Mankind’s most significant issues are being tackled by an elite group of researchers and entrepreneurs at the home of the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The world’s population is predicted to grow by more than two billion by the mid-21st Century, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs . That growth, combined with other critical factors such as climate change and urbanization, is presenting unprecedented challenges in providing basic human needs such as food and water.

How will food and water be safe and secure, and accessible to all?  The J-WAFS Solutions program, provides commercialization grants to help develop products and services that will have a significant impact on water and food security.  In August, four new projects and one renewal each received US$ 150,000.  To read more about these projects in detail visit the J-WAFS website

Renee J. Robins, Executive Director of J-WAFS, said: “Whether the issue is clean water for a rural village in India or enjoying a juicy hamburger cooked on the grill without fear of food poisoning, MIT researchers are developing technologies that will greatly improve people’s ability to have clean water and safe food at their ready disposal.”

The most recent grants follow the US$ 1.3 million J-WAFS awarded in May as part of its second round of seed grant funding to the MIT community.

John H. Lienhard V, Director of J-WAFS, said: “Commercializing effective technologies with sound business models is one of MIT’s most effective mechanisms to have a positive impact on the world.

The J-WAFS Solutions program is helping not only to stimulate creative problem solving, but also to support entrepreneurial faculty and students who are motivated by problems of global importance.”

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1 World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision, UN DESA, July 2015.