Celebrating another round of funding success, engineers from UWL will put their expertise to use by solving problems across the world and inspiring future generations.  

Dr Atiyeh Ardakanian and Dr Kourosh Behzadian, researchers from UWL’s School of Computing and Engineering, have been awarded seed funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) to lead on a project investigating safe use of wastewater in agriculture.  

Working alongside collaborators in the UK, Iran, and Tunisia, and United Nations University Institutes in Canada and Germany (UNU-INWEH and UNU-FLORES), the work - led by Atiyeh - will also explore a water-food-energy nexus, allowing the pair of engineers to explore new ways of working globally.  

Engineering lecturer, Atiyeh, will also use her skills as co-lead in a second project funded by the RAE to look at harnessing the destructive energy in pine leaf-litter for biodiversity regeneration in a research project led by the University of Warwick. 

Both projects are funded through RAE's 'Frontiers Symposia' programme which aims to address global challenges for sustainable development.  

Professor Amir Alani, Executive Dean of UWL’s School of Computing and Engineering, said:

We have so much talent here at the University, and to see two of our researchers able to take part in leading work which will have major impact globally is fantastic.

This is what our work here at UWL is all about: using skills and expertise to solve problems and do good; we hope that this work continues to inspire our students as they look at how they can make a difference during their careers."

The grant was supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Frontiers programme.