Alison Bick of Short Hills, N.J., has won the 2011 international Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP), the most prestigious international competition for water-related research, during a competition held in conjunction with World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.
Bick worked for four years on her project, “Development and Evaluation of a Microfluidic Co-Flow Device to Determine Water-Quality,” which combines micro-fluidic devices, cell phones, and chemical indicators to test water quality. Her innovative method accurately assesses the bacteria content of water and is significantly faster and up to 200 times less expensive than standard testing procedures.
According to a press release issued on Aug. 23 by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the International Jury stated, "This year's winning project reflects truly out-of-the-box thinking to find a solution to an important real-world problem that is relevant in both a developing and developed country context. It is the result of a creative, multi-faceted, and long-term effort that was triggered by an actual problem in the local community. It has the potential to revolutionize our ability to monitor water quality in a way that is fast, accurate, more flexible and less expensive than existing technologies".
As the U.S. winner, Bick received $3,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Stockholm to compete against national winners from 28 countries for the international honor. HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden presented her with the international award -- $5,000 and crystal sculpture -- during a royal ceremony in conjunction with the Stockholm Water Symposium.
Bick will present her research to thousands of water-quality professionals at WEFTEC 2011, the Water Environment Federation's 84th annual technical exhibition and conference, in October in Los Angeles.
The international competition is administered by SIWI and sponsored by ITT Corporation. WEF sponsors the U.S. SJWP with support from ITT Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, and Delta Air Lines. The Illinois Water Environment Association hosted the 2011 U.S. competition, for which Bick received sponsorship from the New Jersey Water Environment Association.
