Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea,

Objective:
Funding Agency: Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC) and the Royal Scientific Society (RSS)
Duration: Two years
Starting Date: April 1st 2006

Integrated Grey Water Reuse for Large water consumers in Jordan is applied research project that will be performed in collaboration between Mutah University with Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC) and the Royal Scientific Society (RSS). The project will run over the period from April 2006 to September-2008.
Website: http://www.idrc.ca/ehip/ev-100651-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Overall objective:
The overall objective of the applied research is to improve the quality of life and well being of men, women and children in vulnerable communities of Jordan by promoting WDM through enhancing water-use efficiency for large water consumers with attention to the protection of public health and the natural environment.

Specific Objectives:

• To develop and promote a policy on grey water management for large water consumers in Jordan as stated in the country’s Wastewater Management Policy.
• To ensure stakeholders involvement and motivate public participation in water demand management issues.
• To improve the livelihoods of vulnerable communities through the utilization of non-conventional water resources.
• To manage the demand on scarce freshwater resources as per the requirements of the Jordan’s Water Strategy.

Abstract:
The research will demonstrate, in close collaboration with the community, the feasibility of reusing grey water for irrigation and adopting grey water management policies, specifically for large water consumers in Jordan. The research will be completed within four main phases; phase I is a preparatory phase through which a citizen advisory group will be formed and current water consumption patterns at the university will be assessed. Phase II will involve data collection and analysis and community needs assessment. Furthermore, public awareness campaigns will be organized to enhance awareness levels in fields relevant to the project.
Phase III will include assessing grey water quality and quantities generated at the university dorms, selection of an appropriate treatment and reuse system, field-pilot experiments, training and institutional strengthening. Phase IV will include evaluation, reporting and dissemination of the knowledge gained and lessons learned using a wide range of methods to target different stakeholders including communities, policy-makers, large water consumers, researchers, NGOs and other.

Partners:

• Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC)
• Royal Scientific Society (RSS)

Funding Agency/Institution: Partner with Technical University of Braunschweig – Germany
Duration: 24 Months
Starting Date: April 2007
Course site: http://www.oc-praktikum.de/

Funding Agency/Institution: Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) and Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC)
Duration: 24 Months
Starting Date: August 2007

Summary:
This project aims to prepare standard refernce materials (SRM) for different natural resources samples collected from Arab countries. After certification of SRMs, they will be used for different purposes such as: lab quality assurance; instruments callibration; analytical methods validation; and to improve the capacity building for technical staff of the involved labs in the Arab countries.

Funding Agency/Institution: Arab Potash Company and Mutah University
Duration: 24 Months
Starting Date: January 1, 2008

Summary:
This project is focusing on a critical theme: Mixing of Red Sea-Dead Sea waters and its impact on inshore-offshore transport, industry and subsequent ecological consequences. Each of the components of this project will be led by a team of scientists with proven experience and high interest in conducting such a research.
This study is designed to be a pilot project using well-controlled mixed water ponds (APC site) to investigate the interaction between Red Sea and Dead Sea waters through addressing: gypsum crystallization, halite precipitation, gypsum precipitation, mineral phases and trace metals precipitation, estimating the rate of evaporation, and biological properties of the Dead Sea during filling and steady state regimes of Red-Dead Sea conduit operation.

Funding Agency/Institution: EU
Duration: 12 Months
Starting Date: October, 2008

Summary:
The proposed project is a collaboration effort between Jordan Industrial Estate Corporation [Jordan Innovation Center (Al Hassan Industrial estate)] and Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea, Environmental and Energy Research at Mutah University. The goal of the project is to set up a business incubator in the southern part of Jordan that will result in the creation of new firms and jobs. The university-driven community partnership will provide early stage technology companies and businesses with the enabling tools, training and infrastructure to create financially stable enterprises. The goal of the Southern Business Incubator (SBI) and its community partners is to facilitate smarter, faster start-up and growth of emerging businesses and technology companies so those companies will become financially successful, high growth companies in the southern community and in the country in general.
SBI clients are expected to provide an array of business development services and resources to help accelerate growth. The formal incubation process will take place through a series of strategic and tactical working sessions. The strategic sessions will be designed to help define the company business, market and capital strategies and to build the business plan. Expertise and resources are identified for the company to utilize and address tactical needs as they are identified through the strategy sessions or through other informal interactions with Incubator staff and advisors.
Regular education and networking programs also will be designed to address the shared needs identified among SBI clients. Graduation takes place when a client has achieved a level of financial and corporate growth that enables them to leave the incubator and enter the second stage of corporate growth. SBI will be a “full service” business incubator and a member of Jordan Innovation Centers Network. The project tasks will be executed in close collaboration between Mutah University and Jordan Industrial Estate Corporation and will include weekly meetings, quarterly (or as required) reports. The program will also include training workshops, meetings with government agencies in Jordan, visits to private/public organizations in Europe, and a technology transfer program between the involved parties.
The success of the incubator will be judged based on the number of technology companies and businesses, clients, new jobs and annual revenues.

Funding Agency/Institution: DAAD
Duration: 12 Months
Starting Date: April, 2009
Partner: Technical University of Braunschweig – Germany
Summary: From the Start-up Workshop
Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea Environmental and Energy Research hosted a dialogue forum between professors and students from Mutah University and the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. The scientific dialogue was focused on the wastewater reuse and soil amendments in Jordanian agriculture. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) within the German-Arab countries Dialogue program funds this project.
Prof. Abd Alraheem Al Huniti, Mutah University president, appreciated the active role of the German guests in meeting. He pointed out that it was important to establish the first step of this project, and to develop recommendations for future events stressing the need for continued cooperation between MU and the TU Braunschweig. He added that we are in MU looking forward to initiating further projects with our German friend. We have many creative people who can produce valuable projects to advance the international co-operations between universities.
Prof. Robert Kreuzig from the Institute of Ecological Chemistry and Waste Analysis at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany, the guest’s team leader, presented an overview about the Technical University of Braunschweig and the main teaching and research programs offered by the university. Prof. Kreuzig mentioned that Technical University of Braunschweig is looking forward to strengthen the scientific collaboration with Mutah University through Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea Environmental and Energy Research (PFC-DEER). For this purpose, a proposal has been already submitted targeted at the establishment of international competence centers for sustainable water management. The German team is extending their visit to Jordan from 1/5-15/5/2009.
Prof. Abdelaziz Khlaifat, the Director of Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea Environmental and Energy Research, gave a presentation about Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea, Environmental and Energy Research. He did talk about the center objectives, the importance of having a center that addresses Dead Sea related research, the conducted projects and the on-going research projects. Prof. Khlaifat stated that currently the center is carrying out six different funded projects in cooperation with different national and international centers/institutions/universities/organizations such as Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany), Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC), the Royal Scientific Society (RSS), Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA), Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), Arab Potash Company and Jordan Innovation Center at El-Hasan Industrial Estate. He said that the center and its affiliates had achieved concrete results on the carried out project such as mixing of Red Sea and Dead Sea waters and wastewater reuse and soil amendments projects. He also said that the benefits from the projects could be enhanced dramatically by having dialogues and workshops, so the results and finding can be shared and disseminated quite easily. Prof. Khlaifat mentioned that applied scientific research is an important tool that can narrow the gap between the industry and academia significantly.
Dr. Mufeed Batarseh, the project leader in Jordan, declared that the presented project is considered as outcomes of intensive scientific collaboration between Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea Environmental and Energy Research at Mutah University and Institute of Ecological Chemistry and Waste Analysis at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany. Dr. Batarseh affirmed that the start-up meeting is consisting of 4 sessions covering most concepts and fulfills the goals of the project with a participation of German and Jordanian professors and students, and at the end of the meeting the project organizers together with the session moderators will summarize the workshop conclusions and recommendations. He emphasized that the project will be extended for three years. During the implementation phase there will be a multidisciplinary stakeholders participation such as the Jordanian Farmers Union, authorities concerned with reclaimed water reuse in Jordan such as Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Environment, and the research institutes such as ENCART. Also he mentioned that exchange visits between German and Jordanian professors and students is the ultimate goal of the project that will be funded by DAAD. Dr Batarseh gave an overview also about the project management that will be leaded by Prof. Bahadir the Vice President of Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany for International Co-operation and Technology Transfer, and finally he acknowledged the DAAD for funding and financial support.

• Extraction of active materials from the Dead Sea Mud to be used as an UV-light mask
• Heavy metal distribution in soil in the vicinity of steel plant located close to Queen Alia Airport
• Atmospheric Heavy Metal Pollution in Aqaba City
• Chemical Exchange through Dead Sea Surface
• The mass balance of the Dead Sea
• Dead Sea boundary layer
• Crystallization of Dead Sea salts by cooling
• Dead Sea water as a soil improvement agent
• Production of active chloride from the Dead Sea brine by an electrochemical process
• Dead Sea Mud
• Effect of water reservoirs for absorption and stabilization of carbon dioxide
• Effect of climate conditions for optimization of water evaporation from Dead Sea and solar ponds
• Synthesis of flotation reagent for separation of halite from carnalities
• Design of solar wastewater treatment plant for pesticide removal
• Photocatalytic degradation of organics using titanium dioxide
• Production of common salts from saline waters
• Production of Potassium Chloride from Dead Sea
• Chemical and physical properties of mixed Red-Dead Sea water
• Study the Effect of Mixing Dead Sea-Red Sea Water on the Ecosystem of The Dead Sea
• Vulnerability of Water Resources in Eastern Mediterranean Ecosystems due to Climate Change – An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Management
• Heavy Metal contamination in street dust at Karak area
• Water quality of effluents from phosphate mining activities
• Quality of wet and dry precipitation in Fuheis area/ Jordan
• Environmental Design of Treatment of Industrial Wastewater using Tripoli
• Chemical Composition of Local and Imported Drinking Water Types, Jordan
• Air quality of the area surrounding cement factory at Fuheis
• Biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution in Zarqa river using green algae