Programme overview

Kala Vairavamoorthy is an internationally recognised water resource management expert, with particular expertise in urban water issues. He combines a strong engineering background with practical international experience.

He has published extensively and has a strong international profile working closely with the World Bank, UN-Habitat, UNESCO, GWP, SIWI and the EU. This includes leading several urban water management projects for the World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and DFID.

Prior to joining the International Water Association, he was the Deputy Director General for Research at the International Water Management Institute. Kala was also the Founding Dean of the Patel College of Global Sustainability and a tenured Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of South Florida (USA). Prior to that he was a full professor and Chair of Water Engineering at the University of Birmingham (UK), and Professor and Head of Core of Sustainable Urban Water Infrastructure Systems at UNESCO-IHE (Netherlands). He is currently Professor (adjunct) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM).

Kala has a PhD and MSc in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College, University of London, UK and a BSc (Hons) from King’s College, London.

Geoff engages in the strategic direction of Ecolab’s water and energy related innovation with a particular emphasis on the water-energy-productivity nexus. He has 34 years direct experience in industrial water management including sales, project management, auditing, research & development and technical training.

He has been involved in the design, optimisation and troubleshooting of many key utility processes across a variety of industries including manufacturing, power production and the petrochemical sector.

Geoff is also actively involved in Ecolab’s sustainable development initiatives, especially in water stewardship and decarbonization. He initiated and continues to support the industrial affiliation and applied research activities at KAUST, KSA. Since 2017, Geoff has led Water Europe’s Cluster Theme ‘Water Smart Industry’ and he now chairs their Water-Smart Industries Community of Practice. He also engages with NGOs to lessen industrial impacts on vulnerable river basins. He represented the Netherlands in the development of ISO14046 “Water footprint – Principles, requirements and guidelines”. Dr Townsend has a BSc (Hons) in Ecology and a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.

Christophe Lasseur, born and now retired in Normandy, was for 35 years staff of the European Space Agency, where he successively was: research fellow, Life Support engineer, head of MELiSSA project, Coordinator of life support development, Certified Astronaut instructor and for 12 years Head of the International Life support working group aiming to coordinate NASA, ESA, JAXA, RSA, CSA life support activities.

He owns a PhD in bioengineering from Compiegne university, and received a doctor honoris Causa from Antwerpen university. He is the first non-American since 1944 to have received the Jeffries award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace.

Guido joined Nyrstar in 2001, was Head of Leaching and Roasting and held several management positions. He was General Manager for Nyrstar Netherlands in the period 2014-2016 and switched to General Manager for Nyrstar Belgium in the period 2016-2019.

In 2018 he became Nyrstar’s Vice President for European Operations. In early 2024, he was appointed Global CEO of the Nyrstar Group and is responsible for the company’s global operations in Europe and Australia.

Before joining Nyrstar Guido worked as Technology Manager for an innovative wastewater treatment company doing projects all over the world. Guido holds a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering.

Iris is a Water Process Technologist at HaskoningDHV, specializing in industrial water treatment challenges. She is also part of the Water Compliance team, where she works with Dutch water regulations and supports clients in navigating the complexities of their water permits.

Her work is driven by the question of what is technically achievable while minimizing the environmental impact of industrial discharges on receiving water bodies.

She holds both a BSc and MSc in Process Biotechnology from Wageningen University and has been working for Haskoning for over two years.

Kees Maarschalk has joined Royal Avebe in 2017 and is currently Science Director. He focuses on scientific and technological developments with special emphasis on innovation, sustainability and value creation from starch potatoes.

He is active in projects around water use, extraction of ingredients from potatoes and starch conversions. Before Kees joined Avebe he had roles in R&D in different food and pharmaceutical companies. He also was a teacher at the University of Groningen.

Sanjeeb Mohapatra is a Marie Skłodowska Curie (MSCA) Fellow at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, TU Delft. Prior to this position, he served as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the National University of Singapore.

His research primarily focuses on identifying and quantifying emerging contaminants (ECs) and evaluating their fate during wastewater treatment. Through the Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship, he aims to develop a novel photoanode to remove emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, PFASs, and antimicrobial resistance genes through photoelectrochemical oxidation of secondary treated wastewater.

Jules van Lier has been full professor in Wastewater Treatment / Environmental Engineering at TU Delft since 2008 and was head of the Section Sanitary Engineering from 2010 to 2025. From 2009 onwards he also held a seconded position at UN-IHE in Delft, focusing on North-South academic cooperation.

He is specialized in anaerobic treatment technology and works on cost-effective technologies for wastewater treatment, sludge and slurry treatment, resource recovery and water reuse. Since 2016, his research has also included electrochemical extraction techniques for ammonia-focused resource recovery.

He has co-authored more than 320 scientific papers and book chapters, chaired the IWA Anaerobic Digestion Specialist Group, became a nominated member of the IWA Fellow programme in 2011, and received the 2025 Dunbar Medal from the European Water Association in cooperation with IFAT.

David A. Vermaas obtained a PhD degree in chemical engineering from the University of Twente and Wetsus in 2014, after studying hydrology and water management at Wageningen University. He was involved in REDstack and later co-founded AquaBattery, developing flow batteries using water and salt gradients.

David was appointed assistant professor at TU Delft in 2016, developing work on Electrochemical Flow Systems. His current projects include an ERC Starting Grant on mass transport enhancement strategies, the ReCoVR project on selective CO capture, and coordination of the MELODY project on a membraneless H2-Br2 flow battery.

Ivan Buijnsters is an associate professor in the Department of Precision and Microsystems Engineering at Delft University of Technology. He is a research leader with a strong eye for materials-enabled solutions and is specialized in synthetic diamond.

His current research focuses on boron-doped diamond electrodes for energy technology, water treatment and sensing. He holds an MSc degree in Chemistry and a PhD degree in Applied Physics, and has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at institutions in the Netherlands and abroad, including Radboud University Nijmegen, KU Leuven and the Materials Science Institute of Madrid.

Jouke E. Dykstra is an Associate Professor in Environmental Technology at Wageningen University & Research, specializing in electrochemical, membrane-based and adsorption processes for water treatment, including selective ion separations and micropollutant removal.

He develops physics-based theoretical models to describe coupled ion and electron transport, local pH dynamics and acid-base equilibria, and uses these insights to overcome limitations in desalination, electrodialysis and adsorption technologies. He teaches environmental electrochemical engineering and colloid chemistry and is co-author of two textbooks.

Jasper Schakel is co-founder of CIWI, a TU Delft spin-out developing modular electrochemical systems replacing conventional treatment chemicals. He studied Environmental Engineering at TU Delft, specialized in water treatment, and also holds an MBA from IMD in Lausanne.

He started his career as a project engineer at Witteveen+Bos and later joined the African Water Corridor program under Prof. Doris van Halem, where he co-developed and operated an electrocoagulation pilot in northern Ghana. CIWI has since scaled its technology close to full operational size and is working with multiple drinking water companies and wastewater utilities across the Dutch water sector.

Nooshin Barzegar Marvasti is a final-year PhD candidate at the University of Birmingham, funded by the BBSRC MIBTP (UKRI). She has more than 10 years of industrial experience as a process engineer, working on the design and optimisation of urban and industrial water treatment systems.

Her current research focuses on life cycle assessment of a nature-based wastewater treatment system using Daphnia as a living biofilter and the integration of emerging contaminants into environmental impact assessment. She is also a certified openLCA trainer and has delivered workshops for academic and professional audiences.

Aashlesha Chekkala is a PhD scholar in the Department of Chemical Engineering at BITS Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, India. Her research is sponsored by Birla Carbon and she is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Doctoral Research Fellowship.

Her doctoral work focuses on water recovery from gaseous emissions in the carbon black industry. Her expertise includes process simulation using Aspen Plus, techno-economic assessment and life cycle assessment. She is also a certified Professional in Life Cycle Assessment through the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Ruizhe Pei is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna. He earned his PhD from TU Delft in collaboration with Wetsus. Trained as an environmental engineer, his work combines microbial ecology and environmental biotechnology to advance sustainable wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

Beyond the lab, he serves as the founding Chair of the IWA YWP Switzerland Chapter and represents YWP on the management committee of the IWA Resource Recovery Cluster. He is also actively engaged in science communication and outreach, with particular enthusiasm for engaging younger generations.

My name is Hanneke Spijkerboer, and I work as a corporate sustainability water specialist at Aviko, where I am working on the future of industrial water use by connecting technology and strategy.

With my physical-chemical background in molecular life sciences and the broad development I have undergone during the Nationaal Water Traineeship, I enjoy working at the intersection of operational processes, policy, and technological innovation. In my role I work on water reuse, water treatment, and water reduction, and I am committed to solutions that both strengthen the industry and contribute to a future-proof water sector.

As a Young Water Professional, I strongly believe in collaboration and circular thinking as drivers of real change.

At AquaMinerals I focus on creating sustainable value from residual streams within the water cycle. My role sits at the intersection of circular economy, environmental impact, and business development, helping bring applications for secondary raw materials to market.

I collaborate with water utilities, industries, and other partners to turn by-products into valuable resources. I’m particularly interested in how cross-sector collaboration and innovative business models can accelerate circular solutions such as industrial water reuse.

Pooja Halvawala is a Research and Development Engineer at Lenntech, specializing in applied research for industrial process-water challenges. With five years of hands-on experience and a foundation in water treatment technologies, her work focusses on advanced water treatment technologies – especially pressure driven and electrochemical processes – to turn complex industry needs to practical solutions.

Passionate about circularity, reuse, and recycling, Pooja contributes to efficient water treatment strategies across diverse industrial sectors, with a strong focus on water and salt recovery, brine minimization, and the recovery of valuable chemicals. She focuses on turning research findings into practical improvements for industrial water treatment. Outside of work, Pooja enjoys strength training at the gym, exploring nutrition, and dancing.

Rick Hogeboom, PhD, leads the Water Footprint Network, a non-profit knowledge center that seeks to use the water footprint concept to promote science-based water stewardship practices in public and private policy worldwide.

He is also Associate Professor in Multidisciplinary Water Management at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, where he studies how natural and socio-economic processes affect water resources, and vice versa. In this dual capacity, Rick works with various actors, from multilaterals and multinationals to local communities and civil society, to move the needle on water.