Babar Khan, a Ph.D. Candidate in Bioscience, working at the Water Desalination and Reuse Center won the best Oral Presentation Award at the International Symposium on Nanomaterials and Membrane Science 2018, held in Marrakech, Morocco on October 11-12, 2018. The award was presented by Prof. Saad Alami Younssi.

Babar presented his doctoral work on early detection of microbial activity using a fluorescence-based enzyme detection system. This technology has the potential to guide preventative maintenance in situ for seawater desalination, which currently account for more than 25% of operating costs.

At ISNMS, he benefited from Professors Menachem Elimelech (Yale, USA) and João Crespo (NOVA, Portugal), leading researchers, who offered their views on incorporating this technology into full-scale system. Babar is advised by Prof. TorOve Leiknes and is scheduled to defend his Ph.D. in November 2018.