News Winners announced for the 2021 J-WAFS World Water Day video competition: MIT research for a water secure future
Students from across the Institute are working to solve our water-sector challenges, applying multidisciplinary approaches to create innovative solutions.
March 30, 2021
Monday, March 22nd, 2021 was World Water Day, an international day launched by the United Nations to advocate for sustainable water use and equitable water access. This day is about both inspiration and action to motivate people all over the world to tackle the global water crisis.
For me, water means protection. A well-managed water cycle – encompassing drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, wastewater, transboundary governance, the environment and more – means a defense against ill-health and indignity and a response to challenges from a changing climate and increasing global demand.
—UN Secretary-General António Guterres
This year, J-WAFS joined the United Nations and the 150+ countries, ministries, research agencies, and organizations celebrating World Water Day with “MIT Research for a Water Secure Future,” a video competition showcasing the many exciting ways MIT students, post-docs, and recent alumni are applying the Institute’s expertise and research capabilities to the world’s water challenges. Their work was reviewed by a distinguished group of judges comprising water sector and science communications experts from across academia, the non-profit sector, and industry.
The video submissions we received illustrate a wide variety of research-based solutions responding to the challenges named by the UN Secretary-General and more. MIT is fortunate to have such dedicated students applying knowledge toward developing cross-sector water innovations and solutions. Including materials scientists, mechanical engineers, systems analysts, business students, and more, what they all share is a passion to solve hard problems for the betterment of humanity.
Below you will find the research videos that received awards as well as the full list of video submissions.