Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Kasim
Doctor of Technology

Malaysian-born Dr Zainal Abidin Kasim studied for his A-levels in Cardiff under the MARA scholarship programme. He continued to study in the UK, taking a BSc in Chemistry/Polymer Science at Loughborough University of Technology. He was then sponsored by PETRONAS to study for an MSc in Petrochemical Hydrocarbon Chemistry at UMIST.

Dr Zainal has worked for Petronas, the national oil company of Malaysia, since 1976. He rose to become general manager of its research division, whilst also undertaking a PhD at the Insitut Francais du Pétrole.

He became general manager of the Petronas Technology Resource Management Division in 2000. Four years later he became group manager of Group Technology and Capability Management, Technical Services Division.

In 2005 he was appointed rector and managing director/chief executive officer of Universiti Teknologi Petronas and Institute of Technology Petronas Sdn Bhd.