04 Sep Winners of Young Omani Water Researchers Award Announced
MEDRC Water Research has announced the winners of the ‘Omani Young Water Researchers Award 2019’ at an official ceremony held in Muscat today.
Established by MEDRC and sponsored by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Oman, the Omar Zawawi Establishment L.L.C and Haya Water, the award aims to celebrate the world class water research being undertaken by young Omani students at undergraduate and postgraduate level at universities both in Oman and abroad.
Held under the auspices of the Public Authority for Electricity & Water (PAEW) of Oman, the MEDRC initiative seeks to encourage and promote water research that can contribute positively to Oman’s water sector in four key areas; water management, water treatment technologies, desalination and related environmental research.
MEDRC Center Director, Ciarán Ó Cuinn said “MEDRC continue to be amazed by the standard of submissions received each year for this award. Since 2017 and through the continued support of our partners, this initiative celebrates young Omani researchers who are working to achieve the scientific breakthroughs and advancements needed to respond to the global challenge of fresh water scarcity”.
Winners
Faisal Al Marzouqi, a PhD student at Sultan Qaboos University claimed the top prize in the postgraduate category for his work treating pharmaceutical wastewater contaminated by bisphenol (BPA). Winner of the undergraduate category, Mouza Al Ruqaishy also of Sultan Qaboos University was awarded for her research on wastewater produced from textile manufacturing. Wafa Al Maamari from the National University of Science and Technology won the special prize for wastewater research (sponsored by Haya Water) for her study which investigated the potential of recovering materials from end of life tires and reusing them to treat wastewater mainly from heavy metals.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Her Excellency Laetitia van Asch, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Oman, said “With the annual Young Omani Water Researchers Award, a new generation of solutions is emerging. We all know that in the future water, and clean water, will be more precious than ever. So, we must encourage and support students and researchers to find creative and innovative solutions for these challenges which we all face.”
Wastewater
Wastewater has become part of the solution to the challenges posed by fresh water scarcity. Huge quantities of water are consumed and produced by industries during various stages of processing. The opportunities and potential for water re-use within these industries, as well as energy and resource recovery from produced wastewater are driving global growth in the sector.
This year, wastewater was by far the most popular area of focus shown by researchers competing for the Omani Young Water Researchers Award.
Eng. Hussain AbdulHussain, CEO of Haya Water said, “Haya Water strongly believes in Research and Development and would like to thank MEDRC for this excellent annual initiative. We are very excited to have joined the list of supporting partners this year by sponsoring a special prize for the best Wastewater research project. Off course the papers which are submitted related to Haya Water will be considered by Haya Water for its operations. We look forward to this program continuing for many years to come and wish it every future success”.
Among the distinguished guests present at today’s ceremony were, H.E. Laetitia Van Asch, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sulaiman Al Qasmi, General Manager of Asset Division at Haya Water, Salem Nasser Al Bortmany, Executive Director of Areej Vegetable Oils and Derivatives SAOC (OMZEST group), Mohamed Al Shidhani, Director of Planning and Studies Directorate, Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture and Science – Diwan of Royal Court and Dr. Suleiman Al Toobi from EJAAD.
The award is made possible by the sponsorship of Omar Zawawi Establishment L.L.C (OMZEST), the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Muscat and Haya Water, with the support of The Public Authority of Water (Diam), The Research Council (TRC), the Oman Water Society and the Oman Establishment for Press Publication and Advertising (OEPPA).
Among the prizes for the winners are trips to the Amsterdam International Water Week in November 2019 and to Jordan for the 5th IWA International Water Symposium in September 2019.
The full list of winners was announced this year as follows:
Postgraduate Category:
1st Place: Mr. Faisal Al Marzouqi, Sultan Qaboos University
2nd Place: Mr. Saleh Al Saidi, Sultan Qaboos University
3rd Place: Mr. Ahmed Al Mazrouai, Sultan Qaboos University
Undergraduate Category
1st Place: Ms. Mouza Al Ruqaishy, Sultan Qaboos University
2nd Place: Ms. Husna Al Salmi, The University of Adelaide
3rd Place: Mr. Abdulaziz Al Hajri, International Maritime College, Oman
Wastewater Research Prize Sponsored by Haya Water
1st Place: Ms. Wafa Al Maamari, National University of Science and Technology
2nd Place: Ms. Raiya Al Hashmi, National University of Science and Technology
3rd Place: Mr. Younis Al Aamri, Sultan Qaboos University