Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Prof. Thalappil Pradeep has won one of the ‘VinFuture Prizes’, which are awarded annually in four categories. Recipients were selected from nearly 1,000 nominations across 71 countries.
The VinFuture Grand Prize is valued at US$3 million – one of the largest ever annual prizes globally. It also includes three special prizes, each valued at US$ 500,000 (over Rs 4 crore), given to female innovators, developing country innovators, and innovators with outstanding achievements in emerging fields.
The Special Prize dedicated to ‘Innovators from Developing Countries’ was awarded to Prof. Pradeep for his development of a low-cost filtration system to remove arsenic and other heavy metals from groundwater. This can help hundreds of millions of people around the world living with contaminated water get access to clean water.
Prof Pradeep, Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, received the VinFuture Prize at the award ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam, on December 20. He has been recognized earlier with Padma Shri, Nikkei Asia Prize, and Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water among many others and his technologies are delivering clean water to over 1.2 crore people.
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The VinFuture Grand Prize is valued at US$3 million – one of the largest ever annual prizes globally. It also includes three special prizes, each valued at US$ 500,000, given to female innovators, developing country innovators, and innovators with outstanding achievements in emerging fields.
Thanking the Awards jury for recognizing this research, Prof. T. Pradeep said, “This recognizes everyone who worked with me, everyone who has benefited from the work, and those who enabled the translation of our work. At the same time, I am aware of the huge gap yet to be bridged to deliver clean water to everyone. I hope that this recognition will help in realizing that dream. I thank my institute which gave me everything. I thank my country, which made me stand up.”
Prof. Pradeep discovered affordable and sustainable nanomaterials to produce clean water. The arsenic and other materials removed by these materials do not impact the surrounding environment. This method, employing simple designs, provides a means to purify groundwater at a low cost to reach millions of impacted households. In remote areas, this technology is more advantageous because it does not require electricity.
Commenting on the results of the 2022 VinFuture Prize, Prof. Sir Richard Friend, VinFuture Prize Council Chair, stated, “The VinFuture Prize 2022 received an impressive number of high-quality nominations in a wide range of fields from countries all over the world. The scientific works awarded are all research projects that have changed, and are continuing to change the lives of billions of people, and will serve as a strong foundation for sustainable development in the future.”
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“The VinFuture Prize Council is honoured to award brilliant scientific minds for their outstanding innovations. It is my hope that the prize will contribute to promoting scientific research, create more breakthroughs that can positively impact society, and help build a better life for everyone. This is a mission and responsibility that we take very seriously,” Prof. Sir Richard Friend added.
The VinFuture Prize lies at the heart of the VinFuture Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization set up by Phạm Nhật Vượng, the first Vietnamese billionaire and founder of the largest Vietnamese conglomerate, Vingroup, together with his wife, Phạm Thu Hương.
The Prize was launched on International Solidarity Day 2020 to recognize exceptional inventors and researchers from global academic institutions, research labs, and industry to honour breakthrough scientific research and technological innovations that create meaningful change in the everyday lives of millions of people.
