AI & Water: What Lies Ahead?
By Dean Amhaus, The Water Council President & CEO
Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days (although it’s not writing this newsletter yet!). That was driven home last week when I attended a packed Wisconsin Technology Council luncheon on Microsoft’s planned AI data center in southeastern Wisconsin and its plans for an AI Co-Innovation Lab focused on manufacturing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
If you missed that session, I have good news: Balamurugan Balakreshnan, chief artificial intelligence officer/architect at Microsoft and a key player in the new Co-Innovation Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will be speaking at our Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit on Oct. 29 and 30. Microsoft only has six other Co-Innovation Labs in the world, and this will be the first to focus on manufacturing and to be located on a university campus in the U.S. He will participate in a panel about the role of AI in modern energy and water infrastructure – you won’t want to miss it.
That’s not the only excitement we have planned for our summit, which we are hosting for the first time in collaboration with the Marquette University Sustainability Lab. Get ready for an electrifying event that brings together visionary leaders shaping the future of energy, water and sustainability. In addition to our esteemed keynote speakers, Katie McGinty of Johnson Controls and Radhika Fox of North Star Strategy, we’re also excited to spotlight our climate resiliency panel, featuring:
- Steve Hellem, Executive Director, Suppliers Partnership for the Environment
- Karine Rougé, CEO, Municipal Water, Veolia North America
- Sanjiv Sinha, CEO, CIS (Corvias Infrastructure Solutions)
We will be making more exciting announcements in the near future. Click here for a full event program. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the conversation that will shape the next generation of sustainable solutions — register now!
Water + Energy Forward
This was an exciting month for The Water Council as we unofficially kicked off the next phase of our Water + Energy Forward Engine, or W+E Forward. As you probably know by now, the engine is a consortium of 50+ organizations addressing the water-energy-waste nexus at small and medium-sized manufacturers and wastewater utilities in Wisconsin and beyond.
On Sept. 5, we announced that The Water Council and Veolia North America are pairing up to launch a Water + Wastewater Workforce Center. The center will address water workforce challenges, such as training and education, outreach, diversity and inclusion, and upskilling. We also agreed to work together to advance new water and energy technologies, a critical piece of the engine.
We were thrilled to welcome Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, Sam Rikkers of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Rebecca Buretta of Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office and other special guests to the event.
The following week, we held the first of several Community Conversations about the engine where we invited Milwaukee residents and local organizations to learn more about the engine and share perspectives on how the engine can benefit a diverse population of residents. We were thrilled with the turnout and participation. Watch for details about future Community Conversations in Madison and the Fox Valley in October.
Water stewardship
Our next water stewardship webinar is coming up Sept. 24. Join Fresh Coast Climate Solutions and The Water Council to learn about the EU’s sustainability reporting requirements and their effects on water and biodiversity reporting.
Sustainability reporting is now required for companies based in the EU and will soon be mandated for certain US-headquartered firms. Nearly 3,000 US-based companies will have to begin reporting to the EU on their water usage and biodiversity impacts. This webinar will touch on double materiality, value chain inclusion, third-party verification and more.
This week, our vice president of water stewardship, Matt Howard, is traveling to the Grundfos Industrial Sustainability Summit in Kansas to lead a plenary session on Thriving in a Water-Stressed World and participate in a panel on Industrial Water Stewardship, Circularity and Reuse. He will then head to Houston for a workshop with members of the American Chemistry Council on assessing water risks at their facilities.
innovation update
We are now accepting applications for our fall Tech Challenge, focused on microplastics and nanoplastics.
The semi-annual Tech Challenge is open to anyone with a novel solution for selected topics, including researchers, individuals, entrepreneurs, startups and established companies. Participants compete for a prize of up to $10,000 as well as the chance to get their innovation in front of leading water technology companies. The topics are chosen by our corporate sponsors, A. O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter and Watts Water Technologies.
This session’s topics are:
- Treatment and removal of microplastics and nanoplastics at facility or point-of-use scale
- Water quality sensing of microplastics and nanoplastics at facility or point-of-use scale
Applications are due Oct 28. Click here to learn more.
weftec
WEFTEC is just a few weeks away, and as usual, The Water Council will be quite busy. This year’s conference is Oct. 5-9 in New Orleans. This year, we will participate in the following panels/events:
- Water & Energy Forward: Growing Resiliency & Sustainability for Manufacturers & Utilities
Monday, October 7, 1:30-2 p.m., SDG Theater – Drinking Water Pavilion - Water Innovation Clusters: Meet and Greet
Tuesday, October 8, 12:30-1 p.m., Innovation Pavilion - Global Innovations for Resiliency and Sustainability
Tuesday, October 8, 1-1:30 p.m., Innovation Pavilion - Building the Local and Global Water Workforce
Wednesday, October 9, 9-10 a.m., Global Center Stage
Learn more in our Know Before You Go Guide and at our dedicated WEFTEC web page. Members, please let us know if you’ll be attending and/or presenting at WEFTEC.
new members
We are welcoming new members from all over the world this month: Fiola Filter Technology based in New York City, Great Bubble Barrier based in the Netherlands and Rudolf Messner Umwelttechnik based in Germany. We also welcome Slater Consult of Denmark as our newest Water Champion. Welcome to the hub Where Water Works!
members news & opportunities
- News: The town of Midland, Ontario, receives an innovation award for its water infrastructure project in collaboration with Cann Forecast.
- News: Primo Water releases 2023 sustainability report.
- News: Veolia North America releases its annual sustainability report.
- Jobs: Green Lake Association seeks a project and operations manager.
- Opportunity: The Wisconsin Eonomic Development Corporation is arranging trade missions to Australia and Mexico.
- Opportunity: The Government of Jordan seeks a qualified international contractor to manage the operations of the Yarmouk Water Company.
- Event: The U.S. Commercial Service is holding its next U.S. Environmental Technologies Market Intelligence Webinar on Brazil on Sept. 19 and one on India on Dec. 4.
- Event: The Empowering Pumps & Industry Conference is Nov. 12-13 in Golden, Colorado.
- Event: The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Conference is Nov. 12-13 in Milwaukee.