About Me

Umar Zakir Abdul Hamid (PhD) has been working in the electric, connected and autonomous vehicle field since 2014 with various teams in different countries and continents (Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Finland, and Sweden). A globally recognised automotive and future mobility expert, Umar has a very distinguished and diverse international career. 

Collectively, Umar has led, managed and worked on more than 30 driverless technology, robotics and automotive projects. One of the major achievements throughout his career is being one of the key personnel contributing to Sensible 4's rapid growth in Finland, with more than 15 Million Euros (€) funding and revenues managed to be raised during his tenure with the said firm. Not only he is a technical expert, Umar also has a strong line and product management portfolio, where previously he led a team of 12 engineers while working as the Product Owner in the Autonomous Vehicle Software Product Development with Sensible 4, Finland. 

Throughout his career, Umar has received several international awards, including the prestigious SAE Young Industry Leadership Award 2023 for his contributions to the automotive and mobility software industry, as well as the Finnish Engineering Award 2020 for his advancements in all-weather autonomous driving solutions with Sensible 4. He is widely recognized as an automotive thought leader and frequently invited as a guest and keynote speaker at industrial and technical events.

With more than 30 scientific publications as an author and editor under his belt, Umar actively participates in global automotive standardization efforts where he is a Secretary for the Society Automotive Engineers Cooperative Driving Automation (SAE CDA) Committee. Since the end of Summer 2021, Umar has been working as the Senior Lead Strategist for CEVT AB (Geely Group) in Sweden, where he is also holding the position of Secretary for IEEE Sweden. 

As a dedicated lifelong learner, Umar is currently working towards his Executive MBA (EMBA) at the esteemed Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. He hopes to bring his gained knowledge and expertise back to his home region of Southeast Asia, where he aims to make a positive impact in the future.