BERLIN: A Pakistani scientist Dr Kashif Rasool won the Green Talent Award in Berlin for a project that prescribes sustainable and economical methods of water treatment.
The decision was made by a high-ranking jury of experts, who chose the most outstanding 25 green visionaries from a list of 602 applicants belonging to 95 countries and having a vast range of technical expertise.
The jury selected Rasool’s project for its promise of addressing one of the most pressing issues of the world, namely water scarcity.
The reuse of water for applications, instead of using freshwater supplies, is currently considered the most critical element of sustainable water management globally.
Rasool has a pending patent application and has thus demonstrated promise from his research.
The 33-years-old Pakistani scientist’s research focuses on environmental and energy engineering and biological wastewater treatment in aerobic and anaerobic processes.
Dr Rasool has taken on two of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns; water contamination and water security. His work focuses on developing innovative methods for extracting contaminants from industrial wastewater, in order for it to be safely and sustainably returned to freshwater supply.
He is focusing on the biological removal of organic, heavy metal, nutrient and emerging micro-pollutants from a variety of wastewater streams, coupled with renewable bio-energy production.
On Friday, in a festive award ceremony of the ninth “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” 25 applicants from all over the world were honoured with the Green Talent Award by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Berlin.
BMBF General Director of policy issues, strategy and digital transformation Matthias Graf von Kielmansegg honoured 25 scientists from 21 countries.
The green visionaries, from 21 countries, were on a two-week tour in Germany, where leading scientists met Germany’s sustainability researchers.
For the first time Egypt, Fiji, Iraq, Slovakia, Sweden, and Uganda are among the Green Talent winner countries.
The awardees were also invited to participate in a two-week science forum, during which they visited top locations for sustainability research in Germany.
“I am deeply impressed by the scientific expertise and strong motivation of this year ́s 25 Green Talents. Their research is clearly making a contribution to tackling global challenges and I am glad that they will become part of the German research landscape,” said Falko Leukhardt from the German Council for Sustainable Development.
The young researchers also learned about state-of-the-art approaches and technologies and exchanged ideas with leading experts in individual meetings thereby obtaining a deep insight into Germany’s innovation system and discovering new opportunities for prospective collaborations. Their efforts are supported by the invitation to return to Germany in 2018 for a fully funded research stay at an institution of their choice.