Prof Zainal is a Professor at CELP UPM and with the Faculty of Engineering, UPM. Currently, he is seconded as Strategic Hire Professor at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The National Energy University) Malaysia. He is an Advisory Board Member for National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI), USA and Local Convener of SC C4 of MNC-CIGRE. He is a PEng, CEng and PTech. Prof Zainal is also an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer, Fellow of ASM and IET.