MR. ZAINAL AZLAN MOHD NADZIR

DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION / MINISTER EMBASSY OF MALAYSIA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA

Mr. Zainal Azlan Mohd Nadzir was born in Batu Gajah, Perak on 8 May 1976. He received his early education at King Edward VII School in Taiping, Perak, before continuing his studies at the MARA Junior Science College (Maktab Rendah Sains MARA) in Balik Pulau, Penang. He later pursued his tertiary education at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Skudai, Johor, graduating with Bachelor of Science (Industrial Chemistry) with Honours in 1999, and subsequently obtained Master of Business Administration in 2002.

He also obtained Diploma in Public Administration from the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) in 2004. In 2006, he obtained Diploma in Diplomacy from the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) in 2006.

Mr. Zainal Azlan joined the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service (Perkhidmatan Tadbir dan Diplomatik) in January 2003 and has been at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ever since. Over the years, he has served at various divisions at the Ministry as well as at several Malaysian Diplomatic Missions abroad.

He began his diplomatic career as Assistant Secretary in the West Asia Division before being posted to the Embassy of Malaysia in Beirut, Lebanon, in July 2007, as Second Secretary, and later First Secretary. In May 2011, he was assigned to the Embassy of Malaysia in Berne, Switzerland, as Counsellor. Upon returning to Headquarters in January 2015, Mr. Zainal Azlan served as Principal Assistant Secretary at the OIC and Regional Cooperation Division. From September 2017, he served as the Consul-General of Malaysia in Mumbai, India, for five years.

In October 2022, he returned to Headquarters to assume the position of Undersecretary of the Policy and Strategic Planning Division. In August 2025, he was posted to Tokyo, Japan, as Minister/Deputy Chief of Mission. Throughout his service, he attended several courses both domestically and overseas, including the Advanced Security Cooperation Course at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2015. He was also honoured to receive the Ministry’s Excellent Service Award on several occasions, namely in 2010, 2014, and 2016.

Mr. Zainal Azlan has a keen interest in sports and previously represented his schools in football, hockey and tennis. In his free time, he enjoys playing sports, listening to music, and reading. Mr. Zainal Azlan is married to Ms. Fauziah binti Mohd Mokhtar, and they are blessed with a daughter.

YBRS. PROFESSOR ZAMRI RADZI

DEPUTY VICE CHANCELLOR (STUDENT AFFAIRS), UNIVERSITI MALAYA

Professor Dr Zamri Radzi is the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Previously, he was the Dean of the Dental Faculty and Chairman of the Malaysian Dental Deans' Council. He obtained his specialist degree in Orthodontics from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom and went on to pursue additional specialist qualifications from various institutions including the Membership in Orthodontics from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Membership in Orthodontics from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Membership of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Fellowship of the Faculty of Dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland as well as a Doctorate degree from the University of Oxford. Currently, he is the Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Currently, he is the Honorary Professor at Tashkent State Dental Institute (TSDI), leading dental institute in Central Asia.

Besides dentistry and materials science, he also has special interests in history, arts and literature where he was involved in poetry recitals and possess experience as a writer for daily newspapers. He was also involved in setting up the University of Malaya Dental Museum and Mobile Dental Clinic.

As a volunteer, he served as a Board Member of the Special Olympics Malaysia and has been actively working with numerous NGOs to promote breastfeeding in the country as well as oral health promotion among the aborigines. As an academician, he was responsible in designing the Orthodontic Specialist Programme at the University of Malaya. Alongside tutoring, he developed various educational tools to facilitate teaching and learning for both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees. Currently, he is the Examiner for the MOrth Part 2 and MJDF Part 2 examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He has also served as an external examiner for numerous national and international institutions for more than 50 PhD and Master candidates including candidates from the University of Otago and University of Khartoum.

As a dental professional, he is an appointed member of Malaysian Dental Council (MDC) and Treasurer of the South East Asia Association for Dental Education. He also serves as the Co-Chairman of Malaysian Dental Specialist Program Joint Technical Committee. Previously, he was a member of Malaysian Dental Specialist Evaluation Committee.

As an evaluator, he serves as a book and journal reviewer as well as a judge for various competitions. In addition, he also has served as an assessor for academic promotion exercise for Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. As a clinician, he is interested in multidisciplinary approach such as craniofacial and orthodontic treatment where he was responsible in the establishment of the University of Malaya Combined Cleft Palate Clinic; a one stop clinic dedicated for cleft lip and palate patients involving experts from various areas of specialization. He then continued to establish two other combined clinic namely Combined Ortho-Resto and Combined Ortho-Paedo Trauma Clinic which continues until today and has been very successful in treating multidisciplinary cases.

As a researcher, he has embarked on both fundamental and clinically applied research works. Among others are the developments of biopolymers, automated bone expanders, anisotropic self-inflating tissue expanders and temporary tooth assembly. He has numerous national and international collaborators and has secured more than RM 8 million research grants. He was the first user of the newest Target 2 ISIS Pulsed Neutron Scattering Station at STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; one of the world leading centres in Neutron and Muon instrumentation to study the dynamics and molecular structure of biopolymer.

As an innovator, he holds more than 6 patents under his name from US Patent Office and other IPOs. Additionally, he has won over 30 medals including gold medals at International Research Expositions in Nurnberg, Geneva, London and Pittsburgh. He was awarded 'GOLD MEDAL WITH MENTION' at the Belgian International Technological Innovation Competition in Brussels Belgium. Subsequently, he was appointed as a Permanent Scientific Advisory Panel to a spin off medical device company of Oxford University.

In 2005, he was awarded the ‘ANUGERAH SAINTIS CEMERLANG', Excellent Scientist Award by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. In 2016, he was awarded 'ANUGERAH PERKHIDMATAN SETIA 20 TAHUN' by the University of Malaya for his long service. In 2018, he was awarded the ‘UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA BEST ADMINISTRATOR AWARD’ (Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang- Pentadbir Terbaik) by the HRH Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah, Chancellor of the University of Malaya for his excellent administrative duties over the past few years

PRESIDENT KYOSUKE NAGATA

PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERITY OF TSUKUBA

President Kyosuke NAGATA earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo in 1981. He held research and academic positions at the National Institute of Genetics and the Tokyo Institute of Technology before joining University of Tsukuba as a Professor in 2001. He serves as President of University of Tsukuba since 2013 and Adviser of the Japan Association of National Universities since June 2025.

He has held several prominent positions, including Vice Chair of the Central Council for Education and Chair of the University Subcommittee at MEXT and President of the Japan Association of National Universities. His research specializes in Virology and Molecular Biology.

PROFESSOR YOSHIYUKI SANKAI

PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA, CEO of CYBERDYNE INC. & SIP PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CABINET OFFICE, GOV. of JAPAN

* Professor, University of Tsukuba, Japan
* Executive Research Director of Center for Cybernics Research, University of Tsukuba,Japan
* Director of F-MIRAI Center (established by TOYOTA), University of Tsukuba, Japan
* President and CEO of CYBERDYNE Inc.
* Program Director of SIP (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program), Cabinet Office, Government of Japan.

Yoshiyuki SANKAI earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from University of Tsukuba in Japan in 1987. He has progressed assistant professor, associate professor, and then professor at the Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba. Dr. Sankai was also a visiting professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas in the United States. Currently, he is a professor, the Executive Research Director at the Center for Cybernics Research and the Director at the F-MIRAI for the University of Tsukuba, the President and CEO of CYBERDYNE Inc., and a Program Director of SIP promoted by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan.

He successively held the position of Leader/PM for the FIRST program and ImPACT program, both initiated by the Japanese Cabinet Office, and the Business producer of the Program for Building Regional Innovation Ecosystem by MEXT. He also served as an Executive Board Member of Advanced Robotics, a member of Global Agenda Council on Robotics & Smart Devices, a Center Partner of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a member of the Global Future Council of Production, and a member of the Global Precision Medicine Council of the WEF. Now, he is a fellow of the Robotics Society of Japan (“RSJ”) and fellow of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (“SICE”). And he has also been appointed as an International Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (“IVA”) and an Honorary Member of the Southeast Europe Neurosurgical Society.

Main awards associated with Yoshiyuki SANKAI:

• The World Technology Award (the Grand Prize) (2005)
• The Good Design Award (the Gold Prize) (2006)
• The Japan Innovator Award (the Award of Excellence) (2006)
• The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (2007)
• The 21st Century Invention Award at the National Invention Awards, “Development of Cyborg-type Robot Technology” (2009)
• The NetExplorateurs at UNESCO Headquarters (2011)
• The Capek Award (2012)
• The Technology Pioneer at the World Economic Forum (2013)
• The DealWatch Awards 2013 (2014)
• The IPO of the Year at the Thomson Reuters (2014)
• The Edison Awards Gold Award (2014)
• The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award (2015)
• The DealWatch Awards 2014 (2015)
• The Innovative Equity Deal of the Year at the Thomson Reuters (2015)
• The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (2015)
• The Zaikai Business Leader of the Year Award (2015)
• The DIA Japan Outstanding Contribution to Health Award (2016)
• The Robot Award - Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare Award (2016)
• The Prime Ministers Award (the Nippon Venture Award) (2017)
• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award (the Technology Management and Innovation Award) (2019)
• The Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from Japanese Emperor (2019)
• The Intellectual Property Achievement Awards (the Minister of Economy Trade and Industry Awards) (2020)
• Honorary Member, Serbian Neurosurgical Society (2024)
• etc.

HIRMAN AWANG

DIRECTOR OF THE STUDENT AFFAIRS DIVISION AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION, MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Mr. Hirman Awang pursued his tertiary education at the University Malaya, majoring in Business Administration. He began his career in the private sector before joining the University Malaya in 2003 as an Assistant Registrar. and with over two decades of experience in higher education, he has developed strong expertise in student development, leadership, entrepreneurship, corporate communications. Among his notable achievements are the introduction of the student-led UM Campus Election in 2018 and the rebranding of the university's orientation program into the UM Week of Welcome (UM-WOW). Throughout his tenure, he has held several strategic leadership positions at the University Malaya, including Head of Corporate Communications and Head of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Value Creation & Enterprise). Currently, Mr. Hirman serves as Director of the Student Affairs Division at the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education. In this capacity, his strong commitment to student empowerment played a key role in shaping policies that culminated in the landmark amendment of AUKU 2024, further strengthening student representation and participation in higher education governance. In addition, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan Perkasa Siswa (YPS), a Trustee of Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa (YSS), and a Board Member of UNIMAP Holdings.

DR. YUKO UENO

GENERAL MANAGER, LEAVE A NEST CO. LTD

Yuko Ueno holds a Ph.D. in Science. During her doctoral studies, she explored the origins of life through research in extreme-environment biology. She joined Leave a Nest in 2013 and has since worked on discovering and supporting deep-tech startups in Southeast Asia, while also designing new business ventures for Japanese companies in collaboration with startups. After supporting overseas expansion for both Southeast Asian and Japanese companies, she was appointed General Manager of the Group Development Business Division in October 2021. She also serves as a director of six group-related companies, including Leave a Nest’s overseas subsidiaries and venture investment affiliates.

AFIFI SYAHFIZAL ABDULLAH

GENERAL SECRETARY MAJLIS PERUNDINGAN PELAJAR KEBANGSAAN (MPPK)

Afifi is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering (Honours) at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia. His academic interests include agricultural robotics, automation systems, control engineering, and smart farming technologies aligned with the Agriculture 4.0 framework. Outside of academics, he has been actively involved in student governance and leadership. He previously served as the Yang Dipertua of Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar (MPP) UTeM and as the Secretary-General of Majlis Perundingan Pelajar Kebangsaan (MPPK) for the 2024/2025 session. These roles strengthened his experience in leadership, policy discussion, stakeholder engagement, and managing large-scale student-led initiatives at both university and national levels.

MOMIJI YOSHIKAWA

PRESIDENT, ALL COLLEGES STUDENTS' REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL, UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA

Momiji Yoshikawa is a student leader at the University of Tsukuba currently serving as the President of the All Colleges Students’ Representative Council (ACSRC) for the 2025 academic year. In this role, she represents the student body and leads the council’s efforts to enhance student governance, campus life, and the academic and social environment. Previously, she served as Chairperson of the ACSRC International Committee in 2024, where she focused on fostering global engagement and strengthening connections between local and international students through various exchange initiatives.

ARIQAH SARAH ABDUL GHAFAR

GENERAL SECRETARY, MALAYSIAN STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION IN JAPAN (MSAJ)

Ariqah Sarah Binti Abdul Gaafar is a third-year Economics student at Shiga University, majoring in International Economy and Finance, and a JPA scholar. She is part of the university’s Global Course and Data Science programme, equipping her with interdisciplinary and global perspectives. Her academic milestones include presenting at the Japan National Inter-Seminar Conference and serving as a university research assistant. Currently, she serves as the General Secretary of the Malaysian Students Association in Japan (MSAJ) and is actively involved with IMAN Jepun. She previously held the role of International Relations Coordinator at AIESEC Japan. Ariqah frequently contributes as an interpreter, liaison, and trilingual emcee for Malaysia–Japan engagements, including business matching programmes, Malaysia Fair, and corporate events. She is also committed to community service, particularly in sustainable development and elderly care.

AINUL RADHIAH BINTI YUSOF

VICE SECRETARY, MALAYSIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION JAPAN (MSAJ)

Ainul Radhiah Binti Yusof is a third-year undergraduate student at the Faculty of International Studies, Utsunomiya University, Japan. Her research interests focus on Malaysia’s STEM and humanities education policies, particularly student motivation in STEM and its potential contribution to national economic growth. She has been actively involved with the Malaysian Student Association Japan (MSAJ) for three years, contributing to the organization of student-centric initiatives such as Career Fairs, Malaysian Night, and seasonal community gatherings. In addition, she has participated in youth leadership platforms including Model United Nations, further strengthening her leadership and communication skills.