Visit Included Trip to Europe’s Largest Wastewater Treatment Plant and Sessions with Experts in Green Buildings and Solar Energy

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 26 July 2017: Eight members of the Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) program visited the Ludwigshafen headquarters of the largest chemical producer in the world, BASF, to learn how innovations in chemical engineering are helping to solve some the world’s biggest challenges, like providing clean water to a growing population and achieving energy efficiency. YFEL is an outreach program of the Masdar Institute, part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology.

During the three-day visit, the YFEL members toured various BASF site facilities, including one of the largest wastewater treatment plant in Europe, and the BASF Competence Center Fuels and Lubes. They also received firsthand insights from BASF’s experts in water chemicals and ultrafiltration on how the company manages wastewater from BASF’s production process and discussed with the experts new and simple solutions to produce clean drinking water. The visit also included talks on insulation for greener buildings and on chemical solutions for solar energy plants that enable the sun’s energy to make a sustainable contribution towards a low carbon society. 

“The visit underscored BASF’s commitment to knowledge sharing with the sustainability leaders of tomorrow, and to finding solutions for pressing real-world problems by giving young people direct exposure to new technological trends and opportunities,” said John Frijns, Vice President Middle East, BASF. “In turn, it provided us with an insight how these extremely bright and ambitious young people work towards promoting a water-secure and sustainable energy future for the United Arab Emirates.”

The eight UAE National YFEL members were selected to participate in the program after completing a case study and submitting an essay on water stewardship. They were accompanied on the trip by Dr. Ken Volk, Outreach Manager, Masdar Institute, and Dr. Shadi Hasan, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering.

“Providing promising young people exposure to leaders in science and technology is important for the development of their abilities, ambitions, and confidence, which is a central part of the YFEL program. We are thankful to BASF for hosting this team of YFEL members, and hope these young men and women will apply the lessons learned during their sessions with BASF experts to their further academic and professional work,” said Dr. Lamya N. Fawwaz, Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Public Affairs, Masdar Institute.

YFEL offers select young professionals and students from the UAE and abroad an opportunity to become more engaged in finding solutions to the world’s biggest challenges, namely achieving energy efficiency and tackling climate change. 

Sharing her experience, Ameera Al Marzooqi, who is currently a Power Network Protection Engineer at TRANSCO, said: 'YFEL provides a platform for young people with a shared interest in the field of renewable energy to connect, and gives us the opportunity to meet influencers and successful professionals in this field. The visit to BASF allowed us to expand our knowledge on sustainability and gave us an introduction to BASF’s research and innovation.”

Another participant, Abdulla Alhajri, who is studying for his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, said: “The on-site tour was very impressive and provided me with a deeper understanding of the chemical industry, and particularly the latest in state-of-the-art wastewater treatment. It was also fascinating to see how a company the size of BASF can run its massive plants efficiently.”

The BASF Ludwigshafen site is the world’s largest integrated chemical complexes. It employs more than 39,000 people – roughly one third of BASF global workforce - and uses resource-saving processes that make products that create value for BASF customers and the environment.