Tengku Mohd Tengku Sembok

Professor Emeritus Dato’ Ts Dr Tengku Mohd Bin Tengku Sembok (born 11 June 1953) is a prominent Malaysian computer scientist, academic leader, and professional technologist renowned for his contributions to information retrieval, artificial intelligence, and computational linguistics. He currently serves as a Professor in Computer Science at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and is an Emeritus Professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Early Life and Lineage

Tengku Mohd was born in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. He is of royal descent; his father, Tengku Sembok Bin Tengku Abdul Kadir, hails from the Royal House of Terengganu, while his mother is from the Royal House of Singapore's Istana Kampong Gelam. His lineage can be traced to Yemen and Arabia.

Education

He received his early education in Malaysia before pursuing a Diploma in Computer Science from Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) in 1974. He later obtained a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from Brighton Polytechnic (1977), an MS from Iowa State University (1981), and a PhD from the University of Glasgow (1989). He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Studies from UKM (1985).

Academic and Professional Career

Tengku Mohd has had a distinguished academic career spanning over four decades. He began his tenure at UKM in 1978 and held various significant roles including Head of the Computer Science Department, Deputy Dean, Dean of the Faculty of Information Science and Technology, and Deputy Director of the Research Management Centre.

He served as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) at the National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) and was the founding director of its Cyber Security Centre. He also played an instrumental role in the MSC Smart School project, leading the development of mathematics courseware for secondary schools.

His industry experience includes roles as a programmer at the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory (UK), a systems analyst at the Prime Minister’s Department (Malaysia), and Managing Director of the IT Division at Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

Research and Publications

Professor Tengku Mohd has authored over 200 publications, including books, journal articles, and conference papers. His research interests encompass artificial intelligence, information retrieval, computational linguistics (Malay, Arabic, English), multimedia courseware, and big data analytics. He has successfully supervised 35 PhD students and more than 50 Master’s theses.

His research projects have attracted over RM27 million in grants from local and international sources including FRGS, PRGS, TechnoFund, LRGS, and UNESCO. He is also the founder and chief editor of two academic journals: Journal of Information Retrieval and Knowledge Management and Journal of ICT and Multimedia.

Awards and Honours

Tengku Mohd has received numerous awards including:

• National ICT Excellent Teacher Award (2004)
• Gold Medals at ITEX, Geneva, Brussels Innova, and the British Invention Show
• Honorary titles including DSDK (Dato’ Setia DiRaja Kedah) and AMT (Ahli Mahkota Terengganu)
• Emeritus Professor (UKM, 2015)

He is a Life Fellow of the British Computer Society (LFBCS), a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASM), the Malaysian Science Association (FMSA), and the Academy of Professors Malaysia (FAPM).

Contributions to Policy and National Development

Tengku Mohd has played a key role in shaping ICT policies in Malaysia. He has chaired and contributed to numerous national committees including the STPM ICT curriculum committee, MQA ICT cluster, and MOSTI’s ICT Roadmap. He was also the proposer of the National Defence Research Council.

International Engagements

He has participated in global ICT initiatives including UNESCO’s Ethics in Science and Technology program and served on international program committees such as SIGIR and ICDAL. He has established collaborations with universities and organizations across the UK, France, USA, India, and ASEAN countries.