This month, I had the privilege of representing the Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) at Singapore International Water Week (SIWW). This global gathering provided an incredible platform to scout cutting-edge technology, present on CWA’s world-class testbed infrastructure, and demonstrate how we help international innovators successfully enter the U.S. market.

A major highlight of the trip was CWA's sponsorship of Cleveland-based portfolio company Sorbster Inc. By sponsoring their travel, we were able to get a Northeast Ohio innovator directly in front of an influential international audience of investors and end-users.

Presenting on the Global Stage

Ohio’s status as a global water innovation hub was on full display throughout the week. I presented a poster detailing how CWA built our Smart Lake Erie Watershed (SLEW). The poster explained how we created a nearly 8,000-square-mile connected network using smart buoys and real-time telecommunications, to establish the world’s largest digitally connected freshwater body. It was a great opportunity to show global stakeholders how this data actively supports utility operations, public health, and environmental research.

I also spoke on a panel titled "Walking through the door to AI-doption." Alongside global water experts, I highlighted how CWA leverages our SLEW data to serve as a training ground and testbed for artificial intelligence innovations. A great example of this is our work with ZWEEC Analytics, a Singapore-based water technology company who was looking to adapt its AI-driven algae detection systems for the North American market. To help them train and refine these predictive tools to identify Great Lakes species, CWA provided historical and real-time data, accelerating their product development and path to the U.S. market. 

Supporting Global Market Entry for Great Lakes Innovation

Cleveland Water Alliance sponsored Cleveland-based company Sorbster Inc’s trip to Singapore International Water Week. Sorbster took center stage as one of only eight scale-up companies selected to pitch at the 2026 TechXchange session. At the event, Brimman Frazer presented Sorbster's advanced water filtration media designed to remove heavy metals like mercury and lead, to an international audience of industry leaders, utilities, and investors. Their technology has been co-developed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

CWA doesn’t just help companies test their technology locally; we actively help U.S. companies scale up and find pathways into new global markets through our various international partnerships such as our collaboration with Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB).

Key Trends Shaping the Global Water Sector

The technical sessions and expo floor at SIWW highlighted three major trends that align directly with CWA's current initiatives and the work of our network partners: 

Emerging Contaminants (PFAS): While current tech can destroy up to 99.9% of "forever chemicals," doing so at scale is restricted by energy and cost. Continuous, inline destruction remains a challenge. CWA and partners like gener8tor are actively supporting innovators tackling these scalability bottlenecks.

Circular Water Economy: The global sector is moving quickly toward treating wastewater as a resource, from extracting valuable nutrients to mining minerals like Lithium from desalination reject. Through Great Lakes ReNEW (the NSF Innovation Engine led by Current), CWA is heavily involved in these waste-to-wealth efforts.

Biosensor Networks: There is high interest in sensors utilizing biological materials (like DNA or enzymes) to detect pathogens, toxic algae, and microplastics in real time, though real-world deployment remains complex. CWA remains at the forefront, trialing new sensing technologies with partners like Discovery Pier and Northwestern Michigan College.

Connecting with CWA’s Innovator Network

It was incredibly rewarding to walk the exhibition floor and see the scale of CWA’s global footprint. I had the opportunity to connect with a wide variety of our portfolio companies, innovators, and testbed alumni who are driving the industry forward, including:

• Aquamonitrix (Ireland)
• Aquarden Technologies (Denmark)
• CSignum (UK)
• Exposome (India)
• PolyGone Systems (USA)
• SOLINAS Technologies (Canada)
• Sorbster Inc. (USA)
• Spectromarine (Latvia)
• ZWEEC Analytics (Singapore)

Accelerating Solutions for Global Impact

Singapore International Water Week was a highly successful trip, and I am beyond grateful for this opportunity to help champion Ohio and the Great Lakes region at such an incredible global event. While the challenges facing our water systems are global in scale, Cleveland Water Alliance is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap by accelerating and validating the technologies needed to solve these critical freshwater issues.

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