Professor Dr. Noor Azuan Abu Osman is a world-renowned authority in biomechanics and bioengineering, whose innovations have transformed lives. Educated in Bradford and Strathclyde, United Kingdom, he is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK), a Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. His groundbreaking research on prosthetics, orthotics, and orthopaedic implants—anchored in precise human-movement analysis—won the UK’s BLESMA Award and Belgium’s Forchheimer Prize, the most prestigious prize in the world of biomechanical field. He received top-ranking honours including the National Academic Award twice, and was conferred the title of Dato’ Seri by the Governor of the state of Pulau Pinang in Malaysia.

In 2024, he was awarded the title as Honorary Professor by the Tashkent State Technical University, Uzbekistan. In 2025, he was conferred the Honorary Doctorate of Engineering title by the University of Bradford, his alma mater. When he was the Dean in Faculty of Engineering, he propelled the University of Malaya’s Faculty of Engineering into the world’s Top 10, created the £300 million engineering@UM Industrial Innovation Centre, and founded BioApps Sdn Bhd, a UM Spin-off Company generating £30 million in revenue for the last five years. Professor Noor Azuan has given multiple keynote addresses by invitation both locally and abroad, and he received the Asia HRD Congress Awards (Contributions to the Society). He is also in the Executive Council, World Council of Biomechanics and a Council Member in Asia Pacific Rim University (APRU), as well as being in the Board of Trustees, ASEAN University Network (AUN). In Malaysia, he is in the Board of Trustee, Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and in the Board of Directors, Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. He chairs METEOR Group company, served as an executive in the World Council of Biomechanics, and led the Malaysia Society of Biomechanics. He has served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Malaysia Terengganu University and Vice Chancellor of Universiti Tenaga National, and is now Universiti Malaya’s Vice-Chancellor since November 2023.

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, 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.