Travel Grant for Young Water Professionals Conference

University Of Cincinnati Main Campus, Cincinnati OH

Investigators

Abstract

CBET-0740061 Suidan The objective of this proposal is to provide travel support to young water professionals to attend the 4th The International Water Association (IWA) Young Water Professionals Conference will be held at the Clark Kerr Campus of the University of California, Berkeley (USA) on July 16-18, 2008. IWA is the largest international organization in the area of water supply and wastewater management. It has about 10,000 individual and 400 corporate members, spread across 130 countries. The 4th IWA Young Water Professionals Conference will provide an international forum for young researchers and professionals working in water and wastewater research, technology and management to present their work and meet their peers from all over the world. This conference will greatly benefit all of mankind by stimulating broad international collaboration by a diverse group of young researchers representing many aspects of the water environment. In a non-threatening setting devoid of senior researchers, these young researchers can interact, share their research findings and develop ties that will last for many years. These are the future leaders of the environmental profession. It is expected that they will be a mix of engineers, scientists, policy makers and industrial managers who will be able to network and combine their skills for the betterment of the water profession and, by extrapolation, all of mankind. For many of the participants, this may be their first opportunity to present their research findings, and in doing so develop their skills in presenting research results to a mixed audience. The career workshop presented by a distinguished slate of successful engineers and scientists should be of great benefit to them as they begin to establish their careers. This conference will encourage the participation by underrepresented groups, so as to have a balance based on gender, ethnicity, etc. There is a critical shortage of minorities, in particular, in the environmental field, and this will hopefully encourage larger numbers to participate. The proceedings of this conference will be published in paper and CD format and made widely available through IWA. In addition, selected papers will be published in one of the IWA peer evaluated journals.