By Christie U. Omonigho
- IDRA says partnership will connect its global desalination and reuse network with the University of Pennsylvania’s flagship water research center, spanning mentorship, capstone research, careers programming, and reciprocal membership.
Energy Window International (Media) – The International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA) and The Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania said they have signed a one-year collaboration agreement to formalize a partnership between two of the sector’s most active platforms for research, workforce development, and water industry leadership.
The agreement which reflects a shared recognition that the water sector’s biggest challenges, from scaling non-conventional water resources to building the workforce needed to deliver on them, which has equally taken effect from 1 April 2026, to last till 31 March 2027, was signed by IDRA Secretary General Shannon McCarthy and Water Center at Penn Executive Director Howard Neukrug, P.E.
IDRA says the partnership will focus on joint programming across research, student and early-career engagement, industry convenings, and reciprocal participation in each organization’s flagship events, including the 2026 IDRA World Congress in Riyadh. Specific initiatives will be developed and announced by the two organizations over the coming year, IDRA said.
“This partnership connects two communities that, together, can do more than either could alone: translate cutting-edge research into real-world application, open doors for the next generation of water leaders, and strengthen the policy and workforce foundations that the sector’s current growth phase demands. I look forward to what we will build together over the coming year,” said Shannon McCarthy, Secretary General of IDRA.
“The global water sector is in a period of rapid change, and the water security challenges we are working to solve in building a future water workforce are challenges that cross borders,” says Howard Neukrug, P.E., Executive Director of The Water Center at Penn. “Partnering with IDRA gives our researchers, professors, students, and Corporate Roundtable members a direct line into the global desalination and reuse community, and gives IDRA’s members a gateway into the research and leadership work we are leading here at Penn. This is the kind of collaboration that moves our sector forward.”
Energy Window International (Media) gathered that the Water Center at Penn operates as a hub for applied water research, policy engagement, and leadership development in the United States, with a particular focus on utility transformation, equity, and the future of the water workforce. IDRA says it represents the global desalination and water reuse sector, with members across more than 60 countries spanning utilities, technology providers, financial institutions, research organizations, and governments.
IDRA further said that the partnership will build on its broader strategy of deepening relationships with leading academic institutions and policy bodies as the sector enters what it said was described as “its fastest growth phase on record”. It said installed desalination capacity has grown significantly since 2020, and water reuse capacity continues to scale rapidly as regulators in the US, EU, Middle East, and beyond move to formalize potable and non-potable reuse frameworks.
The two organizations said they would review and evaluate the collaboration at the end of the one-year term, with the opportunity to strengthen and enhance the partnership moving forward.
