• Prince Sultan Int'l Prize for Water introduces the 3rd round (2006-2008) at the AWWA 2007 Annual Conference & Exhibition (Ace07), Toronto, Canada, June 24-28, 2007 (Booth 320)
June 8, 2007 -- A special new Creativity Prize, worth more than a quarter of a million dollars, has been added to the awards available to researchers in the Water Resources sector under the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water 2006-2008.
The Creativity Prize, worth 1 million Saudi Riyals (SR) or around US$266,000 will be awarded to any original work (research, invention, technique etc) which is considered as a breakthrough in any water-related field. The work must be practically applicable, economically feasible and environmentally friendly.
In addition to this new Prize, four additional Prizes will be available for the best nominations in four topics in separate sub-sectors of water resources:
1. Surface Water
Topic: Sedimentation Control in Surface Water Systems
2. Groundwater
Topic: Exploration and Assessment of Ground Water
3. Alternative (non-traditional) Water Resources
Topic: Innovative Methods and Systems in Desalination
4. Water Resources Management and Protection
Topic: Water Demand Management in Urban Areas
The Prize for each of these sub-sectors will be SR 500,000 ($133,000 approx.). Winners will also receive a gold medallion, a trophy and a certificate, which will be presented at a special award ceremony.
The current round of the Prize, which will be awarded in 2008, is the third in the series initiated with the patronage of HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz as a humanitarian contribution by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the world and as an initiative that deals with the issue of water considered as one of the basic life elements in human existence.
The Prize is intended to reward the efforts undertaken by innovative scholars and scientists as well as related organizations in the realm of water resources worldwide. It has been established to acknowledge the special achievements that have contributed to the development of scientific solutions to solve the problems associated with the provision as well as the preservation of adequate and sustainable water resources, particularly in arid regions.
"Because of the urgent need for water in arid regions like Saudi Arabia across the world," explains the Prize General Secretary, Dr. Abdulmalek A. Al Alshaikh, "there has been a sense of urgency to contrive supportive methods to water researches adopted at world scale.
"We have combined the search for these methods with a sense of appreciation extended to concerned intellectual inventors with the aim of providing them with a suitable, moral, and financial atmosphere conducive to a free and vivid spirit of contest. Such an atmosphere should result in creative constructive outcomes capable of producing benevolence and prosperity to all peoples in the kingdom, in the region, and in the whole world," explains Dr Al Alshaikh.
All the relevant details for nominations for the 2006-2008 Prize can be found on the Prize website at: http://www.psipw.org.
Winners of the 2004-2006 Prize were as follows:
Groundwater Branch
Topic: Management of Coastal Aquifers
(Shared)
Prof. Abdelkader Larabi, Morocco
Water Section, Research Institute, King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Alternative (non-traditional) Water Resources Branch
Topic: Treatment and Re-use of Waste Water
Prof. Abdul Latif Ahmad, Malaysia
Water Resources Management Branch
Topic: Integrated and Sustainable Water Resources Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions
Prof. Howard S. Wheater, United Kingdom
Protection of Water Resources Branch
Topic: Ground Water Pollution by Urban Activities
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
No prize was awarded in the Surface Water branch because of insufficient entries meeting the required standard.
Deadline: Receipt of nominations for the current round of the Prize will close at the end of December 2007 after which the entries will be sent to expert referees worldwide. The Prize Council will announce the winners and declare the topics of the next Prize in September 2008.
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