Great Thinkers, Great Minds

A Note on the Order of Papers

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

Satellite Earth Observation and Geospatial Analytics in the Sustainable Management of Planet Earth
Graeme Wilkinson

Development of Antivirals and Vaccines against Enterovirus 71 (EV-A71)
Poh Chit Laa

Plurilingual Positioning and Its Effectiveness in Classroom Interaction and Teacher Education
Stephen J Hall

The Expansion of Higher Education and Student Diversity
Glenda Crosling

Molecules in a State of Flux
Peter J Heard

The Rise of Japan and China: A Historical Perspective
Goh Cheng Teik

Searching for Factors Controlling Cloning of Plants
Pua Eng Chong

Adventures in Crystal Engineering
Edward RT Tiekink

Digital Transformations of Cultural Imaginary
Harold Thwaites

War on Terror Cells
Naveed Ahmed Khan

Acknowledgements

Index

Graeme Wilkinson is the Vice-Chancellor of Sunway University. He is a graduate of Imperial College London and has a doctorate in atmospheric physics from Oxford University. He held academic posts at several UK universities, led a research team at the EU Joint Research Centre and took up senior management positions in three UK universities before joining Sunway. He has co-authored over 100 publications and co-edited several books including Neurocomputation in Remote Sensing Data Analysis and Machine Vision and Advanced Image Processing in Remote Sensing. He has served on editorial boards of several remote sensing journals.

Poh Chit Laa is Distinguished Professor and Head of the Research Centre for Biomedical Sciences at Sunway University. She obtained her BSc (Hons) First Class and PhD in Science, majoring in Microbiology, from Monash University Australia. Professor Poh has held positions in renowned institutions including National University of Singapore, Curtin University of Technology, Swinburne University and University of Malaya. She has published 94 ISI-cited journal papers and co-authored 4 book chapters. Her current research interests focus on the development of antiviral agents and novel vaccines against Enterovirus 71 and Dengue virus.

Stephen J Hall is Head of the Centre for English Language Studies at Sunway University where he oversees an Intensive English Programme and a range of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) subjects. His doctorate from Leicester University is the only research focusing on classroom cultural challenges within rural in-service Malaysian teacher education. Professor Hall has managed national education projects, developed and taught corporate ESP courses in Singapore, and trained teachers around ASEAN. He has authored several books and numerous publications, sits on editorial boards and has presented in over 15 countries.

Glenda Crosling is Head of the Centre for Higher Educational Research and was previously Dean of Academic Enhancement at Sunway University. She was also inaugural Director of Education Quality and Innovation while at Monash University Malaysia. Professor Crosling acts on quality agencies internationally, including in Australia, Malaysia and Oman. She has chaired Expert Panels for national guidelines for Malaysian Qualifications Agency. Her authored and edited books, chapters and journal articles are well cited, and she has been invited conference speaker and visiting academic internationally.

Peter J Heard is the Provost of Sunway University. He gained his PhD on the study of molecular dynamics in organo-transition metal complexes from University of Exeter, UK. Following brief spells at Yale University, USA, and Swansea University, UK, he worked for 12 years at Birkbeck University of London as a lecturer in chemistry. In 2007, he moved to Glyndwr University where he rose rapidly to become Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research. In 2013, he moved to Sunway University to take up the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, and subsequently, Provost. As Provost, Professor Heard has overall responsibility for the academic portfolio of the university.

Goh Cheng Teik is Adjunct Professor in History and International Relations of East Asia at Sunway University. He majored in and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University in 1965. He was taught by eminent professors while he was at Harvard; History by Professor John King Fairbank, and International Relations by Professor Stanley Hoffman and Professor Henry Kissinger. Dato’ Dr Goh also holds a PhD in Politics and Social Sciences from Leiden University where he wrote a doctoral dissertation on “Representative Government, Indonesia, 1955 to 1957”.

Pua Eng Chong is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Sunway University. He obtained his PhD from McGill University, Canada, and worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in University of Calgary, Canada, and Rockefeller University, New York. Professor Pua then joined National University of Singapore, Monash University Malaysia as Head of the School of Arts and Science, and New Era College as Principal/CEO. He has trained 9 PhD students and published more than 160 research articles and books. He was Editor-in-Chief of SCI journal In Vitro — Plants, plenary/keynote speaker in international conferences and invited speaker at many institutions.

Edward RT Tiekink is Distinguished Professor and Head of the Research Centre for Crystalline Materials at Sunway University. He is a graduate of University of Melbourne, achieving a First Class Honours degree (1981), a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry (1985) and a DSc (2006). After a postdoctoral appointment in molecular crystallography at University of Adelaide, he joined the academic staff there in 1989. Since 2001, Professor Tiekink has held several overseas appointments before joining Sunway University in November 2015. Professor Tiekink is establishing new research directions in the general area of molecular crystallography and metal-based drugs.

Harold Thwaites is Professor and Dean of the School of Arts at Sunway University. Originally from Canada, he was a tenured Associate Professor of the Communication Studies Department at Concordia University in Montreal for 31 years. Professor Thwaites’ research and teaching comprises media production, Information design, digital heritage, biocybernetic research and 3D spatial media. He was the first invited overseas researcher at NHK Science and Technical Research Labs in Tokyo, Japan specialising in early 3D HDTV production. He continues to share his experience and passion to innovate new projects and fields of research with staff and students.

Naveed Ahmed Khan is Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biological Sciences at Sunway University. Previously, he held positions at Tufts University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, University of London, University of Nottingham and Aga Khan University. He has produced over 189 peer-reviewed publications, 7 books and 5 chapters, and guided over 40 graduate students. In recognition of his research efforts, he has received awards internationally. His work on the search for new antibiotics from animals living in polluted environments has been discussed in peer-reviewed journals and made into documentaries.