Dato’ Seri Zaini is an academic administrator, environmental engineer and scientist who attempts to blend knowledge, skills, experience and innovation in a harmonious manner.
He served as Secretary-General in the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water for two years. Prior to this, Dato’ Seri Zaini was Chairman of the Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint 2015 – 2025 taskforce during his tenure as Secretary-General of the Ministry of Higher Education.
A prolific writer, Dato’ Seri Zaini recently published his 35th book, “Ecoshift: Holistic Transformation towards Environmental Sustainability” (2018) and 36th book on “Japanese Ecosophy: A Traveller’s Notes” (2019) which gathers his experience and understanding on science, technology, policy and financing for the environmental sector.
He has over 250 scientific papers in leading academic journals to his name, as well as books on environmental engineering, water sustainability, higher education and learning innovation.
He is also a registered Professional Engineer (Malaysia), Chartered Engineer (UK), Chartered Scientist (UK), and Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (UK). He is a Research Associate at MIT at Imperial College London, Tsukuba and Lund Japan and Research Associate at MIT.
Dato’ Seri Zaini was Vice-Chancellor of UTM (2008 – 2013) and he was also the first recipient of the prestigious Merdeka Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement in 2009.