Prof. Dr Zakiah Ahmad is the Dean of faculty and Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara. Zakiah specialises in timber engineered composite and nano-polymer composites. She has secured and leads more than 50 research grants worth more than Euro 5 million. Dr. Ahmad has published more than 300 papers in journals and proceedings and 8 books. She has received several gold and silver awards for her research projects at national and international research competitions. She is the recipient of the following awards: Top Research Scientist Malaysia, Standard Malaysia Award, Best researcher award, Gold consultant award and Best academic. Dr. Ahmad is also active in giving keynote papers at numerous seminars and conferences at national and international level. Zakiah has served as consultant, committee member and advisor to numerous public agencies and institutions. She also has been appointed as visiting scientist at BRE Research Institute, University of Bath, United Kingdom and tje Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University India.