IDRA Fellowship Attachment with The University of Arizona’s Water & Energy Sustainable Technology Center
Boston, MA, USA, August 13 2019 – The International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Jaichander Swaminathan, Assistant Professor and Kanchan & Harilal Doshi Chair for Water and Sanitation at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinager, has been named the recipient of its 2019 Fellowship Award.
“IDRA is proud to present this award to Dr. Swaminathan. One of IDRA’s important initiatives is to support education and advanced training in the field of desalination and water reuse, which will become increasingly important in helping our world address critical issues surrounding water scarcity. We thank the University of Arizona’s Water & Energy Sustainable Technology Center and their partners for supporting the IDRA Fellowship program, and we encourage other businesses and organizations to follow their lead,” said Ms. Shannon McCarthy, IDRA’s Secretary General.
Dr. Swaminathan will participate in a six-week attachment with the University of Arizona’s Water & Energy Sustainable Technology Center, the 2019 host agency for the Fellowship Program. He will collaborate with Dr. Andrea Achilli, researching topics such as membrane distillation crystallization and reverse osmosis systems for potable water reuse. “We are excited to have Dr. Swaminathan visiting us, he brings a wealth of knowledge on thermal desalination processes and a different perspective on advanced water treatment technologies” – says Dr. Achilli – “It will be a fruitful exchange of ideas between him and WEST Center’s faculty with the potential to enhance a more global approach to water scarcity challenges.” Dr. Swaminathan will have the opportunity to visit many regional facilities, including the Yuma Desalting Plant, the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Pima County Water Reclamation Facilities.
Located in Tucson, Arizona, the UA WEST Center is a leading interdisciplinary research facility, enabling the development and demonstration of technologies that advance water and energy sustainability through public and private partnerships, all while providing unparalleled education and outreach opportunities for local, regional, and global communities. The WEST Center represents an important partnership—among the few in the industry—that brings together various stakeholders to address some of the grand environmental challenges facing society today.
With over 20 technical paper publications to his credit, Dr. Swaminathan has extensive experience in the water industry. From 2016-8, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a graduate instructor, a research assistant in the Rohsenow Kendall Heat and Mass Transfer Lab, and finally as a Tata Center Fellow and Post-Doctoral Associate on projects with SP Textile Processors (India) and KMX Corporation (Canada). Currently, Dr. Swaminathan is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar where he teaches courses on energy efficient design of separation processes, energy systems, and thermodynamics.
As a member of both IDRA and the Indian Desalination Association (InDA), Dr. Swaminathan is actively engaged in industry associations. Collaborating with organizations such as the Desalination Division at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center and the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Dr. Swaminathan has conducted events bringing together leading experts on various desalination technologies. He has presented 7 papers at conferences hosted around the world, including the American Water Works Association, the International Water Association, and two of IDRA’s World Congresses (2015, 2017). In 2015, IDRA awarded Dr. Swaminathan best presenter for his research.
Dr. Swaminathan earned his Bachelors’ of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and went on to earn his Master’s and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received four issued patents, as well as over ten awards for his research and scholastic attainments, including MIT’s Tata Fellowship (2015), MIT’s Carl G. Sontheimer Prize (2017), and the victory prize of $25,000 USD in the US BOR InnoCentive Challenge: More Water, Less Concentrate (2017).
Inaugurated in 2008, the IDRA Fellowship is one of the industry’s most prestigious awards. Its purpose is to promote greater interaction and sharing of knowledge, technologies and processes in the desalination and water reuse industry, thus benefitting not only the Fellow and host agency, but also the industry at large.
For further details about the IDRA Fellowship Program and application guidelines, please visit www.idadesal.org or email education@idadesal.org
About IDRA
The International Desalination and Reuse Association (www.idadesal.org) is the point of connection for the global desalination and water reuse community. A non-profit association, IDRA serves members in 60 countries and reaches an additional 16 affiliate member associations. Its membership comprises policy-makers, executives, scientists, end-users, engineers, consultants and researchers from governments, corporations and academia. IDRA is associated with the United Nations as part of a growing international network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
For more information please contact: Shannon McCarthy smccarthy@idadesal.org