Past IDA President
Managing Director of ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East
Dr. Sommariva is Managing Director of ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East and the head of the company’s worldwide desalination practice. He has experience in thermal, reverse osmosis and wastewater systems and has served in various roles in all the major desalination developments in the Middle East.
Dr. Sommariva joined ILF in 2009 after working nine years with Mott MacDonald where led the desalination and water treatment group as Managing Director of generation Middle East. In his early career, Dr Sommariva worked in Ansaldo Energia and Italimpianti in various roles.
Dr. Sommariva, who is currently President of IDA for the term 2011-2013, served as Co-Chairman of the Technical Program for the 2009 IDA World Congress in Dubai and Chairman of IDA’s recently held conference, “Desalination Industry Action for Good,” a landmark event held in Portofino, Italy that focused on desalination and social responsibility.
Dr. Sommariva has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Genoa University and a Diploma in Management from Leicester University. He is an honorary Professor at Genoa and L’Aquila Universities where he holds regular courses on desalination and economics. He has published over 50 papers on desalination leading edge research and economics and published two books on desalination management and economics.
He has been President of the European Desalination Society (EDS) and chairman of the World Health Organization’s committee for the establishment of safe drinking water from desalination.