Dr Sumayya Mieta, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Water and Health Research Centre was announced a winner at the 2019 WRC Symposium and received the Water Research Commission Knowledge Tree Award for New Product and Services for Economic Development on Wednesday, 11 September 2019.

The award is based on the lateral flow immunoassay (similar to pregnancy test) she developed for monitoring water for the presence of bacteria. She was awarded funding from the Water Research Commission to do this project for her doctoral degree in the Water and Health Research Centre within the Faculty of Health Sciences at UJ.

She is currently receiving National Research Foundation (NRF) funding to pursue a Post-Doctoral Fellowship to further develop this product.

The WRC Symposium is a key event in the South African water sector calendar and an opportunity for various sector stakeholders, beneficiaries and leaders to come together to take stock, review new benchmarking content and share ideas that will advance efforts towards a water secure future. The symposium is an opportunity to facilitate matchmaking of research opportunities and innovations with investors and potential users and serves as a platform for robust dialogue with influencers, policymakers and key decision makers to unlock the South African environment for innovation.