WEX Global Awards 2023 Winners
The international entrants hailed from a variety of backgrounds, showcasing innovative solutions in the water and energy sectors.
AB InBev
Winner
Improving water treatment in rural Bolivia: the experience of the 100+ Accelerator and Ayala
CirTec BV & Van Remmen UV
Shortlist
MOST
ZwitterCo, Inc.
Shortlist
Superfiltration Membranes - Immune to Fouling
Aquacycl
Shortlist
BioElectrochemical Treatment Technology
Innovation in Decarbonising
Aquacycl
Winner
BioElectrochemical Treatment Technology
DC Water
Shortlist
DC Water’s Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility
Desolenator BV
Shortlist
Demonstration of first ever solar PV-T powered MED desalination plant
APG Neuros
Shortlist
Advanced Aeration Control
Innovation in Digitalised Water Management
Royal HaskoningDHV & Waterschapsbedrijf Limburg
Winner
Digital Twin of WBL’s wastewater transportation system
Avic BV
Shortlist
Maintenance free Solar powered IoT device
FIDO Tech
Shortlist
Actionable AI delivers 37% leakage reduction in Northumbria
Aquasight
Shortlist
Regional Smart Water Platform
Innovation in Financial Partnership
Desalytics Water Solutions
Winner
Intelligent financing for Africa
MIYA Water
Shortlist
Portmore Co-management, Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Reduction Programme
AB InBev
Shortlist
100+ Accelerator
Aqualia Award for Innovations
Ferr-Tech
Winner
FerSol, Ferrate(VI) solution for washing and wastewatertreatment in Polymer Recycle Plants
Shortlist
WEX Global 2026
Shortlist
WEX Global 2026
Shortlist
WEX Global 2026
Shortlist
WEX Global 2026
Shortlist
WEX Global 2026Our esteemed panel of judges is represented by experts in the water and energy sectors.
Leon Awerbuch
International Desalination Consulting Associates
Leon Awerbuch is CEO International Desalination Consulting Associates. Member Honorary Council, Chair Energy and Environment Comm of IDA. He has been involved in the desalination industry for more than 35 years. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from IDA at the 2007 World Congress in Grand Canarias and Life Achievement at the Inaugural Power Generation and Water Solutions Middle East Awards October 2009. In January 2015 L Awerbuch was voted one of Water & Wastewater International’s top 25 industry leaders, and in 2019 awarded 51 Most Impactful Leader in Water and Water Management
Jaime Castillo
Global Omnium
Jaime Castillo is Head of Institutional Relations and R&D&I at Global Omnium, Jaime’s role includes design and development of relations with universities, research centres, technical and professional associations, employers and similar entities. He represents the companies of the Aguas de Valencia Group on their boards, governing bodies and other working groups. He also has responsibility for the functions of R + D + i and the Department of Management Systems including Quality, Environment, Ohsas, and other certified standards.
Enrique Cifrés
ICOLD
Enrique Cifrés is Vice-President of ICOLD. He is a doctor civil engineer with 40 yers of experience mainly in water national agencies including the greatest desalination program in Spain. Beside begin Vice-President of ICOLD, he works in many countries as advisor in Water Resource Management and Dam Engineering and risk analysis.
Helge Daebel
Emerald Technology Ventures
Helge Daebel leads the water practice at Emerald Technology Ventures, a globally recognised Climate Tech investor with a twenty-year investment history, having a unique traction in the water space including successful exits to major industry players (SUEZ, XYLEM and BASF) with companies like Pure Technologies and Optimatics. An Environmental Engineer by training, Helge is also co-founder and Managing Director of ripple2wave incubator, an entity dedicated to supporting seed and pre-seed stage water tech companies in Singapore.
Juliette Douglas
Water Alliance
Juliette Douglas was responsible for marketing and communications at Water Alliance for 9 years, before moving to Portugal to be part of the International Business Development team, specialised in Italy, Spain and Portugal, to increase brand awareness of the Dutch watertech sector and build business alliances. Water Alliance is part of a unique ecosystem: the Water Campus Leeuwarden, along with Wetsus (science), and Centre of Water Technology Expertise (applied research), forming an innovation.
Ghassan Ejjeh
Besix
Ghassan Ejjeh brings a wealth of water and desalination experience to the judging table, as Senior VP at Besix – where he has worked since 1966 – past president of the International Desalination Association and a great advocate of its activities, especially in water reuse. He has also has senior roles as Deputy Chairman ABLCC, Director of SIXCO, Besix-Santotec, ASPCL, and at SAFI Water, and is a highly respected business leader in water and concessions.
Beverley Ferrara
The Water Council
Beverley Ferrara is is the European Representative for Trade & Investment and Stakeholder Engagement for The Water Council. With 25 years experience providing international business development and marketing counsel to organisations in both public and private sectors, she is now responsible for inward investment, creating and nurturing relationships between The Water Council, a US non-profit for advancing water technology innovation, and European water organisations and companies.
Tom Freyberg
Atlantean Media
Tom Freyberg is currently Founder & Managing Director of Atlantean Media, a global digital content creation company for the environmental engineering industries specialised in water. Tom is an experienced environmental journalist, connector and communicator specialising in water. He is also Content Director at Aquatech, and responsible for co-creating the Aquatech Online platform from the ground up, while populating with regular high-quality news, views and analysis for the global water market.
Oliver Grievson
Z-Tech Control Systems
Oliver Grievson is a specialist in ICA and the Smart Water Industry, having also covered the roles of analytical chemist and utilities operational manager in his extensive and varied international career. He is chairman of the Sensors for Water Interest Group (SWIG), Assessor & Reviewer Trainer for CIWEM, and is Technical Lead for the Water Industry at Z-Tech Systems. He also publishes WIPAC Monthly, a periodical focused on water industry process and control.
Paul Horton
Future Water Association
Paul Horton is CEO of the Future Water Association, Previously Director of Membership & Development at CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management); International Director at British Water; and policy adviser at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), Paul brings vast experience and knowledge to the judging panel and at WEX 2022 will joint chair the session: ‘Biotech and Digital Transformation: Creating Smart Cities of the Future’.
Walid Khoury
Desalytics
Walid Khoury is a water industry veteran with 20 years of experience leading commercial organisations at Fortune 500 companies. Having led water divisions at Nalco, GE, and Danaher, he recently launched Desalytics, a fast-growing social impact company tackling the water challenges in Africa. Khoury also hosts global leaders in short video discussions showcasing the latest technology and sharing industry insights.
Mohsen Mortada
3i Strategies
Mohsen Mortada, CEO of 3i Strategies. His 30-year career began with city, regional and state governments in Tucson, Phoenix, and Albuquerque dealing with water issues. He has 10 years of experience in management consulting, and spent 14 years as CEO of two major engineering firms in the Middle East and Canada. Mohsen has done extensive work in climate change protocol negotiations, resiliency, and food security.
João Simão Pires
Portuguese Water Partnership
João Simão Pires is Executive Director of Portuguese Water Partnership. He has a strong formative background in strategy consulting in multiple industries and geographical settings. Over the past 15 years has specialized in environmental industries with a strong focus on the water and waste management sectors, including regulation, utility management, financing, governance and PPP. Senior lecturer at the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics. Msc in Economics from CLSBE and MBA in Finance and Strategy from the Simon Business School @ the University of Rochester, NY, USA.
Pedro Povoa
PWater Consulting
Pedro Povoa is Founder and Managing Director of PWater Consulting which provides boutique engineering for traditional design and new business models to support holistic integration of Water Resource Recovery Facility with cities, agriculture and industry. He has 21 years experience in the water industry, comprising 18 years in public water utilities and 10 years engineering consulting. With experience in the planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance and innovation of water and wastewater systems, and working across Europe and the USA.
Miguel Angel Sanz
Suez International
Miguel Angel Sanz is Director of Strategic Development in Suez International based in France. Having joined the Degrémont group in 1983, he has occupied several positions in the group in Spain and France as Technical Director, Desalination Manager, Proposal Director and Business Development Director. A Past-President and Director of the IDA (International Desalination Association), and Director of AEDYR (Spanish Desalination and Reuse Association), he also served 8 years in the board of directors of European Desalination Society.
Dragan Savić
KWR Water
Dragan Savić is Chief Executive Officer at KWR Water based in the Netherlands, and Professor of Hydroinformatics at the University of Exeter in the UK. An international expert in smart water systems with 35+ years of experience in engineering, academia and research consultancy, his work has resulted in patentable innovation and spinout companies, and he believes in “bridging science and practice” in the wider water sector and utilities in general.
Jim Southworth
Box Energi Ltd
Jim Southworth, chairman of Box Energi Ltd, has over 45 years’ experience in utility sectors. From 1976 to 1990, Jim specialised in capital delivery and operational management. From 1990 to 2010 Jim was International Business Development Director for UU working in North America, South America, Central Europe and Middle East. In 2010 Jim set up an independent consultancy having clients in UK, Africa, Europe, Japan, Middle East and North America.
Ryan Welsh
City of Cincinnati, Metropolitan Sewer District
Ryan Welsh is Chief Engineer at City of Cincinnati, Metropolitan Sewer District in the USA – at WEX 2022 he is joint chair of the critical session, Decarbonising Wastewater Treatment. This session explores the quest for net zero wastewater treatment, which creates an ever-increasing burden on both utilities and industrial users striving to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases from their operations. Ryan comes to WEX ‘“To get new ideas for how to deal with situations by learning from people in other parts of the world.