The success of research contributions from an academic department will be linked to the number of research papers published by the staff and students and the awards won by them. Another achievement of the applied sciences department is to have a student Ms. Muzna Ali Al Shezawi, from the Applied Biology section being short listed as a finalist among the other four young Omani researchers in a national level competition for the title of “Young Omani Water Researcher Award 2017” conducted by “The Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC)” and sponsored by the Omar Zawawi Establishment L.L.C and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Muscat. The event was conducted on 4th October, 2017 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

MEDRC Research Program is about bringing the best regional and global expertise together to help find solutions to fresh water scarcity. Since 1996 MEDRC has supported 200 water research projects involving the best regional and global expertise together along with regional researchers from 34 countries that include Master's & PhD water research scholarships awarded to more than 115 regional nationals to study internationally, regionally and locally. More than 300 scientific publications have been produced and countless expert workshops, knowledge transfer programs have been conducted across the MENA region. (Reference: http://www.medrc.org/index.php/research/about)

The work presented by Ms. Muzna Ali Al. Shizawi is a B.Tech project jointly undertaken along with two other students, Ms. Amani Saif Al Hosani and Ms. Maryam Talib Al Riyami. The title of the project is “Study on the presence of antibiotic resistant E.coli in selected open water bodies in the Sultanate of Oman and the development of a cost effective antibacterial formulation, under the guidance of Dr. Jayachandran Vavolil P, Lecturer, Applied Biology Section, Applied Sciences Department. The study is all about the presence of antibiotic resistant E.coli in selected water bodies, like wadi and falaj in Oman. The entry of resistant isolates from human or animal origin or from clinical settings into the open water bodies can have serious negative impacts on humans and animals in the future.  The work also explored chances of developing an acetic acid based antibacterial agent. On the basis of being selected as the finalist, Ms. Muzna Ali Al Shezawi along with the supervisor of the project Dr. Jayachandran Vavolil P were invited to present the project to R&D team of the Haya Water.

The students Ms. Muzna Ali Al Shezawi, Ms.  Amani Saif Al Hosani and Ms. Maryam Talib Al Riyami and the project supervisor Dr. Jayachandran Vavolil P expressed their sincere thanks to Dr. Mohammed Ali Oueslati, Head of the Department of Applied Sciences and Dr. Afraa Said Al-Adawi, Head of Section of Applied Biology Section. The team also sincerely thanks all the technical staff at the Applied Biology section for their help at various stages of the project.

Basic Write-up by:
Dr. Jayachandran Vavolil P

Enhanced and Edited by:
Dr. C. Rama Chandra Prabhu