- Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Hosts the Award Ceremony for GPIW
- Celebrating Winners Whose Solutions Surpassed Rigorous Criteria, with Total Prizes Reaching $10 Million
Jeddah today hosted the landmark international event of the announcement and honoring of the winners of the 3rd edition of the Global Prize for Innovation in Water (GPIW), following an intense competition that captured the attention of the international water community.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony held as part of the 4th edition of the Innovation Driven Water Sustainability Conference (IDWS2025).
During the ceremony, the names of 14 winners were revealed after their solutions successfully surpassed the strict evaluation criteria set by the international judging panel.
The total value of the awards across all stages amounts to USD 10 million, in recognition of the winners’ efforts in transforming research ideas into technologies ready for real-world application.
The Grand Impact Prize was awarded to Han Qing Yu of China, while the Grand Discovery Prize went to Guihua Yu of the United States of America.
In addition, 12 winners from different tracks were honored, including: Charlie Norton, Primalal Balakrishna Pillai, and Omar Dawood from the United Kingdom; Jianan Gao from Hong Kong, China; John Gradic, Hamid Reza Samouei, and Andrushevets from the United States of America; Alina Camps and Inés Larría from Spain; Walid Soufi from Turkey; and Abrar Dhafer from Saudi Arabia.
The awards followed a final qualification stage that featured 36 finalists from 22 countries, representing leading universities, advanced research centers, and global technology companies.
The winning innovations covered six key tracks vital to the water sector: advanced water production technologies, water quality improvement and reuse, smart treatment solutions, scaling-reduction technologies, digital models for process optimization and automation, as well as sustainability-focused innovations and solutions.
The judging panel, comprising 28 international experts from 12 countries, praised the exceptional quality of submissions, confirming that the winning solutions stood out for their economic feasibility, positive environmental impact, and strong potential to address global challenges related to water scarcity and climate change.
