Al Akhawayn University (AUI) has been selected as one of the award recipients of the 2025 African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec) grants. The funded AUI research project will explore innovative wastewater treatment and digital monitoring.
The AUI grant awardee will receive up to $300,000 USD in funding. The Afretec Network awarded $2.3 million USD this year to multi-institutional research to increase Africa's digital and sustainable development.
Directed by Dr. Nadia Arrousse of Al Akhawayn University School of Science and Engineering in Ifrane, Morocco, in collaboration with Dr. Hamed Hashemi of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, the project is titled “Multilayer Biofilter System for Wastewater Treatment and Digital Monitoring in Africa.”
The work has a vision of improving water quality inside Morocco and South African pisciculture (fish farming) facilities. It integrates biofiltration technologies with digital monitoring platforms to optimise water reuse, as well as environmental sustainability in aquaculture.
One of the core elements of the project is building designs for training open-access university graduates who are unemployed in the two nations.
The training programs will further boost African indigenous competence in water treatment technologies, complementing employment opportunities and a prolonged digitalisation agenda.
Since it first began in 2022, Afretec, led by Carnegie Mellon University Africa, has provided $7.43 million USD towards collaborative knowledge creation initiatives ranging from artificial intelligence and machine learning, through to renewable energy.
This latest announcement highlights AUI’s contribution to applied research and its commitment to innovation and solutions to some of Africa's most pressing environmental and economic challenges.
Learn more:
https://engineering.cmu.edu/news-events/news/2025/10/03-afretec-grants.html