Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Jordan (UJ), Dr. Mohammad-Rasool Qtaishat's has always had a persistent believe that science and technology are key to satisfying human needs and improving living conditions.
His untiring hard work and four WIPO registered patents are geared towards contributing to resolving the pressing water scarcity issue in Jordan and beyond; using an innovative water treatment approach that is also energy efficient and has relatively low financial costs.
His inventive approach was listed in a STEM magazine report among the 10 breakthrough technologies that will transform life as we currently know it.
The scholar invented and developed a novel membrane design that can operate in membrane distillation (MD) - a water purification process - at very low temperature gradient without the need of applying pressure gradient.
The novel membrane design can be described as super-hydrophobic nano-porous/micro-porous mixed matrix composite membrane; this will significantly decrease the energy requirements of the MD process and it is considered a revolutionary breakthrough in the desalination and water treatment.
Furthermore, the membrane, as said by Qtaishat, is capable of treating a wide variety of water pollutants, including radioactive waste, heavy metals, phenolic compounds, industrial wastewater including textile and oil industries, and many others.
Most importantly, Qtaishat's inventions attracted an investment of approximately US $ 5 million from the Saudi Membrane Distillation Desalination Co. Ltd. (SMDD). The company is supporting the industrial development and marketing of these membranes.
According to Qtaishat, a development and pilot production centre was established in Jeddah with a team of (10) people. Its main objective is to create an influential water distillation industry in the region and become part of the solution to prevent the water scarcity crisis around the world.
The company has recently signed trade agreements with AQUASTILL LTD of Netherlands and MEMBRANE SOLUTIONS of China.
Qtaishat holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Ottawa in 2009. His PhD dissertation was on the development of a new water desalination membrane technology. His work won the first place in the Ottawa Technology Venture Challenge in 2008. He received his master's and bachelor's degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST).