The Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) participated in the VII Ibero-American Conference on Advanced Oxidation Technologies (VII CIPOA), held in Quito, Ecuador, from October 12 to 16, 2026.
CIPOA is one of the leading scientific conferences in Ibero-America, gathering scientists, scholars, and professionals to present their research and discuss future directions and applications of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs).
Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Cyprus, and PSIPW’s 2026 laureate for Alternative Water Resources, represented PSIPW at the conference, speaking on the Prize’s behalf, officiating at all of PSIPW’s activities, and presenting all PSIPW-sponsored young researcher awards.
PSIPW actively supported six young researchers through two award events.
Three young researchers were awarded for Best Short Oral Communication. They are:
Andrea Naziri, from the University of Cyprus – Nireas IWRC, for “Demonstrating sequence-dependent synergy in the sequential UV/PAA disinfection for antimicrobial resistance control”.
Camila Sherlyn Neri Hernández, from CICATA-Legaria, Mexico, for “Photoreduction of Cr (vi) in aqueous media using cl-modified G-C₃N₄ sustainable photocatalysts”.
Fernando Paul Rodríguez León from Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ecuador, for “Mixed ferrites as heterogeneous catalyst for Fenton-like oxidation of methylene blue”.
Three young researchers were awarded for Best Poster. They are:
Carolina Quimbaya Ñañez, from Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia, for “Effect of koh-pretreatment and pyrolysis temperature on the catalytic behavior of carbonaceous materials derived from banana pseudo-stem for peroxymonosulfate activation”.
Bayron Edilberto Cardenas Fuertes, from Universidad de Nariño, Colombia, for “Degradation of naproxen and ciprofloxacin in the presence of Fe-G-C3N4 photocatalyst assisted by visible light”.
Daniela Cristina Valarezo Armijos, from Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador, for “Water remediation of emerging contaminants via modified TiO2/clay photocatalysts under solar and led light”.
Additionally, there was a dedicated Venture Catalyst event, an entrepreneurship initiative aimed at PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scientists ready to scale commercial applications of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs/AOTs) and related green technologies.
Three researchers were awarded in this event:
Francisca Moreira, from the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto, Portugal, for “NETmix-X”, an innovative electrochemical flow reactor that integrates a static mixer network. The e–NETmix design promotes a laminar chaotic flow regime that achieves mass transfer coefficients significantly higher (up to ~63-fold) than conventional parallel-plate electrochemical reactors.
Natan Padoin, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, for “OxFlow Technologies”, a strategic initiative designed to drastically enhance and accelerate chemical processing. The approach addresses the technical limits of traditional batch chemistry by migrating liquid-phase and multiphase chemical synthesis into engineered micro-channels and continuous flow loops.
Daniela Gier Della Rocca, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, for “Geopolymeric Membranes for Wastewater Treatment”, an approach that combines low-cost geopolymeric materials with catalytic properties and allows for the recovery of membrane performance through in situ cleaning.
