Thammarat Koottatep is Professor of the Environmental Engineering and Management of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. He is an internationally recognized authority on wastewater treatment technology and management. His major scholarly contributions include publications of more than 50 refereed international journal papers, 3 books, and 9 book chapters. He has 1 Thai patent to his credit and several pending. He has jointly developed a professional master degree program in Water Technology and Management and mentored 16 doctoral students. He has secured significant funded projects including, research and training grants, and most notably, the Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation grants on Decentralized Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: Design, Operation and Monitoring. He has contributed significantly to capacity building in wastewater management in Thailand and abroad, including capacity strengthening for policy makers. Professor Koottatep won the AIT 2015 Research Leader Award on the basis of his innovative and practical approach to research, focus, and ability to carry out large-scale research projects.