UoB making  a green step 

Manama : Turning a green leaf in the Kingdom’s energy conservation drive, University of Bahrain (UoB) has entered into three high-profile research agreements with some of the leading universities in the world. 

The deals, signed last week, will allow researchers at the UoB to associate with top experts from the Universities of Oxford, Aston and Loughborough. 

“To be working with such world renowned universities is a vote of confidence in our plans and ambition. Our aim is to solve problems for the region with research that has an impact; these agreements are historic for UoB,” said President of UoB Professor Riyad Hamzah.  

The agreements were signed in the presence of UK ambassador Simon Martin, a statement by the UoB said. 

In association with the University of Oxford, UoB’s research team will strive to develop a high-efficiency solution to help reduce energy consumption for water desalination in the Gulf region. The deal also outlines future research in water distillation via osmosis technology. 

“We at Oxford see this as a long-term partnership that will lead to a regional centre for sustainability that has a real impact by solving critical regional issues,” said Professor Nick Hankins from Oxford Universities. 

With the University of Aston, UoB’s focus will be on a joint study linking desalination plants using reverse osmosis technology via renewable energy systems. 

The programme aims to expand scientific research by creating opportunities for joint collaborations. It also seeks to promote joint research as well as exchange expertise and technology. 

Meanwhile, UoB’s collaboration with Loughborough University has already resulted in winning a $500,000 grant from the British Council. 

The award-winning project, one of the eight winning proposals from 170 others by the GCC and UK universities, was submitted by UoB and Loughborough as a joint research proposal to the UK-GCC institutional grant. 

As per the project, researchers from the two universities with the collaboration of the sustainable Energy Unit (SEU) will study the Kingdom’s energy sector with an emphasis on its renewable energy resources and its potential to integrate large alternative energy technologies into the power system. The project will run for a period of two years and will include the design and establishment of Renewable Energy Laboratories at the University of Bahrain.