of Bradford. He is actively involved in managing entrepreneurship programmes for students, graduate entrepreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs in our local community. He is also co-founder of both the Bradford UK-China Healthtech Open Innovation programme and the RCUK (Research Council UK) China Science Bridges programme. Qun has many years of knowledge transfer experience in both academic and industrial organisations across China and UK. During his role as China Programme Manager the University of Bradford was awarded a UK first-ranked RCUK Science Bridges programme (£1.3m). Qun has built strong networks with Chinese academia, industry and government and has led programmes and co-facilitated workshops that have created over 40 funded collaborations and joint venture companies between UK SMEs and academics, and counterparts in China. Qun is also a co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Crystec Ltd, a spin-out of the University of Bradford, focused on pharmaceutical particle design and crystal engineering. He has overall responsibility for coordinating international research, supply chain and manufacturing operations. Qun holds a PhD in the field of knowledge engineering and artificial intelligence applied to pharmaceutical manufacturing, and has a multi-disciplinary educational background covering science, engineering and information technology. His research expertise relates to application of knowledge engineering and artificial intelligence to pharmaceutical formulations and Traditional Chinese Medicine modernisation. Qun is a PhD supervisor at the University of Bradford, and collaborates with the Shanghai Institute of Material Medica (Chinese Academy of Science) and China’s leading Tsinghua University. He has published over 30 scientific articles in major international journals and has received a number of research grants/awards. Prior to moving to the UK, Qun worked in a national chemical research institute in China. Qun is fluent in English, with Mandarin as his native language.