Under the Patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,
King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

and organised by

the Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations in Vienna

and

the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

The 10th Awards Ceremony of the Prince Sultan
Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (2022)

United Nations Office at Vienna, VIC

13 December 2022

Winners for the Tenth Award (2022)

Leading international scientists with a diversity of backgrounds -- including materials science, chemistry, engineering, and environmental science, as well as hydrology -- won the five prizes for a wide variety of relevant, groundbreaking solutions that promise to help provide needed drinking water to the world's people.

Creativity Prize: The team of Thalappil Pradeep (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras)

His team developed environmentally friendly “water positive” nanoscale materials for the affordable, sustainable and rapid removal of arsenic from drinking water.

Team members include Avula Anil Kumar, Chennu Sudhakar, Sritama Mukherjee, Anshup, and Mohan Udhaya Sankar.


Creativity Prize: The team of Dionysios Dionysiou (University of Cincinnati, USA)

His team developed advanced oxidation technologies and nanotechnologies for environmental applications, particularly in the removal and monitoring of emerging contaminants.

Team members include Wael H.M. Abdelraheem, Abdulaziz Al-Anazi, Jiong Gao, Ying Huang, and Vasileia Vogiazi.

Surface Water Prize: Dennis Baldocchi (University of California, Berkeley, USA)

He was awarded for developing effective models to understand, evaluate and predict evapotranspiration and water-use efficiency in various environments under climate change conditions. 

 

Groundwater Prize: Linda Abriola (Brown University, USA)

She was awarded for her pioneering research on toxic Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs’) in groundwater, ranging from the simulation of their fate to effective methods for cleaning contaminated sites. 

 

Alternative Water-Resources Prize: The team of Menachem Elimelech (Yale University) and Chinedum Osuji (University of Pennsylvania)

They have made significant advances in nanostructured materials for next-generation membranes and water purification technologies, with a focus on implementation, like manufacturing, sustainability, self-assembled materials, and biofouling.

Water Management & Protection Prize: The team of Matthew McCabe (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia)

The team is awarded for employing CubeSat constellations in the sustainable management and security of linked water-food systems, culminating in the highest resolution estimates of agricultural water with global coverage at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. Team members include Bruno Aragon (KAUST) and Rasmus Houborg (Planet Labs, USA).