Yang Di-Pertua Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah (MUIS)

Vice Chancellor, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
Theme: Food Safety

Professor Dato’ Ts Dr. Sharifudin bin Md Shaarani was born in Johor Bahru, Johor. He went to Sekolah Temenggung Abdul Rahman (2) from standard 1-6 and then left Johor Bahru to Kluang for his secondary education at a boarding school Sekolah Sains Johor Kluang from form 1-5. Then he further his studies for pre-university education at Pusat Matrikulasi Kuala Pilah, UKM from 1989-1991. He continued his studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia with majoring in food science and business management and graduated in 1995 with a second upper-class degree. In 1997, he obtained his master's degree in food technology from the University of Reading, United Kingdom and obtained a Ph.D. in 2007 from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom where he developed hardware to heat foods inside Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which produced real-time data.
After graduating in 1995, he joined the private sector with an international biscuit manufacturer; Danone (Malaysia) Ptd. Ltd., Johor Bahru, Johor as a quality control executive. In 1996, he started his academic career with Universiti Malaysia Sabah as a tutor and also the pioneering staff for the School of Food Science and Nutrition. He has served UMS devotedly for 24 years before moving to Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in 2020. He was promoted to Professor of food technology at the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, UMS in 2015. He was the selected as the Visiting Professor for the food technology programme, Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology. Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).
When he was at UMS, he holds the various administrative post and amongst them; Dean for the School of Food Science and Nutrition (in 2015 it was changed to the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition), Deputy Dean, Senate member, and chairman of various committees either related to academic, students and research affairs.
In January 2021, he is appointed as the Director of Research Management and Innovation Centre, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), and sits in various committees at USIM. Then on 16th January 2022 he was appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) of USIM. And on 1st of July 2022, he was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).
Prof. Dato’ Sharifudin’s research interest is in Halal food production, food quality assurance, and safety. Throughout his career as an academician, Prof. Dato’ Sharifudin has authored many scientific papers in various International and local journals including Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition which is the top five percent journal in the field of food science and nutrition. His work also has been published by the Royal Society of Chemistry United Kingdom. He is also active in giving seminars, conferences, and workshops. He was invited as a keynote speaker, guest speaker, and invited speaker at various international and local conferences.
At the National level, Prof. Dato’ Sharifudin is being appointed as the task force member and central committee member for the Higher Institution Centres of Excellence (HiCOE) and Consortium of Research Excellence (KKP), Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. He is the head of the future food cluster. He is also certified Professional Technologist by the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT), a member of the Malaysian Institute of Food Technology (MIFT), auditor for the Malaysian Qualification Framework (MQA), member of the technical committee for Halal cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices under the Department of Standard Malaysia. He is also appointed by several Malaysian universities as a panel for promotion to professors and associate professors.

College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Theme: Halal Logistic and Managment

Rohafiz Sabar is currently engaged with Centre for Transport and Logistics, School of Technology and Logistics Management (STML), College of Business (COB), Universiti Utara Malaysia. She is appointed as Director, The Centre of Logistics and Transport (CeLT), Universiti Utara Malaysia. She is also Research Fellow, Institute of Halal Management (IHM), Universiti Utara Malaysia. Her research interest includes Aviation Panning and Development, Halal logistics and Disaster Management.
Rohafiz is completed the PhD studies at Air Transport Department, Cranfield University, United Kingdom. She graduated in Business Administration (Finance) from Universiti Utara Malaysia and pursued Master Degrees in Airport Planning and Development from Loughborough University, UK.
She experiences in designing, planning and operations logistics and transport (airport) more specifically in Asia, Europe and United States of America. Special interest in air transport in regions and airport commercial and non- aeronautical business development. She also involved in airport terminal development for Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (MAHB) and KXP Cargo Airport. She is also a Member of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, United Kingdom and Malaysian Research Group Conference, UK. She is actively writing journal and conference papers for logistics and transport industry.

Director of Institute for Halal Industry and System, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Theme: Halal Pharmaceutical

Abdul Rohman graduated from Faculty of Pharmacy, University Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta. He completed Ph.D degree in 2011 from Institute of Halal Product Reseach, Universiti Putra Malaysia. His research intereset is mainly on development of analytical techniques for halal products authentication. Abdul Rohman is also Head of Center of Excellence, Institute of Halal Industry and ystems, Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Since 2005, Abdul Rohman is lecturer in Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta. He has supervised some research projects on halal product authentication. Rohman has published more than 350 articles in Web of Science and Scopus-indexed journals with h-index Scopus of 34, some book chapters and edited some text books. Besides, Abdul Rohman acted as guest editors and reviewers in several reputed journals. Currently, Abdul Rohman is Editor in Chief Indonesian Journal of Pharmacy (Q3-Scopus Indexed Journal).

Several awards have been achieved including Young Scientist Scopus Award on Sustainable Agriculture in 2014 and “Anugerah kekayaan Intelektual Luar Biasa or AKIL” in the field of international publication from the Ministry of Research, technology and higher education year 2014.

Dean, Faculty of Islamic Studies Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Theme: Psychology and Wellness

Professor Dr. Haji Mohd Dahlan Haji Abdul Malek is the Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies and a Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. He obtained his first degree, a Bachelor of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage (Fiqh) and Bachelor of Human Sciences in Psychology from International Islamic University, Malaysia, a Master in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the National University of Malaysia, and Ph.D. in Psychology (Industrial and Organisational Psychology) from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. He also has the Professional Certification, Psychological Assessment from California State College-Dominguez Hill, USA. His major research interests include disaster management, job satisfaction, occupational stress at work, work motivation, leadership, and the psychology of religion.
He was recently involved with several grants funded by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. He received the award ‘The Best Professor of Psychology and Education 2018’ from The Golden Globe Tigers 2018 and the 9th Asia’s Education Excellence Awards In Education Leadership Award, Singapore.
He has worked as a lecturer for Universiti Malaysia Sabah since 1997. Before this, he was the Chairman of UMS Deputy Dean Council and Audit Nilai Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). He was appointed as the Head of Research for Psychology and Social Health at UMS. His last position was as the Dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Education UMS (2019) and now is currently the first Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies. Among his achievements, he was awarded Excellent Service Award and an innovation award in education, UMS.
Furthermore, he has also served as a thesis examiner for Ph.D. students at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Universiti, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and several other universities. In addition, he is also a reader and editor of several journals published in Malaysia and other countries. He was also appointed as an external examiner for the Postgraduate Program, School of Business Innovation & Technopreneurship, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, external examiner for the Postgraduate Program, Universiti Utara Malaysia and member of Board studies for Postgraduate program, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.

Head of Halal Affairs Nestle Malaysia Bhd
Theme: Consumer Trends and Preference

With a Degree in Engineering from the Science University of Malaysia and has been with Nestlé for the past17 years. Started in production of noodles products. Appointed as Production Manager for Noodle Plant in 2010. Involve in commissioning new high technology noodle line in 2015. Appointed as Production Manager for Culinary Plant in 2016. Improved capacity & performance of the plant year on year until 2018. Appointed as Manufacturing Improvement Manager in 2019. Gain strong experience & knowledge in process & product and contributed towards many improvement projects in factory for noodles & culinary products. Been assigned to lead a group of commissioning team to start up new latest technology noodle line in 2021. Entrusted as Chairman for Factory Halal Committee since 2013 until mid of 2021 before appointed as Halal Development Manager in Oct 2021. Promoted as Head of Halal Affairs in May 2023.

A’Sharqiyah University, Oman (Senior Editor: Journal of Islamic Marketing)
Theme: AI Technology

Prof. Mohamed Battour is chair of the management department in the College of Business Administration at ASU, Oman. With a keen interest in Islamic marketing, he serves as Editor-in-Chief (Dep.) of the Journal of Islamic Marketing (Q2), further contributing to the advancement of this field. Dr. Battour's expertise is recognized internationally, as he also serves as an esteemed member of the editorial advisory board for several reputable journals listed in Scopus. He has an impressive track record of publishing numerous papers in top-ranking journals (Q1/A*), demonstrating his commitment to rigorous research and academic excellence. Dr. Battour's influence extends beyond academia, as he has been invited as a keynote speaker for numerous international conferences, where he shares his insights and knowledge about Islamic marketing and Halal tourism.