← Mendee AI Station Research

Collaborate with Mendee AI Station.

We're building research partnerships with universities to validate AI-optimized desalination technology, publish findings, and form a world-class advisory board. If you work in water science, AI/ML, hydrogeology, agricultural engineering, or resource economics — we want to hear from you.

What we offer researchers

Field data and fieldwork access you can't get from a desk.

  • Field data access

    Real-time water quality, energy consumption, weather, and soil data from deployed systems in Central Asian steppe conditions. Time-series datasets you can't replicate without a fleet of pilot installations.

  • Fieldwork platform

    Access to pilot installations for sampling, hypothesis testing, and data collection that would otherwise require expensive independent expeditions to remote sites in Akmola and Karaganda.

  • Publication partnership

    Co-authorship on papers. We bring the applied platform and field data — you bring domain expertise and academic rigour. Joint output, joint credit, joint future grant applications.

Open research questions

Questions we actually want answered.

These aren't speculative — they're problems Mendee AI Station's deployment depends on. Co-author with us on any of them.

  • Hydrogeology

    What is the mineral composition of brackish groundwater across the Akmola and Karaganda regions?

  • AI / ML

    Can federated learning across distributed RO units outperform centralized models for energy optimization?

  • Environmental Science

    What is the long-term impact of brackish water extraction on local aquifer recharge rates?

  • Materials Science

    How does Central Asian groundwater chemistry affect membrane fouling patterns compared to Gulf desalination?

  • Agricultural Science

    What is the yield correlation between irrigation water mineral content and crop output in steppe conditions?

  • Resource Economics

    Is lithium extraction from continental brackish brine economically viable at small scale (50 m³/day)?

Target research partners

Six departments. Two countries. One brackish-water R&D agenda.

  • Nazarbayev University

    Kazakhstan Priority

    School of Engineering & Digital Sciences

    Local partner for field research, hydrogeology expertise, student researchers

  • Cranfield University

    UK

    Water Science Institute

    Leading UK water-engineering research, membrane technology, desalination optimization

  • Imperial College London

    UK

    Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

    AI for water systems, environmental modelling, joint UK-KZ grant applications

  • Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

    Kazakhstan

    Faculty of Geography & Environmental Sciences

    Regional hydrogeology, groundwater mapping, environmental impact assessment

  • UCL

    UK

    Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources

    Water-energy nexus, sustainable development, policy research

  • KBTU

    Kazakhstan

    School of Chemical Engineering

    Membrane science, brine processing, mineral extraction from saline solutions

Collaboration models

Three ways to work together.

  • Joint research

    Co-designed projects with shared IP. We provide field infrastructure and data; the university provides researchers and lab facilities.

    Outcome: Co-authored papers, shared datasets

  • MoU & student projects

    Master's and PhD students work on Mendee AI Station–related problems. We provide real-world data and industry-side mentorship.

    Outcome: Thesis projects, potential hires

  • Grant applications

    Joint applications to Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, World Bank, and Kazakhstan national research funding programmes.

    Outcome: Funded research, credibility, scale

Interested in collaborating?

Researchers, PhD students, university departments — please write.

We welcome enquiries from researchers in water science, AI/ML, hydrogeology, agricultural engineering, and resource economics. Mendee AI Station operates from London (HQ) and Astana (field).