At the esteemed World Fuel Cell Conference 2025, Omar A. Ismail, a Ph.D. student from Professor Weihong Li's METlab Research Group of City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), won the Best Presentation Award.

An innovative system that combines membrane distillation and electrolysis was presented in their award-winning presentation, "Green Hydrogen Production from Low-Quality Water Resources Using an Integrated Membrane Distillation-Electrolyzer System." This system can purify wastewater and seawater to an ultrapure state, making it ideal for green hydrogen production. A hydrogen production 23 times greater than any previously described technique was attained by this new methodology.

Their joint efforts are expanding the frontiers of sustainable energy technology, and the study is a tribute to Professor Weihong Li's visionary leadership and Omar A. Ismail's technical brilliance.

This accomplishment highlights the expertise of the METlab group at CityUHK and puts them at the front of advancements in hydrogen production and water purification on a worldwide scale.