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Celebrating our people at the Australian Water Association’s Victorian Water Awards

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Australasia Press Office
10 December 2017

Congratulations to Priyani Madan who won the Young Victorian Water Professional of the Year, and Gabby Butera who was awarded the Research Innovation Award for her research on ‘Emerging Contaminants: Innovative Technology for Treatment and Removal’ at the Australian Water Association’s Victorian Water Awards ceremony held in Melbourne on 7 December.

Gabby is a Process Engineer in the Melbourne Environment and Resources team and was recognised for the research she conducted into emerging pollutants in ground and drinking water in Australia. The results of the study highlighted several key contaminates which until only recently, had remained largely unaddressed in Australia. Seeking alternative solutions she was able to identify seven unique treatments which could help to filter out these contaminates.

Gabby has presented her research extensively, including at the International Water Association Young Water Professional Conference in Cape Town, the International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference in Melbourne, and the European Waste Water Management Conference in Leeds where she won the European Young Water Professional & Poster Award 2017. Her research paper is currently under review for publication.

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Gabby’s research and passion for seeking different solutions has helped fill a gap in the water sector, which could lead to more solutions and preventions in both a local and global context. ”

Matthew Lloyd-Smith Matthew Lloyd-Smith Associate Principal

Priyani is a Water Engineer in the Melbourne Environment and Resources team and active member of Arup’s regional water team having contributed to a variety of projects, presentations, and pro bono work. Most recently Priyani was involved in the New Zealand Water Consumer Survey, which surveyed 4,500 people across New Zealand to understand consumer perceptions on water issues, following which she ran a forum at the Water NZ Conference about the results of the survey and also presented on the Future of Urban Water.

Priyani is passionate about humanitarian engineering, and in addition to being Arup’s Engineers without Borders partnership manager, she has been involved in a number of bro-bono projects, including the Port Stewart Water Supply, where she designed a water intake and treatment system for the Lama Lama indigenous community in Far North Queensland. She is currently managing and completing a pro bono project based in Hanuabada, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

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Priyani is an exceptional water consultant whose strong technical capability and passion for humanitarian work sets her apart from her peers as a future leader. ”

Matthew Lloyd-Smith Matthew Lloyd-Smith Associate Principal

Priyani’s commitment to humanitarian work has previously been recognised by Engineers Without Borders where she won the EWB Danny Award in both 2015 and 2016.

This award, named after EWB founder Danny Almagor, is awarded for inspirational change makers who are models of EWB values and leadership.

Priyani’s volunteer work is aimed at inspiring future young engineers, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and includes her role as a mentor and tutor for the Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) program.