Two Doctoral Students Studying Novel Membrane Technologies Receive The 2018 AMTA-NWRI Fellowship Award

The American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) of Stuart, FL, and National Water Research Institute (NWRI) of Fountain Valley, CA, are pleased to announce the 2018 AMTA-NWRI Fellowship for Membrane Technology has been awarded to doctoral students Michael Geitner of The Pennsylvania State University and Cassandra Porter of Yale University.

The fellowship provides $10,000 a year for two years to support graduate student research that pertains to NWRI's objectives to improve water quality, protect public health and the environment, and create safe, new sources of water, as well as AMTA’s mission to solve water supply and quality issues through the widespread application of membrane technology. Both recipients are conducting research on novel membrane technologies.

Geitner is a first-year doctoral student at The Pennsylvania State University. He is evaluating bioinspired hypochlorite-resistant reverse osmosis membranes under the supervision of Dr. Manish Kumar, Associate Professor Departments of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Kumar also was an AMTA-NWRI Fellow (from 2007-2009).

Porter is a second-year doctoral student at Yale University. She is developing ion-rejecting membranes with polyelectrolytic layers produced through surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization under the supervision of Dr. Menachem Elimelech, who is the Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering.

Both fellows will attend the Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition in March 2019 in New Orleans, LA, to present their research and receive recognition of their fellowship awards. This conference is administered jointly by AMTA and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is designed to showcase new directions in water and wastewater treatment technologies, desalting, and membrane bioreactor applications.

For more information about the fellowship program, visit http://www.amtaorg.com/nwri-amta-fellowships-for-membrane-technology.

About The American Membrane Technology Association
The American Membrane Technology Association’s mission it to promote, advocate and advance the understanding and application of membrane technology to create safe, affordable and reliable water supplies, and to treat municipal, industrial, agricultural and waste waters for beneficial use. AMTA provides broad opportunities for the exchange of technical, operational and financial information among individuals and organizations interested in membrane technologies. As the leading advocate of membrane processes in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America, AMTA is a strong voice for regulatory and legislative reforms essential to the understanding, acceptance and utilization of membrane technologies. For more information, visit www.amtaorg.com.

About The National Water Research Institute (NWRI)
The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) was founded in 1991 by a group of Southern California water agencies in partnership with the Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie R. Clarke Foundation to promote the protection, maintenance, and restoration of water supplies and to protect the freshwater and marine environments through the development of cooperative research work. NWRI’s member agencies include Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Irvine Ranch Water District, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Orange County Sanitation District, Orange County Water District, and West Basin Municipal Water District. For more information, visit www.nwri-usa.org.