Page 3
MENA NWC Update
Save the Date! MENA NWC Congress:
9-11 November in Muscat, Oman
MENA NWC will hold its
First Biennial Congress in
Muscat, Oman from 9-11
November 2015. The
meeting will be hosted by
the Network’s two Centers
in Oman: Sultan Qaboos
University (SQU) and the
Middle East Desalination
Research Center
(MEDRC).
A rich mix of technical
sessions will highlight the
progress and results of
the Network’s research
projects and management
activities. The Network’s
five Technical
Communities will explore
current research and
knowledge-sharing
initiatives and look ahead
to the next five to ten
years to reassess their
action agendas. Young
Water Scientists and
Water Innovations Fellows
will explain their small
Small group discussion at a meeting of MENA NWC Centers in Muscat, Oman
in December 2011.
grant interventions.
Online Communities of
Practice will launch.
Researchers will have the
opportu nity to present
scientific papers, engage
with current research
partners, and meet with
new research proposal
teams. We expect the
Network’s first detailed
annual work plan and
first annual progress
report to emerge from
the Congress. Both will
be disseminated widely.
Water Innovation Fellow in Morocco
Receives Award from Microsoft
Dr Hajji Hicham, a
Professor at the Institute
of Agronomy and
Veterinary
Science Hassan II in
Morocco, and one of the
Network’s Water
Innovation Fellows (see
page 4 for a list of Water
Innovation Fellows),
recently was awarded a
Microsoft Azure for
Research Award. The
Microsoft program
enables the academic
community to use
machine learning
technology for their
research. Under his BIG
Data for Water
Management research
project, Dr. Hicham is
developing new methods
for collecting large
volumes of structured and
unstructured data and
prototyping a new
methodology to analyze
and process data more
efficiently. The Microsoft
award will allow him to
explore Cloud
Technology as a
promising
approach for storing,
managing, and
extracting insights from
large water datasets.