Research and Innovation Community

The WEF Research and Innovation/Research and Innovation for Strengthening Engagement (RISE) Community will continue to support the core value of accelerating the adoption of innovative technology within the water industry, integrating utilities, academics, and consultants in the discussion.

The community will:

• Ensure communication between researchers working in academic and other research settings and coordinate input to WEF's efforts to understand and address priorities such as knowledge development and transfer, research funding, and so forth.
• Support and foster the participation of members from the academic and research communities in WEF's critical objective of driving innovation.
• Lead and support efforts to increase the participation of academics and other researchers in WEF programs.
• Provide leadership for and coordination of WEF's research-related conferences, including proposing events and meetings.

Chair
Erika Bailey, 2022-2024
Email:  erika.bailey@raleighnc.gov

Vice Chairs
Pusker Regmi, 2023-2025
Email:  pregmi@brwncald.com

Xavier Fonoll-Almansa, 2024-2026
Email:  xavier.fonoll@utexas.edu 

Past Chair
Annalisa Onnis-Hayden, 2021-2023 
Email:  a.onnis-hayden@northeastern.edu

Staff Manager
Fidan Karimova
Practice Leader, Global Sustainability and Innovation
Email:  fkarimova@wef.org

View archived RIC Forum Webcasts and Research and Innovation Community Technical Resources.

Below are the latest RISE focus groups. The focus group topics were selected by the RISE community. Each focus group has a timeframe of about one year, after which the focus group members vote to continue the work for another year, or to sunset the group. If you would like to join any of the focus groups, or to join the RISE community, please email Fidan Karimova (fkarimova@wef.org). 

Bioforms and Intensification

Chair: Rudy Maltos, Metro Water Recovery - rmaltos@metrowaterrecovery.com 

Digestion Intensification 

Chair: Parisa Chegounian, Metro Vancouver - parisa.chegounian@metrovancouver.org 

Hydrothermal Liquefaction

Chair: Michael Thorson, PNNL - michael.thorson@pnnl.gov 

Improvements in Pre-digestion Hydrolysis Processes

Chair: Tom Nangle, Brown and Caldwell - tnangle@brwncald.com 
Vice Chair: Rashi Gupta, Carollo - rgupta@carollo.com 

Mainstream Carbon Efficient Nitrogen Removal through PdNA

Chair: Stephanie Klaus, Hampton Roads Sanitation District - sklaus@hrsd.com 

Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR)

Chair: Jeff Peeters, Veolia - jeff.peeters@veolia.com 
Vice Chair: Per Henrik Nielsen, VandCenter Syd - phn@vandcenter.dk 

Resource Recovery through FOG 

Chair: Michael Simpson, LA Sanitation and Environment - michael.simpson@lacity.org 

Soft Sensors and Machine Learning Possibilities and Applications

Chair: Aditya Ramamurthy, Kennedy Jenks - adityaramamurthy@kennedyjenks.com 
Vice Chair: Jennifer Loudon, Intelligent Water Services - jloudon82@gmail.com 
Vice Chair: Fenghua Yang, MMSD - fyang@mmsd.com