Seawater and brackish water desalination is an important way to alleviate the global problem of freshwater scarcity, Yale University professor Dr Menachem Elimelech has said.
“Desalination processes have been in use long enough to demonstrate their reliability, but there are continuing questions about the technology, including the energy requirements for process
operation,” he said.
Dr Elimelech was the first speaker in Texas A&M University at Qatar’s 2015-2016 Distinguished Lecture Series. His lecture explored the energy efficiency of desalination and presented possible solutions to reduce those energy demands.
Tamuq interim vice dean and COO Dr Ann Kenimer introduced Elimelech, who is the director of the Environmental Engineering Programme and the Roberto Goizueta Professor of Environmental and Chemical Engineering at Yale University.
Elimelech received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1989 in environmental engineering. Prior to joining Yale, he was a visiting associate at the California Institute of Technology, a guest professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Exxon-Mobil Chair Professor at the National University of Singapore.
Elimelech’s research interests include engineered osmosis for sustainable production of water and power; environmental applications and implications of nanomaterials; membrane separations for desalination and water reuse; and water and sanitation in developing countries.
He has received many awards including the 2005 Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research. Elimelech was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2006. He is on the editorial advisory boards of several
scientific journals as well.
Dr Menachem Elimelech speaking at Tamuq.
