Dr Moneef R. Zou’bi has been an advocate of Science and Technology for Development for around 30 years. Born in Amman, Jordan, he studied for his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Civil Engineering Technology and Management at Brighton and Loughborough Universities in the United Kingdom, 1980 - 1987. He successfully pursued further post-graduate work at the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Malaya.

Moneef joined the Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) (an international scientific NGO based in Jordan and affiliated to the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC)) in 1990, embarking on a career in international scientific and technological collaboration. He also serves as the Science Advisor to the Interaction Council (IAC).

He has published over 60 publications on science and technology issues, science education and sustainable development, as well as on water issues from a Middle Eastern perspective. In 2010, he co-authored the ground-breaking Arab States Chapter of the 2010 UNESCO Science Report that foresaw the advent of the Arab Spring. In 2015, he was commissioned again to be lead author of same Report.

Moneef is a member of the World Academy of Art and Science and is a Founding Fellow, of the Academy of Engineering and Technology for the Developing World (AETDEW). He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Rosenberg International Water Forum, USA, since 2007.