American University of Sharjah (AUS) alumna, Apoorva Goel is among the top five finalists of Shell Ideas360, a global competition in which students develop ideas to tackle the pressures on the world’s food, water and energy resources. Goel made it into the finals with like-minded innovators from the US, France, Australia and Indonesia, out of 1,100 candidates that participated in the competition this year from all across the globe.


Goel, who received her Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from AUS last month, reached the finals of the competition with her project entitled “Microbial Electrolysis Cells,” which focuses on water treatment using a sustainable and environment-friendly technique. The technology desalinates water, removes contaminants, and at the same time generates electricity. Goel teamed up with Gautam Sabhahit, a student from the University of Connecticut, USA, who handled the financial and commercial aspects of the project.


“I am indebted to my family who sparked my interest in sustainability through recycling at the household level. My initial interest in wastewater treatment began during my undergraduate studies and was significantly advanced at AUS through its state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. I am grateful to my two advisors: Dr. Naif Darwish, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Ahmad Aidan, Senior Laboratory Instructor, whose guidance and moral support inspired me to push my limits as a research student. I am fortunate to study at AUS, where advanced pedagogy techniques and comprehensive curriculum made learning fun, exciting and reached high levels of Bloom’s taxonomy educational model. Getting educated in the UAE has blessed me and other students with numerous opportunities to nurture our interests,” Apoorva said.


“Apoorva is one of our dedicated research students at AUS. It is up to the young generation to drive the movement towards a sustainable future and it is incumbent upon us to back them on their innovative journey,” said Dr. Darwish.


From September 2017 to January 2018, more than 15,000 students from across 140 countries joined on a unique journey of learning and discovery at Shell Ideas360. As part of the global student program, students developed over 3,363 ideas and nearly 1,100 of them were eligible to compete for stage one, 67 ideas were selected for stage two and these were further reviewed and analyzed to select the top five finalists.


The finalists will now start working on their final presentations which they will pitch to a panel of judges during the final round which will be held from July 5 to 8 at Make the Future Live, a festival celebrating science and the future of energy, in London. The winning team will receive a trophy along with an adventure trip organized by National Geographic.


Shellideas 360 has also announced an audience choice award for the top five finalist teams, the score of these votes will add 20 per cent weight to the final results. Five videos with idea summaries from each of the finalists, are available now for audiences review and voting.


Let's help Apoorva win by voting for her idea here https://www.shell.com/careers. It is the first video on the list.


Good luck Apoorva and Gautam!