The Thai Ministry of S&T headed by Mr.Somchai Tiamboonprasert, Deputy Permanent Secretary hosted an Acknowledgement Ceremony to honour Dr. Nuttaporn Pimpha a member of the NANOTEC Clean Water Flagship team and recipient of the 2014 ASEAN-US Science Prize for Women Award and Dr. Theerayut Toojinda a senior researcher from BIOTEC recipient of the 2014 ASEAN Meritorious Service Award.
Dr. Nuttaporn Pimpha and the NANOTEC Clean Water Flagship program was awarded the prize for their exemplary work in water quality research aimed to improve the availability of clean and safe drinking water in the ASEAN region with the use of nano filtration. Dr. Theerayut was recognized for his significant contribution to the development and application of science and technology in the ASEAN region. The award ceremony was recently held at Bogor, Indonesia on August 25 during the ASEAN’s S&T Week. Ms. Barbara Guthrie, Vice President and Chief Public Safety Officer at Underwriters Laboratories presented the awards.
“This is a major recognition for the ministry, NANOTEC, NSTDA, and Thailand” said Mr. Somchai. “Certainly one that we will cherish for a very long time”.
The US$ 25,000 prize recognizes a promising, ASEAN-based, early-career woman scientist, whose research focuses on water quality. The prize supports ASEAN efforts to advance regional science and technology capacity in water management. It also aims to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in technical and scientific fields.
A review panel comprised of ASEAN, U.S., and UL experts, evaluated candidates from ASEAN countries whose research ranged from the impact of surface water flows on pollutants in coastal zones, to the development of advanced water filters to ensure the availability of portable water during natural disasters.
The ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST) is an association body that works to develop planning and execution of science and technology cooperation between ASEAN Member States.
One of the flagship projects of COST is the ASEAN S&T Week (ASTW) which is conducted triennially in a rotational basis amongst ASEAN Member Countries, which has the main purpose of promoting of S&T Development in Southeast Asian Countries. It is expected that this event will open windows of opportunities for scientist, technologies, researchers, academicians, government officials, practitioners and private sectors, to interact and to promote networking, as well as to expand their S&T cooperation.
UL, the prize sponsor, is a premier global safety science company with more than 100 years of proven history. Founded in 1894, UL is evolving the future of safety by focusing on product safety, environment, life and health, commercial testing, work-place safety and knowledge services to meet the world’s changing needs.
