XYLEM
Christopher Whitfield and Wenqi (Jonathan) Zhao from the United Kingdom receive the prestigious Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2024 for their work on PFAS pollution in the Thames Basin. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden presented the winners with their award during a ceremony at World Water Week in Stockholm.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pollution is a growing concern worldwide. Focusing on the Thames Basin in the United Kingdom, where there are with no equitable solutions to the problem, Whitfield and Zhao developed a geospatial neural network, predicting PFAS values to within 10 percent of experimentally validated values.
For this, they were announced the winners of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, an international competition where students between the ages of 15 and 20 present solutions to major water challenges.
Speaking on winning the prize, Zhao said, “We are very proud to have won this prize. It has been an amazing stay here in Sweden with so many new friends”.
The Jury noted that Whitfield and Zhao “find a way to take data and turn it into actionable knowledge. [They have] identified PFAS hotspots using machine learning, field tested their results, developed a cost-effective filtration system, and reached out to local governments and environmental organizations to raise awareness.”
The winners were presented with their prize during an award ceremony at World Water Week by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the Prize’s Official Patron.
The Diploma of Excellence was awarded to Shanni Valeria Mora Fajardo and Rosa Mendoza Sosa from Mexico for their work on how to reuse inked water with homemade filtration to produce veggie gardens.
The People’s Choice Award went to Manoel José Nunes Neto from Brazil, completing the line-up of winners.
The Stockholm Junior Water Prize has been organized every year since 1997. It is hosted by the Stockholm Water Foundation, with Xylem as Founding Partner.
“Innovation is paving the way to a more water-secure world, and the next generation are accelerating progress. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize competitors are an inspiring example of the ingenuity and passion young innovators bring to the table. On behalf of Xylem, I’d like to congratulate all those who took part in this year’s competition,” said Austin Alexander, Vice President of Sustainability and Social Impact at Xylem.
Read more about the winning projects:
- Stockholm Junior Water Prize: United Kingdom
- Diploma of Excellence: Mexico
- People’s Choice Award: Brazil
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240827691002/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
UAE announces Google Gemini Is Now the Most Culturally Accurate AI for Arabs28.11.2025 22:31:00 CET | Press release
The world’s first assessment to assess AI models’ alignment with Emirati identity and values The UAE’s Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Office announced that Google Gemini has ranked first in the “AI in the Ring” Index, the world’s first benchmark designed to evaluate how effectively AI language models reflect Emirati culture, dialects, traditions, and national values through a challenge centered on cultural intelligence within the UAE context. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251128785463/en/ UAE announces Google Gemini Is Now the Most Culturally Accurate AI for Arabs (Photo: AETOSWire) Gemini earned the top ranking following a review of over 400 questions across 7 cultural dimensions and 5,200 generated responses from 11 major language models. A Committee of Emirati experts evaluated the outputs to identify which models demonstrated the strongest cultural understanding. F
GE HealthCare announces CE Mark for the Omni 128cm total body PET/CT system28.11.2025 12:00:00 CET | Press release
FOR USE IN CE-MARK EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ONLY GE HealthCare announces CE Mark for its Omni 128cm total body PET/CT,i a next-generation imaging system designed to advance precision care as well as cancer diagnosis, staging and treatment planning The new system is designed to accommodate head-to-thigh imaging in a single bed to improve workflow and efficiency, and enable a significant reduction in dose/scan time – all important factors, especially for populations like pediatric patients Built for both clinical and research excellence, the system may support the development and evaluation of new clinical pathways, novel PET tracers and emerging theranostic agents GE HealthCare today announced CE Mark for its next-generation Omni 128cm total body positron emission tomography / computed tomography (PET/CT) system,i a major milestone in its mission to advance precision care. Designed to advance cancer diagnosis, staging, therapeutic planning and treatment response monitoring, this innovative sy
King Abdulaziz Foundation Organizes the First Edition of the Forum on the “History of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques” in Jeddah28.11.2025 10:53:00 CET | Press release
King Abdulaziz Foundation (Darah) held the first edition of the Forum on the “History of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques”, convened as part of the program of the “Hajj Conference and Exhibition 2025” at the Super Dome Hall in Jeddah, in cooperation with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Guests of God Service Program, during the period from 9–12 November 2025. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251128600368/en/ King Abdulaziz Foundation Organizes the First Edition of the Forum on the “History of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques” in Jeddah (Photo: AETOSWire) The forum’s activities were inaugurated following the announcement by His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Special Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the King Abdulaziz Foundation, who declared the launch of the forum during the opening ceremony of the “Hajj Conference and Exh
VSO Unveils VCP v1.0, a First-of-Its-Kind Cryptographic Audit Protocol to Restore Trust in AI-Driven Markets28.11.2025 06:30:00 CET | Press release
New open standard replaces opaque server logs with mathematically verifiable evidence, helping market participants meet EU AI Act and MiFID II transparency requirements The VeritasChain Standards Organization (VSO), an independent international standards body, today announced the global release of VeritasChain Protocol (VCP) v1.0, an open cryptographic audit protocol designed to provide mathematically provable transparency for AI‑driven and algorithmic trading systems. VCP replaces mutable server logs with a tamper‑evident chain of cryptographic evidence, enabling regulators, brokers, exchanges and trading firms to move from trust‑based oversight to verification‑based supervision. Why This Matters Now The launch of VCP v1.0 comes at a pivotal moment for global market infrastructure: More than 80 proprietary trading firms collapsed between 2024 and 2025 amid regulatory scrutiny, opaque execution models and frozen payout disputes, leaving a trust gap between traders and platforms. Regula
Andersen Consulting styrker sine kompetencer med BMA27.11.2025 22:48:00 CET | Pressemeddelelse
Andersen Consulting udvider sine kompetencer inden for bæredygtighed og virksomhedsforandring gennem en samarbejdsaftale med BMA, der er et sydafrikansk firma, som arbejder for at styrke konkurrenceevnen i fremstillingsindustrien og fremme inkluderende industriel vækst. BMA, der blev etableret for mere end to årtier siden, arbejder på tværs af produktionsværdikæder – fra producenter til deres kunder – sammen med myndigheder og udviklingsagenturer for at fremme bæredygtig industriel konkurrenceevne. Gennem sine sektorfokuserede industrielle klynger leverer firmaet integrerede tjenester inden for industriel politik og strategisk udvikling, værdikædestrategi, produktionskonkurrenceevne og lean-rådgivning, reduktion af CO2-udledning samt udvikling af små og mellemstore virksomheder og samler interessenter omkring fælles prioriteter og skalerbare, langsigtede løsninger. "Bæredygtig produktion handler om mere end effektivitet. Det drejer sig om at skabe økosystemer, der er regenerative, resi
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom