IDA Announces Award Recipients at World Congress

Awards totaling more than $30,000 were presented at the 2015 International Desalination Assn. (IDA) World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse in San Diego. Six awards at $5,000, each selected by the World Congress Awards Committee, were presented in the following categories:

• State of the Art, awarded to presenter Dr. Glenn Byrne, Rolled Alloys (U.K.), for the paper, Stray Current Corrosion in SWRO Systems. This award recognizes the paper that presents the application of an established desalination or water reuse technology in a way that reflects the best engineering practices in all aspects of the project or topic presented. The project or topic is significant for the industry and in the world, depicting an impressive piece of engineering, a solution or infrastructure that has long-term value to the desalination community.
• Innovation, awarded to presenter Bart Nelemans, Aquastil b.v. (Netherlands), for the paper, New Module Design Development for Membrane Distillation. This award recognizes the paper that presents an innovative desalination or water reuse technology that has reached the commercial stage but is not yet considered to be widely adopted. However, the data presented on the technology suggests that it is likely to become a game-changer for the industry and that it could represent the next state-of-the-art advancement.
• Research & Development, awarded to presenter James C. Lozier, CH2M Hill (U.S.), for the paper, Innovative Membrane-Based Treatment Method for Brines from Coal Seam Gas Production. This award recognizes the paper that presents fundamental or applied research of a technology or concept related to desalination or water reuse that is at a pre-commercialization stage, but shows interesting signs of development that could lead to significant discoveries or technologies upon maturity.
• Environment & Sustainability, awarded to presenter Troy Walker, Hazen and Sawyer (U.S.), for the paper, Safety & Reliability of Direct Potable Reuse: Using the Critical Control Point of Methodology. This award recognizes the paper that presents a desalination or water reuse research topic, case study, technology or any project in such a way that demonstrates how desalination can be applied while respecting the environment and applying best sustainability principles.
• Young Leaders Program, awarded to presenter Ms. Johanna Ludwig, akvolution GmbH (Germany), for the paper, Ceramic Membrane Treatment for Saline Water Reuse in a Large Marine Aquarium. This award recognizes the paper that demonstrates scientific originality, whose topic is relevant and important to the fields of desalination and/or water reuse.
• The Emerging Leader Award, sponsored by “ARWADEX – Water Desalination Conference in the Arab Countries’’ and presented to Prakash Narayan Govindan, Gradiant Corp. (U.S.)

IDA also presented awards in three new categories, each one in the amount of $500 and selected directly by conference delegates who voted on the official World Congress mobile app. Recipients were:

• Most Appreciated Presenter: Jaichander Swaminathan MIT (U.S.), for Experimental Investigation of High Efficiency Single-Stage Membrane Distillation Configurations.
• Most Appreciated Poster: Mr. David Martin Warsinger, MIT (U.S.), for Effect of Filtration and Particulate Fouling in Membrane Distillation.
• Most Appreciated Moderator: Dr. Heike Glade, University of Bremen (Germany) in Session 24, Thermal Desalination: Membrane Distillation.

In addition, Presidential Awards were presented to Doug Eisberg and Dr. Richard L. Stover for their outstanding performance as the technical program co-chairpersons of the 2015 IDA World Congress, and to Mohammad Abunayyan, chairman of Abunayyan Holding and ACWA Power Intl. for his vision, leadership and creativity that have established ACWA Power Int.l as a leader in providing clean and sustainable water and energy, and for ACWA Power’s support of IDA’s programs including sponsorship of several World Congresses.

IDA also presented an Industry Contribution Award to Faith Leitner in memory of her father Gordon Leitner, a pioneer in desalination.

Source: International Desalination Assn.