Today, on Monday, June 12th, 2023, the University of Echahid Hamma Lakhdar of Eloued held a joint master’s graduation thesis in the Mediatek lecture hall. The thesis aimed to obtain a startup certificate/patent under the framework of Ministerial Decree No. 1275 of September 27th, 2022, and Circular No. 001 of May 18, 2023. The thesis was titled “Rapid Treatment of Contaminated Water Using Palm Waste” and was prepared by a working group consisting of Dr. Larbi Haddad, a lecturer at the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Department of Chemistry, as a supervisor, and students Khadija Tarili, Radia al-Later, Muhammad Osama Hathroubi, Hasna Gharbi and Rmeisa Ben Omar.
The memorandum was discussed by a committee consisting of Ms. Naima Ben Sheikha, President of the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Djilani Ghammam Amara, an examiner from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Life, Khaled Mansouri, a representative of the University Business Incubator, Mufid Abdellawi, Director of the Entrepreneurship House, Mr. Youssef Ragab, a representative of the Technology and Innovation Support Center, Hisham Muhaida, a representative of the economic partner of the National Office for Sanitation in the Valley, and Hamza Saray, a representative of the Algerian economic partner for water, Eloued Unit. The event was attended by Mr. Lakhdar Ataa, Director of Algerian Water, and a number of the Foundation’s staff, the Director of the incubator, Dr. Fouad Farhat, Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab Mansour, Dean of the Faculty of Exact Sciences and his deputy for external relations and scientific research, and the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, Dr. Abdelmalek Zatar, and his deputies for studies and external relations.
At the beginning of the meeting, the director of the incubator gave an opening speech, after which the students presented their study on three main axes. The first axis covered the possibility of using palm waste as a filtering material in water treatment. The second axis was about reusing and recycling these materials, and the third axis was about the possibility of using treated water for agricultural irrigation. The research team’s results showed great promise in terms of research and economics, and they made several important recommendations. The committee members and attendees were also interested in the topic, as it relates to the current issue of water pollution that the world is facing.
It is worth noting that this research team is the first at national level to include two different disciplines – organic chemistry and environmental diversity and surroundings – from the faculties of exact sciences and natural and life sciences. The supervisor emphasized the need and possibility of unifying efforts, especially when studying the most important material on earth – water. It is also noteworthy that the team has obtained a patent and is waiting to obtain the mark of an innovative project, as was mentioned by the supervisor. In conclusion, the committee congratulated the supervisor for his clear efforts and granted the students the full mark with appreciation of excellence