Old Westbury, NY – New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to support a workshop, Clean Water Matters: Challenges and Research Perspectives, at Peking University in Beijing on April 18, 2014. The workshop is being held in conjunction with a U.S.-China EcoPartnership Conference on April 17, The Water-Energy Nexus: Sustainability and Global Challenges, organized by NYIT and Peking University.

The overarching goal of the "Clean Water Matters" workshop is to initiate joint research collaborations among scholars in China and the United States seeking to address pressing water challenges affecting both nations, with potential applicability to other regions of the world. NYIT's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences and Peking University's Center for Water Research are jointly planning and executing the workshop, in association with Wuhan University's International School of Software, the International Society for Water Solutions (ISWS) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and HDR, a global engineering and architecture firm. All these parties are members of the U.S.-China EcoPartnership on Groundwater Monitoring, Protection and Training, led by NYIT and PKU. The U.S.-China EcoPartnership Program is an initiative of the U.S.-China Ten-Year Framework (TYF) for Cooperation on Energy and Environment.

Specific objectives of the workshop are, first, to build a common research platform for collaboration that supports active engagement and joint approaches to clean water challenges facing both nations, and, second, to form a U.S.-China water research and education community to promote joint research projects. The proposed collaboration will enhance scientific cooperation between Chinese and U.S. scholars and junior fellows, and provide students from both nations with opportunities for international research experiences.

The event is structured to favor dialogue and exchange among participants with various perspectives and backgrounds. It will bring together lead water protection and management scholars, seasoned policy professionals, and agencies that support science and research advances, together with young investigators in the early stages of their careers, post-doc fellows, and graduate students interested in pursuing research in the workshop topical areas.

A detailed agenda and list of invited speakers is available online. Discussion sessions include the following:

• Quality modeling for megacities and rural areas
• Water scarcity and hydrologic challenges
• Research advances in water management for hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas production
• Information Systems for real-time water quality monitoring and analysis

Nada Marie Anid, Ph.D., dean of NYIT's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences and Principal Investigator of the project, said, "The recognition of our efforts to promote advances in science and engineering by the National Science Foundation as we join our Chinese colleagues will help protect the earth's water resources. This award exemplifies NYIT's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences' mission to support research that benefits society."

The interdisciplinary nature of the workshop allows for a broad-based perspective drawing from academia, the scientific and academic community, and entities that focus on the advancement of science and technology, including national agencies, foundations, and corporate partners. NYIT's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences is taking the lead on the technical programming side of the workshop, as well as the Water-Energy Nexus conference the day before. Together with PKU, HDR, and AIChE's Institute for Sustainability and International Society for Water Solutions, all partners are supporting the workshop's design and content, securing participants and government funding agencies' representation across the two nations.

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