AMTA/Reclamation Fellowships For Membrane Technology

The American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) and the Bureau of Reclamation are proud to announce a call for nominees for the AMTA/Reclamation Fellowships for Membrane Technology.

The need to reduce the cost, energy usage and environmental impacts in advanced water treatment and desalination is membrane technology based and therefore a focus should be on innovation of new systems or optimization of existing technology. The need for additional work in innovation is a must to meet the demand for water supplies in the United States, greater so in the arid western states of the country.

The American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) and Reclamation are partnering and collaborating in providing funding for graduate student fellowships. Reclamation is forming partnerships with private industry, universities, water utilities, and others to address a broad range of desalting and water purification needs. Reclamation is interested in research where the benefits are widespread but where private-sector entities are not able to make the full investment and assume all the risks. Reclamation is also interested in research that has a national significance — where the issues are of large-scale concern and the benefits accrue to a large sector of the public. AMTA is the leading association in the United States in the area of membrane research and membrane technology.

The AMTA/Reclamation Fellowships will consist of competed awards given to graduate students pursuing a full-time Masters or Ph.D. at a University or College in the United States conducting research in innovations for water treatment in membrane related research

Research must pertain to the advancement of membrane technologies in the water, wastewater, or water reuse industries. Funding is provided by the American Membrane Technology Association and the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Please visit http://www.amtaorg.com/amta_reclamation-fellowships-for-membrane-technology for more information, including the application process.

AMTA/Reclamation Fellowships for Membrane Technology

Length of Award: One-time payment for work in the 2017-2018 academic years

Amount of Award: $11,750

Number Awarded: Four (4) Fellowships will be awarded in 2016

USBR Partner: American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA)

Requirements: Research must pertain to the advancement of membrane technology in the water, wastewater, or water reuse industries. The research must be consistent with AMTA's vision statement: "Solving water supply and quality issues through the widespread application of membrane technology."

Possible areas of study are:

• Membrane bioreactors (MBRs)
• Membrane fouling/scaling control
• Membrane removal efficiency
• Improved feedwater recovery
• Reduced energy consumption
• Assessment of environmental impacts of desalination intake and concentrate management approaches
• Improvement of pretreatment for membrane desalination
• Improvement of membrane system performance
• Development of novel approaches or processes to desalinate water in a way that reduces primary energy use

This funding will aid in the advancements needed to pursue innovation in membrane technologies and pursue the goals and objectives stated in the White House Initiative on clean water technologies, “Water Resource Challenges and Opportunities for Water Technology Innovation”, published December 2015.

A condition of the Fellowship is that awardees will register for and attend the 2018 AMTA/AWWA Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition (MTC) and give a presentation or poster on their research. The 2018 MTC will be held in West Palm Beach, FL on March 12-15, 2018. Also required will be a mid-year report due September 2017 and a final report due September 2018.