Jeddah, 02 October 2023: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli has presented the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination, first prize to Syed Shah from Aqua Membranes, USA, for the project titled “Changing reverse osmosis through 3-D printed spacers.” Five other entries were also awarded prizes.
The ceremony took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jeddah, during the Innovation in the Desalination Industry Conference. The Governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Eng. Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Abdul Karim, along with many other senior officials and dignitaries, were present.
Other winners of the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination were: Arian Edalat from Active Membranes, USA for a project titled “Next Generation of Desalination Membranes;” Quantum Wei from Harmony Desalting, USA for the project “Batch Reverse Osmosis;” Nick Heineman from Desolenator, the Netherlands for the project “Desolenator: Transforming the Industry through a World-First Solar-Thermal Desalination Solution that works at Scale;” Hany Said from Mega Vessels Water Inc. USA, for the “Mega Vessel” project; and Mohamed Anwar from Schneider Electric, France, for the project “Desalination Plant Digital Twin Powered by Dynamic Process Simulation;”
The winners were selected from a pool of 105 participants representing 27 countries. The group is comprised of innovators from research centers and universities, along with entrepreneurs and employees from water desalination companies worldwide.
Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Al-Fadhli emphasized Saudi Arabia’s pioneering role in addressing water issues on a regional and global scale. He applauded the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s initiative to establish a global water organization, based in Riyadh, strengthening international collaboration and a coordinated response to water-related issues.
SWCC Governor Eng. Al-Abdul Karim emphasized the Kingdom’s commitment to working on the sustainability of water resources, in light of SWCC’s position as the largest water producer in the world, producing 11.5 million cubic meters of water per day. He stated that Saudi Arabia is working towards providing access to pure water resources by collaborating with nations and organizations to comprehensively address water challenges.
The prizes, totaling $10 million, focused on topics related to environmental aspects of the desalination industry, opportunities for reducing energy consumption, reducing capital and operational costs, using new technology, opportunities for transformation in business models, and future analytical studies related to innovation.
