Prof. Jirí Wanner, Ph. D. (55) is the new winner of William Dunbar Medal awarded by European Water Association (EWA). The Professor from the Institute of Chemical Technology Prague received the prize in Munich during the Opening Gala of IFAT 2008 - The 15th International Trade Fair for Water - Sewage - Refuse - Recycling - on the 4th May 2008 from the President of the EWA, Peter Cook (UK). Prof. Wanner has been honoured for his excellent research work not only in the field of biological waste water treatment and water protection but also for his success of the intitiation and implementation of international scientific Development, Research and Education.

The Work of Prof. Jirí Wanners is put in more than 200 scientific publications and presentations. He formulated the theory of the metabolic selection in biosolids, which describes the driving forces of the elimination of nutrients. The theory has been experimentally proved from him and his co-workers. Prof. Wanner also worked on the topic of population dynamics of microorganisms in sewage sludge and the identification of bacteria in sewage sludge. As mentioned by Mr. Peter Cook in his welcoming speech, the high reputation of the Institute of Chemical Technology Prague in the international scientific field is due to the work of Prof. Wanner. The institute took part in other research programmes in Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Australia. Wanner was also an important driving force of the Czech association ACE CR. Prof. Jirí Wanner also had a leading role in the International Water Association (IWA); together with his colleague Prof. Petr Grau, he was the initiator of the foundation of the IWA Specialist Group on Activated Sludge Population Dynamics in 1988. He was the president of EWA from 2005 to 2007.

William Dunbar - a Pioneer in the Field of Wastewater Treatment Technology

The William Dunbar Medal has been sponsored by the Munich Trade Fair Centre and awarded since 1973 by the EWA every three years during IFAT. The prize consists of one Golden Medal, Certificate and a monetary prize. The medal is in memory of William Philipps Dunbar, born in Minnesota (USA) in 1863, who came to Hamburg in 1892 due to dangerous cholera epidemics.

Dunbar developed further the method of identification of the pathogens causing cholera and plague. His experiments extended to the examination of the canalization and Elbe waters, since the most common spreading paths of the pathogens are the water. Dunbar researches were so fundamental, that even today he is well known among the wastewater treatment specialists.

The European Water Association (EWA) is an independent nongovernmental and non- rofit making organisation promoting the sustainable and improved management of the total water cycle and hence the environment as a whole.

It is one of the major professional associations in Europe that covers the whole water cycle, wastewater as well as drinking water and water and wastewater treatment related wastes. With member associations from nearly all European Countries, EWA includes most of the current European Union Member States as well as Norway and Switzerland. Today, EWA consists of 25 European leading professional organisations in their respective countries, each representing professionals and technicians for wastewater and water utilities, academics, consultants and contractors as well as a growing number of corporate member firms and enterprises. EWA thus represents about 50,000 professional individuals working in the broad field of water and environmental management.