International Desalination Association (IDA) announced that Dr Corrado Sommariva, Managing Director of ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East, has been named President for the 2011-2013 term. In addition, Fady Juez, Managing Director of Metito, is First Vice President and Emilio Gabbrielli, Vice President of Business Development for Toray Membrane USA, is Second Vice President. The other officers for the 2011-2013 term are Michel Canet, Treasurer; Lance D Johnson, Secretary; Randy Truby, Comptroller; Lisa R Henthorne, Editor; and Patricia A Burke, Secretary General.
A consultant of international reputation, Dr Sommariva heads the worldwide desalination activities of ILF. He has experience in both thermal, reverse osmosis and waste water system and served in all the major desalination developments in the Middle East in various roles. He joined ILF in 2009 after working nine years with Mott MacDonald, where he led the desalination and water treatment group as Managing Director of Generation Middle East. In his early career, Dr Sommariva worked in Ansaldo Energia and Italimpianti in various roles in the Middle East.
- Dr Corrado Sommariva
Dr Sommariva has been President of the European Desalination Society (EDS), Vice President of the International Desalination Association (IDA) and Chairman of the WHO committee for the establishment of safe drinking water from desalination. He was the Technical Co-Chairman of the IDA World Congress in Dubai and co-chaired IDA’s conference on “Desalination Industry Action for Good” held earlier this year in Portofino, Italy. He leads IDA’s newly formed Humanitarian Outreach Committee.
Dr Sommariva has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Genoa University and a diploma in Management from Leicester University. An honorary Professor at Genoa and L’Aquila Universities, he holds regular courses on desalination and water reuse related matters. He has published over 50 papers on desalination leading edge research and economics as well as two books on desalination management and economics.
“My vision, as President of IDA, is to contribute to the positive development of the desalination industry and hence contribute to the development of society and of the environment in which we all live and operate,” said Dr Sommariva. “The fulfillment of IDA’s mission is important to those of us in the desalination industry. However, it is even more meaningful to the people and economies who seek solutions to their water problems.”
