International Desalination Association Awards 2013 Channabasappa Memorial Scholarship to Leila Karimi

The International Desalination Association (IDA) has awarded the 2013 Channabasappa Memorial Scholarship to Leila Karimi, a PhD candidate at the Institute for Energy and the Environment, Chemical Engineering Department, New Mexico State University (NMSU). 

The objective of the IDA Scholarship, which is presented annually, is to encourage engineers and scientists to further their education in subjects related to desalination and water reuse. The scholarship provides financial assistance to graduate students who have been accepted into a graduate program of doctoral studies and who intend to pursue a desalination and water reuse related research thesis. The total maximum grant per student is $10,000 USD per calendar year.

Born in Iran, Ms. Karimi graduated as the outstanding student of secondary studies in 2000 and pre-university studies in 2001, and then was accepted to attend Sahand University of Technology in Tabriz where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 2005 and a Master of Science degree in 2009. 

After teaching undergraduate courses from 2009-2011, she decided to pursue the doctoral program at NMSU because of its international leadership in the field of water treatment and the opportunity to work with distinguished researchers from academia, government and industry.

In 2011, Ms. Karimi began her research as a member of the team in the Institute for Energy and the Environment/WERC. Her focus is on the selective removal of ions in an electrodialysis reversal process as one of the inland desalination technologies that is appropriate for brackish groundwater.

She has mentoring and teaching experience in addition to her research in the laboratory and has made several presentations at conferences, especially on brackish water desalination, and has been published in Water and Wastes Digest magazine.

To be eligible for the Channabasappa Memorial Scholarship, an applicant must have graduated from an accredited university and be from the top 10% of their class in science or engineering. He/she must prove full-time admission to a graduate program of doctoral studies in desalination or water reuse, and exhibit leadership and achievement potential. In addition, the applicant must be a current member of IDA. Four references are required, with at least one from an IDA Director or member. The applications are reviewed by the IDA Scholarship Committee, which has at least two IDA members from universities.