Professor Dr. Zahriladha Zakaria

Professor Dr. Zahriladha Zakaria is the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), where he leads strategic initiatives in research excellence, innovation, technology transfer, commercialisation, and industry collaboration. He is also a professor and researcher specialising in RF and microwave engineering, antennas, resonators, microwave sensors, body-centric wireless communications, and emerging AI-enabled sensing technologies.

Before entering academia, he served as a Product Engineer at STMicroelectronics Malaysia, an experience that gave him valuable insight into translating engineering research into practical industrial solutions. He has authored and co-authored more than 450 publications and led numerous research and innovation projects across healthcare, agriculture, environmental monitoring, advanced manufacturing, and non-destructive testing. His research has generated eight intellectual property outputs, while his innovations have been showcased at national and international research and innovation exhibitions, reflecting his strong commitment to transforming laboratory discoveries into technologies with real-world and commercial potential.

Professor Zahriladha was recognised as a Top Research Scientist Malaysia (TRSM) by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia in 2021 and was included in the Stanford–Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists list in 2025. His current interests focus on harnessing artificial intelligence to accelerate research discovery, enhance technology development, shorten the lab-to industry journey, strengthen university–industry collaboration, and advance Malaysia’s TVET ecosystem through impactful and sustainable innovation.