i.
Biology

Dr Massoud Houshmand

Dr Massoud Houshmand was born on 22 February 1962 in Mashhad, Iran. After high school, he moved to Sweden and began his study in laboratory medicine. He continued his study in Genetic and Molecular Genetics in Gothenburg University. He finished his Ph.D. in Gothenburg University in 1999 at the Faculty of Medicine on Mitochondrial Disorders and Inheritance. He moved back to Iran and was employed at the National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran. He established the genetic diagnostic lab in this Institute.


ii.
Chemistry

Professor Mahiran Basri

Mahiran Basri is a Professor of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and a Fellow of Malaysian Institute of Chemistry. Currently, she is also the Director of the Centre for Foundation Studies in Agricultural Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She pioneered research in organic syntheses using enzymes as biocatalysts, in Malaysia. She has led 20 research projects in the field, garnering grants of more than RM 7 million and over 250 publications, mostly in international journals, 22 book chapters and 3 books in her area of research. She is also the owner of 20 patents filed and granted. Her work has opened up new areas in the production of new compounds through green processes.


iii.
Physics

Dr Hala J. El-Khozondar

Dr Hala J. El-Khozondar was born in Gaza, Palestinian Territory. She got her B.Sc. in Physics from BirZeit University, Palestinian Territory, in 1987. She earned her Ph.D. in physics from New Mexico State University (NMSU), USA, in 1999. She joined the physics faculty at BirZeit University in 1987. She had a Postdoc award at Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1999.
In 2000, she worked as assistant professor at the Electrical Engineering (EE) department of the Islamic University of Gaza. In 2007, she was promoted to associate professor at the EE department. She is now a full professor at EE department and a fellow for the world academy of science (FTWAS) and for the Arab region FTWAS-ARO. She also is nominated by the Technical University of Munich to become alumni ambassador for research. She worked on initiating and developing the quality assurance unit and the external relations at Islamic University of Gaza. She advises several graduate and undergraduate students.


iv.
Mathematics

Dr. Ihsen Yengui

Ihsen Yengui was born in Rades, Tunisia, on 30 August 1972. He took his doctorate (2001) from the University of Franche-Comte (France) and his habilitation (2003) from the University of Sfax (Tunisia). He stands out for the numerous relevant contributions he has made to commutative, constructive and computer algebra in the course of relatively few years. Further, he is a leading figure among the mathematicians of his generation in Tunisia and in the whole Maghreb.
Prof. Ihsen Yengui is head of a team of nine young Tunisian mathematicians and Ph.D. students working in the fields of commutative, constructive, and computer algebra. He is also directing three theses of Ph.D. students from sub-Saharan Africa (Niger, Senegal and Cameroon).


v.
Geology

Dr Ali Ismail Al-Juboury

Born in Mosul, Iraq, in 1959, Dr Ali Ismail Al-Juboury graduated in geology from Mosul University, Iraq in 1980. He pursued his M.Sc. study in Mosul University in 1983 and was appointed lecturer in sedimentology in Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq. He was awarded a scholarship for Ph.D. which he obtained from Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia in 1992. Dr Al-Juboury transferred to the Department of Geology, Mosul University, wherein he led an active research in the field of clastic sedimentology and supervised six M.Sc. projects together with eight Ph.D. projects. His list of publications both within Iraq and abroad, together with his outstanding performance, earned him the professorship in September 2000.


vi.
Technology

Dr Aboul Ella Hassanein

Dr Aboul Ella Hassanein is Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Information at the University of Beni Suef; the Founder and Head of the Egyptian Scientific Research Group (SRGE) and a Professor of Information Technology at the Faculty of Computer and Information, Cairo University. Professor Hassanien has more than 500 scientific research papers published in prestigious international journals and over 30 books covering such diverse topics as data mining, medical images, intelligent systems, social networks and smart environment.
Prof. Hassanien is a collaborative researcher member of the Computational Intelligence Laboratory at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba. He also holds the Chair of Computer Science and Information Technology at the Egyptian Syndicate of Scientific Professions (ESSP). Dr Hassanien is the founder and head of Africa Scholars Association in Information and Communication Technology.