We are pleased to invite you to an inspiring and festive event within the Water Fit for Use pipeline, featuring a mini-symposium organized under the CAPTURE banner, in conjunction with the public PhD defense of Marijn Timmer on 25 September 2025 from 13h30 onwards.

The mini-symposium will focus on the theme: "Innovative Technologies for Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse".
The program includes four distinguished speakers from both academic and industrial backgrounds, representing expertise from Belgium and abroad. The afternoon promises to be engaging and insightful, with discussions centered on the current status, practical implementation, and key bottlenecks in domestic and industrial water reuse (see program below). Following the presentations, a roundtable discussion will invite perspectives from the audience, fostering dialogue across disciplines and sectors.

This event will precede the public defense of the PhD thesis of Marijn Timmer (research group BIOCLEAR, SUSTAIN, UAntwerp), entitled: "The Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor as a Resource-Efficient Solution for Water Reuse in Decentralized Treatment Schemes on Earth and in Space."
Promoted by: Siegfried Vlaeminck(UAntwerp), Tim Van Winckel(UAntwerp) and Ramon Ganigué(UGent)
which will end with a celebratory reception. 

Location: University of Antwerp, city campus, location S.C.003

You are warmly invited to join us for the mini-symposium, the PhD defense, and the reception that follows.
To help us with the practical arrangements, please register via this link.

Program

• 13.30 Siegfried Vlaeminck (Uantwerpen) 
  Welcome
• 13.35 Eberhard Morgenroth (ETH Zürich/EAWAG) 
  Why water reuse is so complicated: Reuse at different scales and in different contexts.
• 14.05 Jan Dries (UAntwerpen)
  Impact of aerobic granulation on membrane filtration: from lab to full-scale.
• 14.30 Karen Vanderstraete (VITO)
  VITO's perspective on Innovative Technologies for Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse in Flanders.
• 14.55 Rob Van Den Broeck (Aaqua)
  Industrial water reuse: lessons learnt and future outlook.
• 15.20 Tim Van Winckel (Uantwerpen) - Francis Meerburg (CAPTURE)
  Roundtable discussion
• 16.00 Marijn Timmer PhD Defense
  The Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor as a Resource-Efficient Solution for Water Reuse in Decentralized Treatment Schemes on Earth and in Space.
• 18.00 Reception