Fall 2013
MENA NWC Update
Middle East and North Africa Network of Water Centers of Excellence
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Grant for Membrane
Technology Research
1
Founders Committee Meeting
at World Water Week
1
New Fellowships Program
2
Global Yield Gap Atlas
Research Team Begins
3
Roadmap for Building
Partnerships with the Private
Sector in the Middle East
4
MENA NWC PR&D Program Awards Grant
to JUST and ONEE-IEA for Membrane
Technology Research
In September, the Policy,
Research & Development
(PR&D) Selection
Committee funded a
research team led by Dr.
Muna Abu-Dalo at the
Jordan University of Science
and Technology (JUST) that
will develop new processes
to produce reverse osmosis
membranes that resist
fouling by microorganisms.
The research project, The
Use of Green Nanoparticles
as a Biofouling-Resistant Agent
in Reverse Osmosis
Desalination, is the first
proposal that the
Committee has selected
for award without
additional provisions.
JUST will lead a regional
and international
research team.
Researchers from
Morocco’s National
Office of Electricity and
Potable Water (ONEEIEA), the University of
Toledo, the University of
Rhode Island and the
Georgia Institute of
Dr. Muna Abu-Dalo, JUST, is the Lead
Principal Investigator of the MENA NWC
funded research project.
Technology will contribute
to the research. Research
activities will take place in
Jordan, Morocco and the
United States.
MENA NWC Founders Committee Meets at
World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden
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Founders Committee members Thameur
Chaibi, Samir Bensaid, Manar Fayyad
and Chairman Muwaffaq Saqqar present
at World Water Week in September
2013.
The Network’s Founders
Committee held its third
meeting in Stockholm,
Sweden from 4-5
September, 2013. Over the
course of its two-day
meeting, the Committee
discussed the Network’s
governance structure,
development strategy,
and made further
revisions to the MENA
NWC Strategic Business
Plan 2014-2018. They
also discussed the
process for identifying
candidates for the
Network’s Board of
Directors.
In addition to discussing
Network matters, the
Founders Committee
hosted a side-event about
MENA NWC at the
Stockholm International
Water Institute’s (SIWI)
World Water Week
entitled “Using Research
Partnerships to Solve
Middle East Water
Challenges.” The event
was attended by over 40
participants representing
donors, universities,
governments, NGOs, and
businesses involved in the
water sector. This was
the first international
presentation of the
Network.