The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Prof Thalappil Pradeep has been selected as the laureate of the 10th edition of the prestigious Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW). He was selected for the Award in the ‘Creativity Prize’ category for ‘breakthrough discovery’ in any water-related field.
The research group of Prof. T. Pradeep developed environmentally friendly ‘water-positive’ nano-scale materials for the affordable, sustainable and rapid removal of arsenic from drinking water. Prof. dr. Pradeep has previously been recognized with the Padma Shri and Nikkei Asia Prizes, among others, and his technologies provide clean water to more than 1.2 million people.
The biennial international scientific award was established on October 21, 2002 by Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. The prize includes a cash component of $2.66,000 (Rs. 2 Crore Approx), in addition to a gold medallion, trophy and certificate.
The awards ceremony will take place on September 12 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The award mentions the team members of Prof. T. Pradeep – Avula Anil Kumar, Chennu Sudhakar, Sritama Mukherjee, Anshup and Mohan Udhaya Sankar.
Prof. dr. T. Pradeep, Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, said of this award: “Clean water is really a problem of advanced materials. Thanks to our great nation, we were able to contribute in a small way to the area.”
Commenting on the future projects, he added: “There is a lot to do in every area of water, such as desalination, moisture capture, sensing and recycling. Our great team is working on each of them. The area is wide open for everyone to contribute.”
The Prize Council, chaired by King Saud University President Dr. Badran Al-Omar, and led by PSIPW Chairman HRH Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, approved the winners for the 10th Award (2022) of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) on June 5, 2022.
The winners of the 10th Award were formally announced during the Space and Water Agenda of the 65th session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Space (UN COPUOS).
The PSIPW is a leading global scientific award focused on groundbreaking innovation in water research. It recognizes scientists, researchers and inventors around the world for groundbreaking work that addresses the problem of water scarcity in creative and effective ways.
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