Purafy Water Technologies is pleased to announce that its Research Consultant Anil Kumar Avula is one of the winners of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW).
Anil, who has been a key member of Purafy’s research and development team for nearly two years, was formally disclosed as one of the 10th award winners last month under the Space and Water Agenda of the 65th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS), which took place in Vienna, Austria from June 1 to 10.
The PSIPW is a prestigious international prize supported by the United Nations that recognizes achievements in research in the areas of water scarcity and security around the globe. The official PSIPW award ceremony will take place later this year.
Under Prof. Thalappil Pradeep’s stewardship at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, Anil was a part of a team that developed environmentally friendly “water positive” nanoscale materials for affordable, sustainable, and rapid removal of arsenic from drinking water.
This research earned the team won the Creativity Prize, which is one of the five prizes for a wide variety of relevant, groundbreaking solutions that promise to help provide needed drinking water to the world’s people.
Hard work pays off
“I was surprised when I saw the email from my professor,” said Anil, recalling the moment he received word of the award.
“I was in the lab day and night, which was hard work, and there were many struggles to solve real problems for real people. But when you get global recognition for your work, it pushes you forward to do more work, and that makes me happy.”
Achieving Sustainable Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 goals that all United Nations Member States adopted in 2015. The SDGs are an intergovernmental roadmap for achieving sustainable development by 2030. Within these goals, goal six is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
The SDGs are essential for guiding policymakers and businesses in their efforts to create a more sustainable world. By working towards these goals, industries can create a more equitable, prosperous, and environmentally sound future.
Anil stressed the importance of reaching those goals to lead to a brighter future for the planet: “If you take anything in the universe, whether it be humans, animals or the environment, in some way they are contributing to the goals. If you are directly or indirectly working towards the goals, then you are aiming to achieve the sustainable goals.”
“Well Deserved”
“Anil’s recognition as one of the world’s most creative researchers into the global problem of water scarcity and security is extremely well deserved,” said Cameron Runte, VP of Product Development at Purafy. “All of us here at Purafy have appreciated the value he brings to the team for some time, and we look forward to celebrating this achievement with him and continuing to work with him as we develop our graphene-enhanced water filtration technologies and products.”
Anil continues to apply his award-winning research knowledge and expertise to the development of Purafy’s products that make use of its proprietary, graphene-based water filtration technology. For more information on Purafy and its products, visit purafy.com.