2026 International Atmospheric Water Harvesting Summit

It’s been a few days since I returned from Arizona, where I attended the 2026 International Atmospheric Water Harvesting Summit. I’ve had time to reflect and wanted to share my thoughts. As a high school sophomore, this was the biggest event I've ever presented at.

I learned about the opportunity through my internship with Maithri Aquatech, an India-based atmospheric water generation company. They were supposed to present their prototype, but a visa issue prevented them from attending, so they sent me as their representative instead. I'd only just started my internship when I was told about this development. While I was thrilled, I was also very nervous, especially because there was only about a month for me to learn everything and then present to all the big names in atmospheric water harvesting.

Luckily, I'd already conducted research on water harvesting through a project for the Oracle Education Foundation's Data Story Design for Influence course. My project wasn’t related to water generation; instead, I was researching more about ocean acidification and the subsequent coral bleaching. I designed a curriculum to educate the future generation on the effects of global warming on water around the world, and presented at a few events for this project. This summit, however, challenged me to master the physics of creating water from thin air.

As a high school sophomore, this was the biggest event I've ever presented at. Despite my experience, I felt extremely underprepared until the actual summit. In the week leading up to it, I lived on a diet of nerves and midnight rehearsals, without even drinking coffee. I'd stay up all night practicing my speech and rewriting my elevator pitch. I'm just grateful that I came back from India only the week before the summit, because I may have lost my mind if that had gone any longer.

As the only minor there, I needed a mandatory chaperone. My dad took over as my coach, helping me practice on the plane and in the hotel the night before. At Arizona State University on Thursday, we met the event host, a professor, while walking to the venue. He told us about the previous years and everything they did in the past. Everybody there was immensely successful and a huge sustainability advocate. Being in that environment, full of positivity and excitement to learn from each other to help the planet, made me feel like I could start making changes right then.

During my presentation, I was nervous, but by the end of the day, I'd gained confidence and could speak more easily, answering questions with ease. I presented about a hybrid prototype between a desiccant system and a vapor compression system, and being there helped me learn more about the systems I was presenting on, specifically the desiccant. I knew desiccants were a big topic of research, but I had underestimated how much people were discussing it. I met many people focused solely on different types of desiccant material (which I dove into in my last post, A Freshwater Crisis: Possible Solutions).

The next day, I was confident, and I made connections with people interested in my work and my internship. We left for the airport after lunch. I remember having such an out-of-body experience, where I was somewhere else, and someone entirely new was walking in my shoes, because there was no way I was doing all of this. On the plane, I spent most of the time reflecting. This summit had truly opened my eyes to my own capabilities. If I could present at this summit, I could easily speak up in class, talk to my teacher, and definitely run for that position.

The International Atmospheric Water Harvesting Summit gave me a huge confidence boost I didn’t realize I needed. I feel so lucky to have been able to participate, and thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen.