Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Professor Thalappil Pradeep has been awarded the 10th edition of the prestigious ‘Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water’ (PSIPW). He was selected for the award under the ‘Creativity Prize’ category given for ‘breakthrough discovery’ in any water-related field.
According to a release issued by IIT-M, his research group developed environmentally friendly ‘water positive’ nanoscale materials for affordable, sustainable, and rapid removal of arsenic from drinking water. Prof. Pradeep has been recognized earlier with several awards such as Padma Shri, and Nikkei Asia Prize, and over 1.2 crore people are getting clean drinking water because of the technologies invented by him.
The bi-annual international scientific award was established on October 21, 2002, by Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. The prize carries a cash component of US$ 2,66,000 (Rs 2 Crore Approx) besides a gold medallion, a trophy, and a certificate. The awards ceremony will take place on September 12, 2022, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The award mentions Prof. T. Pradeep’s team members - Avula Anil Kumar, Chennu Sudhakar, Sritama Mukherjee, Anshup, and Mohan Udhaya Sankar.
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"Clean water is truly a problem of advanced materials. We could contribute to the area in a small way, thanks to our great nation," said Prof. T. Pradeep. “There is much to do in every area of water such as desalination, humidity harvesting, sensing, and recycling. Our wonderful team is working on each one of them. The area is wide open for all to contribute," he added.
The release stated that the Prize Council, under the chairmanship of the President of King Saud University Dr. Badran Al-Omar, and under the direction of PSIPW President 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 10th Award winners were formally disclosed during the Space and Water Agenda of the 65th Session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS). "The PSIPW is a leading, global scientific award focusing on cutting-edge innovation in water research. It gives recognition to scientists, researchers and inventors around the world for pioneering work that addresses the problem of water scarcity in creative and effective ways," stated the release.
