PhD alumna wins Esch Award for water purification solution
PhD alumna Amira Abdelrasoul, centre, receives an $8,000 Esch Award, presented by Dan McGillivray, executive director, Centre for Urban Energy, left, and Rafik Loutfy, innovator-in-residence, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science.
Amira Abdelrasoul, a postdoctoral research associate and recent Chemical Engineering PhD graduate, has won an $8,000 2016 Norman Esch Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award (Stage 2) for her groundbreaking water purification solution in a bottle.
Abdelrasoul’s innovative idea is an affordable, easy to operate solution for portable and clean water. “I am exceedingly grateful for my supervisors Dr. Huu Doan and Dr. Ali Lohi as this research accomplishment would not be possible without their exceptional guidance and support,” says Abdelrasoul, who intends to commercialize her product in the Canadian market.
Tiered into three stages, the Esch Awards support students in the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science in developing innovative ideas that contribute to the Canadian economy.
Abdelrasoul’s Esch Award adds to her achievements at Ryerson. At fall 2015 convocation, she received the Governor General’s Gold Medal and the C. Ravi Ravindran Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award. The latter recognizes a doctoral dissertation for originality and contribution to social, cultural, economic and/or industrial advances of national significance.