Professor Himanshu Mishra (center), Dr. Adair Gallo Jr. (left) and Batool Albar, Ph.D. student (right)

WDRC’s Professor Mishra and his students Adair Gallo Jr. and Batool Albar won second place (Cash prize US $ 7000) in the Women to Impact Challenge organized during the Winter Enrichment Program (January 2022).

Over 300 teams participated in this competition from all over the world. Their prize-winning solution comprised of SandX and BiocharX for boosting environmental resilience in the Middle East. SandX is a KAUST patented technology that enhances water-use efficiency in irrigated agriculture, especially in hot and dry regions. Complementarily, BiocharX is an ultrahigh ion-exchange product derived from organic waste, e.g., dry date palm leaves and food waste, that enhances soil fertility and sequesters carbon in the soil to fight climate change. Check out their elevator pitch here: