Dr. Doris Van Halem

Biography

Doris van Halem is a Professor of Drinking Water Quality and Treatment at Delft University of Technology. Her research focuses on understanding contaminant behavior in natural waters and developing innovative sustainable water treatment technologies. She leads the Delft Global Initiative’s programme TU Delft | Water Impact and is responsible for stimulating water research in the Global South. Dr. van Halem graduated from Delft University of Technology with a cum laude MSc degree in Civil Engineering and Geosciences and received the Gijs Oskam award. In 2011, she completed her PhD research (cum laude) on subsurface iron and arsenic removal for drinking water supply in Bangladesh, under the guidance of Prof. J.C. van Dijk and Prof. Dr. G.L. Amy. Her research was conducted in close collaboration with UNICEF Bangladesh and the Department of Public Health Engineering. In recognition of her work, she was awarded the Steven Hoogendijk award for her experimental PhD dissertation. Dr. van Halem has also worked as a visiting researcher at the Sandec group of EAWAG in Zurich and as a visiting professor at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico. She was named a NWO VIDI laureate in 2020 for academic excellence and was appointed full professor in 2022. Her scientific research mainly focuses on the removal of health-related contaminants from safe drinking water supply, with a keen interest in the biological, chemical, and physical mechanisms involved. She has experience with various technologies including biological sand filters, ceramic membranes, and electro-chemical water treatment. Dr. van Halem lectures on water treatment courses and is a contributor to massive open online courses on the subject.

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Awards