News J-WAFS awards Travel Grants to attend Stockholm World Water Week

Meet Travel Grantees Hao Nghi Luu and Priyanka Salunkhe

Sofia Rutman June 8, 2026

Headshots of Hao and Priyanka with text reading Stockholm World Water Week Travel Grant Recipients Hao Nghi Luu and Priyanka Salunkhe

J-WAFS is pleased to announce that graduate students Hao Nghi Luu and Priyanka Salunkhe received 2026 J-WAFS Travel Grants to attend World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden! The conference offers students opportunities to deepen their understanding of water systems and to connect with and learn from professionals in the field. Recognizing the importance that these opportunities can have in shaping careers, J-WAFS offers travel grants for MIT graduate students to attend major water sector conferences, covering registration, flights, and other travel expenses.  

Stockholm World Water Week is a weeklong conference including seminars, focused sessions, and prizes, organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). This year’s theme is Water for People and Progress, emphasizing the goal to “build a more just and equitable water-secure future for people and the planet.” Priority areas discussed will likely include the role of water in connecting climate, food, and governance systems, economics of water management, and sanitation.  

Travel grants are supported by J-WAFS Research Affiliate companies, Xylem Inc. and GoAigua. Xylem also sponsors World Water Week and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, which is awarded during the conference. The MIT students will have the chance to tour Xylem’s research facility in Stockholm and meet with company leaders as part of Xylem-sponsored side events.

Meet the recipients

Hao Nghi Luu stands outside above what looks like a European city along a river

Hao Nghi Luu is a PhD candidate in materials science and engineering at MIT and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow (NSF GRFP). She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biological engineering from Princeton University, with a minor in materials science. Her undergraduate thesis on yeast proliferation in porous 3D environments received the Princeton Materials Institute’s Best Senior Thesis Award and continues to shape her interest in how microbes behave in realistic remediation environments. At MIT, Hao works in Professor Angela Belcher’s lab, conducting research that involves engineering yeast strains that can latch onto and neutralize toxic elements in water supplies. Long-term, Hao hopes to use this research to create a cheap, sustainable, water decontamination technology.
 

Priyanka Salunkhe with hands folded in front of her outside on MIT's Killian Court with building 10 and its large columns behind her


Priyanka Salunkhe is a first-year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in city planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Priyanka holds a bachelor of architecture from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. Before coming to MIT, Priyanka worked in Bengaluru, India, where she initiated a community-led effort to repair infrastructure damaged by floods, strengthening local agency. Her research at MIT sits at the intersection of design, water resilience, and spatial justice, examining how community knowledge and inclusive governance can shape infrastructure design. She proposes using design as a method to move beyond technical solutions and re-imagine equitable urban futures. Her research will be featured in the inaugural Occupancy exhibition at the MET Warehouse in Fall 2026.