Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Zulkifly Abdullah
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd Zulkifly bin Abdullah has his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Universiti Wales, Swansea, UK. He completed both his Masters degree and PhD from University of Strathclyde, UK. Dr. Zulkifly has published more than 260 research papers in reputed International Journals. He has supervised 38 Ph.D. students and 35 Masters in the area of Electronic Cooling, Porous Media and electronic packaging. He has several research grants and industry consultancy to his credit. He is also the Editor of several reputed journals in the field of electronic cooling and packaging. He has conducted more than 10 short-term courses in the field of electronic cooling. He had a brief stint as Production Superintendent, at Malaysian Sheet Glass and later he moved to USM as a lecturer and served in various capacities such as Deputy Dean (Academics), and Dean, School of Aerospace Engineering at USM. Currently, he is working as a Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, at USM.
Prof. Dr. Aidy Ali
National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM), Malaysia
Prof. Aidy Ali is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM). He obtained his Bachelor's degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1999 and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield in 2003, focusing on improving the fatigue life of aircraft components through surface engineering. He began his academic career at Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2006 and was rapidly promoted through the ranks to full Professor by 2012. His research expertise includes mechanical materials for defense applications, fatigue and fracture of materials, failure assessment and prevention, reliability engineering, and crash analysis. With a Scopus H-index of 23, 163 publications in ISI and Scopus-indexed journals, and 26 secured research grants, Prof. Aidy is a recognized leader in his field. He is also an active member of various professional societies, frequently invited to speak at international conferences, and serves on editorial boards of prestigious engineering journals, contributing to the global advancement of mechanical engineering and materials science.
Assoc. Prof. Akhil Garg
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China
Dr. Akhil Garg is an Associate Professor at the School of Chemistry and Materials Science at XJTLU, with prior experience at the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China. He has also taught a course on “Battery Failures” at the China-European Union Institute of Cleaner and Renewable Energy at HUST. Dr. Garg serves as an external advisory board member for the EU-funded BatCAT Project, focusing on batteries. He earned his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he collaborated with Rolls-Royce (UK) on Artificial Intelligence and Robust Design optimization from 2010 to 2012. His primary research interests include machine learning for battery synthesis, genetic programming, and AI-driven topology optimization for cleaner energy. Dr. Garg has been listed in the Stanford Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists List for the past two years. He presided over the Hubei NSFC (2023-2025) project on deep learning-driven topology optimization for battery cold plate design, the Guangdong Talent Project (2016-2019), and international academic projects with Queen Mary University of London (2022-2023) and St. Petersburg State University of Russia (2023-2024). With over 100 peer-reviewed articles published, Dr. Garg holds a Scopus H-index of 47.
Prof. Katsuyuki Kida
University of Toyama, Japan
Professor Katsuyuki Kida was born in 1968 in Osaka, where he studied mechanical engineering at Osaka University from 1988. Apart from course work, he studied rolling contact fatigue (RCF) occurring in TiC and TiN coated steels using both X-ray diffraction and scanning acoustic microscopy. After graduation he pursued his academic career and obtained a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics in 2000, investigating RCF problems of all-Si3N4 bearings. By observing cracking and flaking failure under RCF, he succeeded in explaining the material`s features from the viewpoint of fracture mechanics. From 2000 he focused his work on investigating the contact problems of several materials used in machine elements. He has also continued fundamental research on contact problems, for which he received ‘The Best Paper Prize (FFEMS PRIZE)’ from ‘Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures’ journal in 2005. The awarded papers reported establishing a crack growth mechanism under contact pressure, a problem previously unsolved for over 70 years since S. Way’s proposed theory. His research interests now include the development of three dimensional scanning Hall-probe microscope technologies, fatigue phenomena in polymer bearing, crack growth mechanism under contact stresses and refinement of high-carbon steels.
Assoc. Prof. Ahmad Zhafran Ahmad Mazlan
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Speech Title: Development and Characterization of Oil Palm Fiber Micro-Perforated Panels for Noise Control Applications
Urban areas are increasingly affected by noise pollution due to rapid transportation, industrialization, and urban development. Addressing this issue, micro-perforated panels (MPP) offer a promising approach for effective sound absorption. This study investigates the acoustic performance of MPPs made from oil palm fiber, focusing on the influence of perforation size on the sound absorption coefficient (SAC). Oil palm fiber panels were fabricated and perforated using a CNC machine with 1 mm holes. The acoustic properties were tested using an impedance tube, and results were compared with non-MPP panels. The findings revealed that MPP structures significantly enhance sound absorption compared to non-perforated panels. Simulations based on Maa's theoretical model were conducted using MATLAB to assess SAC across different thicknesses and perforation sizes. Results showed that increasing both parameters leads to higher SAC peak values and shifts the peak to higher frequencies, though with reduced bandwidth. These outcomes highlight the potential of MPPs in improving the sound absorption efficiency of oil palm fiber, particularly within targeted frequency ranges. The study concludes that by adjusting perforation size and panel thickness, oil palm-based MPPs can be effectively used in commercial acoustic applications.
Assoc. Prof. Tze Chuen Yap
Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, Malaysia
Speech Title: Enhancing properties of material extrusion-based (MEX-TRB/P) 3D printed parts
Ir. Dr. Yap Tze Chuen is an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Chartered Engineer with Engineering Council U.K. (ECUK), member of IMechE since 2013, professional engineer with Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM), and member of IEM (MIEM). He is a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK (SFHEA). He is also a Certified Trainer by PSMB (HRDF).
His research interests are in dry friction and wear, cryogenic tribology, additive manufacturing, and non conventional manufacturing. Currently he is working on enhancement of additive manufactured partsCreate
Prof. Weidong Zhu
University of Maryland, USA
Speech Title: Continuously Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry for Vibration Measurement: Principles, Recent Developments, and Applications
Weidong Zhu is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the founding director of its Dynamic Systems and Vibrations Laboratory and Laser Vibrometry and Optical Measurement Laboratory. He received his double major BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computational Science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1986, and his MS and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University and the University of California at Berkeley in 1988 and 1994, respectively. He is a recipient of the 2004 National Science Foundation CAREER Award. He has been an ASME Fellow since 2010, and has served as an Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics and the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, and as a Subject Editor of the Journal of Sound and Vibration and Nonlinear Dynamics. His research spans the fields of dynamics, vibration, control, structural health monitoring, renewable energy, metamaterials, and involves analytical development, numerical simulation, experimental validation, and industrial application. He has published 374 refereed journal papers in these areas and has 12 issued U.S. patents. He is a recipient of the 2020 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and the 2024 ASME Rayleigh Lecture Award.