水環境国際招聘賞（いであ招聘賞）（JSWE-IDEA Water Environment International
Exchange Award）授賞に関して
本会では，水環境分野の国際交流・国際協力の促進を目的として，いであ株式会社からのご出捐により，水環境国際招聘賞と水環境国際活動賞を設けております。水環境国際招聘賞は本会年会で研究発表を行う海外在住外国人会員に対して，来日費用等の助成を行う制度です。第 54 回年会には中国から 2 名，韓国から 1 名，マレーシアから 1 名を招聘し，研究発表を行っていただく予定でした。しかしながら，この度の COVID-19 の感染拡大により岩手での年会が中止になりましたので，紙面（年会講演要旨集：電子版および冊子版）で発表がなされたとの扱いになりました。そこで，受賞者に研究内容や抱負等についてご執筆いただきましたのでご紹介します。なお，今年度の水環境国際招聘賞の募集案内は秋頃に本誌会告に掲載する予定です。
（水環境国際活動賞・招聘賞選考委員会）

JSWE-IDEA Water Environment International
Exchange AwardAssociate Professor, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology（MJIIT）
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Norhayati Abdullah, Ph.D

My heartiest gratitude and thanks to the Japan
Society on Water Environment （JSWE） Committees
on Overseas Member Invitation Program for giving me
the honor of JSWE-IDEA Water Environment
International Exchange Award for the 54th JSWE
Annual Conference. Despite the unfortunate circumstances of global pandemic COVID-19, I look forward toparticipate in the conference next year as JSWE
provides a great platform for knowledge exchange andinternational collaborations.
I am currently the Associate Director of UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia （UTM） International Kuala
Lumpur and Associate Professor of Environmental
Engineering at Malaysia-Japan International Institute ofTechnology（MJIIT）．I completed my tenure as Guest
Scholar at the Graduate School of Advanced
Integrated Studies in Human Survivability（Shishu-kan），Kyoto University, Japan in January 2019focusing on environmental psychology, translating
engineering practices into public engagement. This isin line with my involvement as the ASEAN Scienceand Technology Fellow focusing on the strategic
recommendations for water sector transformation withthe Academy of Sciences Malaysia. In 2018, I received
the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science
Fellowship award for the aerobic granulation development research using palm oil mill effluent.
Since joining UTM in 2008, I have been involved invarious wastewater treatment studies utilizing aerobic
granular sludge. The first study was conducted for myPhD whereby aerobic granular sludge was developed
using industrial wastewater sourced from oil mill palms
which is in abundance in Malaysia. Aerobic sludge
Vol. 43（A）  No. 6（2020）

granulation is the unique transformation of microbial
bio-flocs into compact aerobic granular sludge. Thissludge eliminates the biomass-liquid separation problems that are commonly associated with the conventional activated sludge treatment of agro-based wastewater, such as palm oil mill effluent. Consequently,
aerobic granular sludge has a high potential to overcome the poor settling properties of activated sludge.
In contrast to anaerobic granular sludge, an understanding of the microbial population dynamics in aerobic
granulation environments was also investigated. Aerobic
granular sludge can be used to treat various types ofwastewater including domestic wastewater. In my paper,
I will share some findings related to the treatment of
low-strength domestic wastewater using aerobic granulation technology in a sequencing batch reactor.
Activated sludge was used as the seeding for granulation. The results indicated good chemical oxygendemand（COD）and ammoniacal nitrogen removals at
72％ and 73％， respectively. Aerobic granular sludge
was successfully developed with low sludge volumeindex （SVI30） of 29 mL g-1, which demonstrated anexcellent settling properties of the granules.
This will be my first participation at the JSWE annualconference. Looking forward to share and exchange
research experiences with distinguished experts,
academia and students. As an International Water
Association（IWA）Fellow and Fulbright US-ASEAN
Visiting Scholar, I wish to also share my experiences
being involved in the water sector at global level.
Looking forward to contribute to the forthcoming
programs and activities under the auspices of JSWE,
for the benefit of mankind and society.
189

JSWE-IDEA Water Environment International
Exchange Award
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering,
Jeonbuk National University（全北大學校，副教授）

Hyun-Woo KIM（金絃佑）As a nominee of the JSWE-IDEA ‘Water Environ­ment International Exchange Award’, I would like tothank committee members and all the members of theJapan Society of Water Environment. Although
COVID-19 prevents us to meet at the 54th annualconference（Iwate Univ, March 16-18）, I feel deeply
honored to have been selected as one of awardees andhave a chance to make friends with many colleagues
working at the same research and development field.
I earned my Doctoral degree in August 2006 at theDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology（KAIST）. I have been focusing on the development ofleading-edge environmental engineering system tosolve major environmental concerns and energy problems simultaneously using creative, sustainable, andcost-effective engineering concepts. My prior andcurrent research backgrounds have inspired me withseveral research areas such as photobioreactor system,high-rate anaerobic digestion system, novel microbial
engineering systems for wastewater treatments. Mostof the possible topics are strongly related to my
doctoral and post-doctoral researches at KAIST andArizona State University. Since I joined Jeonbuk
National University, I also participate in researches on
advanced oxidation processes using non-thermal
plasma technology to reduce emerging/persistentorganic pollutants in the various secondary effluents.
My greatest challenge is to find means to estimate
right kinetic and stoichiometric constants in mathematical expressions to predict the behavior of microbial or
physico-chemical reaction mechanisms precisely.

190

Successful characterization of advanced systems canallow me to conduct a simulation benchmark for treatment performance improvement. I expect to provide
overall big pictures and core features of such technologies that will work for human society as a treatment
system.
For the conference, I prepared a talk regarding thefeasibility of the non-thermal plasma （NTP）, one ofadvanced oxidation processes（AOPs）, for the simultaneous removal of microalgae and their toxins using amathematical approach to explain their decomposition
or release numerically. This topic is important becausesome of the bloom-forming microalgae are producing
microalgal toxins, for example, microcystins （MC）.
Thus, we harvested microalgal biomass in a reservoir
suffering from a severe algal bloom and applied theNTP generator producing reactive chemicals with glowdischarge. By suggesting a mathematical model, wecould predict how the varying concentrations of MCs
are associated with the microalgal degradation kinetics
during the NTP application. Our findings verify that
NTP might have a better performance than otherAOPs for microalgal biomass and toxin control insurface water.
Now I deeply understand JSWE’s contribution to oursociety and would like to share key ideas and learn
novel approaches for better water environment at thefuture conferences of JSWE. Again, I really appreciate
this opportunity and would continuously contribute toexchanging academic activities between the Korean
Society of Environmental Engineers and JSWE.

水環境学会誌

Journal of Japan Society on Water Environment

JSWE-IDEA Water Environment International
Exchange Award
Professor, School of Environmental Science and Engineering,
Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学，教授）

Guangli Liu（劉広立）

First of all, I would like to thank Japan Society on
Water Environment（JSWE）committee for awardingme the JSWE-IDEA International Exchange Award.
With the recommendation from the Chinese Society for
Environmental Sciences and the support of the JSWEIDEA International Exchange Award, I was invited toattend the 54th Annual Conference of JSWE held inIwate from March 16 – 18, 2020. It is my great honor
to be awarded and I thanks for all the support andhelp from both China and Japan sides.
I got my doctoral degree in the Environmental
Engineering, Tsinghua University in March, 2002. I
continued the study on water reuse at Peking
University as a postdoctor. Since I joined in Sun
Yat-sen University, I have been working on the field of
the bioelectrochemical system（BES）and water reuse.
My research mainly focuses on the wastewater treatment and reclamation using the BESs. I have tried todevelop microbial electrolysis desalination and chemical-production cell （MEDCC） for desalination andrefractory organic compounds removal and proved theMEDCC consuming low energy in the desalination. My
recent research topics are industrial wastewater treatment including pharmaceutical and textile wastewaters, hydrogen peroxide production and seawater
desalination using BES, other environmental applications of BES.
In this conference, I submitted my research work
about pesticide wastewater treatment, entitled by“Pesticide wastewater treatment using the combination of the microbial electrolysis desalination andchemical-production cell and Fenton process”. Realwastewater with several toxic pesticides, 1633 mg L-1
COD, and 200 in chromaticity was used for the investi-Vol. 43（A）  No. 6（2020）

gation. We showed that desalination in the desalinationchamber of MEDCC reached 78%. Organics with low
molecular weights in the desalination chamber could beremoved from the desalination chamber, resulting in
28％ and 23％ of the total COD in the acid-production
and cathode chambers, respectively. The desalinationin the desalination chamber and organic transfer
contributed to removal of pesticides （e.g., triadimefon）， which could not be removed with othermethods, and of the organics with low molecularweights. The COD in the effluent of the MEDCC
combined the Fenton process was much lower thanthat in the perixo-coagulaiton process（< 150 vs. 555
mg L-1）. Overall, the combined method consumed muchless energy and acid for the pH adjustment than thatthe Fenton. I will try to scale up our combined system
for the real pesticide wastewater treatment in next
step.
The coronavirus outbreak all over the world madethis prestigious conference postponed, but gave us alesson that we should communicate and share our findings so as to make the world a better place. The
conference provides such a very good chance to haveinteresting ideas, make new fried and meet old friends
who have known each other through the symposium
between environmental societies from China and Japanin recent years. I believe that the conference would bevery successful and high valuable for any researchers
in the water environment after we overcome the coronavirus outbreak. I will contribute myself to advancethe cooperation between China and Japan. Thankprofessors and students of JSWE again for their dedication on this prestigious conference.

191

JSWE-IDEA Water Environment International
Exchange AwardProfessor, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University（中国农业大学工学院，教授）

Wei QIAO（乔玮）First of all, I would like to express my thanks toJSWE-IDEA committee for awarding me this greathonor in the 54th Annual Conference which wasplanned to be held in Iwate on March 16-18, 2020.
I completed my Ph.D. at Tsinghua University in theSchool of Environment. After that, I continued myresearch on anaerobic treatment of organic waste atTohoku University Japan as a post-doctor supportedby the JSPS program. In 2014, I joined China
Agricultural University and work on the treatment
and recycling of agricultural waste. My research focus
on overcoming economic and technological barriers ofcurrent anaerobic digestion technologies through innovation on biological, physical and chemical process. I
have also committed to the fundamental researchwhich supports the creation of innovative anaerobic
process and reactors. The main objectives of myresearch are to upgrade the anaerobic digestion
performance to enhance the bioenergy production,produce matured and pathogen free digestate, and thehigh quality treated wastewater. Anaerobic digestion（AD）can thus play a more important role in agriculture treatment and recycling.
For attending the 54th JSWE conference, I submitted
a paper which proposed a novel two stage AD process
for nitrogen rich waste. It was well known that theslow hydrolysis rate and ammonia inhibition effects
significantly limited the performance of anaerobic
digestion. Innovative two stage AD was therefore
investigated for chicken manure, a typical nitrogenrich waste, by combining hyper-thermophilic （70 °C）
pretreatment and a subsequent submerged flat sheet192

anaerobic membrane bioreactor（AnMBR）. In addition,
an in-situ stripping was assembled into the AnMBR toremove the ammonium-N being intended to alleviate
the inhibition effects.
Through the 120-day continuously fed experiment,
the hydraulic retention time was optimized at 4 and 15
days for the pretreatment and AnMBR, respectively.
The hyper-thermophilic pretreatment reactor effectively hydrolyzed the substrate and produced total
VFA as high as 22.4 g L-1. The methanogenic activity
was not completely inhibited in the hyperthermophilicreactor. Methane was thus also produced at 78
mL gVS-1 with a content of 24％ CH4. In the AnMBRreactor, the biogas yield （85％ CH4） reached 333
mL gVS-1 at HRT 15d. Compared the control AnMBR,
the biogas production was noticeably enhanced by 71％ through ammonia stripping, reached 392 mL gVS-1.
The ammonium-N concentration was reduced fromaround 5750 mg L-1 to 3060 mg L-1 under HRT 15d.
The ammonia inhibition effects were therefore mitigated. During the whole experiment, microfiltration
performance of the membrane kept stable.
Conclusively, the two stage AD process may provide
an alternative approach for the treatment of nitrogenrich organic waste. The optimization of ammonia stripping and long term membrane operation maintenanceis still worthy of further study.
Once again, I am grateful for the organization of theJSWE activities. The 55th annual conference is highlyexpected. The communication through the conference
may provide more opportunities for fostering innovation in anaerobic treatment of water.

水環境学会誌

Journal of Japan Society on Water Environment