WEF is reintroducing posters to WEFTEC. This is poster reimagined, welcome to Poster 2.0: a curated, high-impact platform for early-stage research, emerging innovations, and compelling visual storytelling. It’s built for a new generation of water professionals who communicate through design, data, and dialogue.

Let’s be clear: this is not a fallback for rejected podium presentations. Poster 2.0 is a parallel track, a different type of platform with its own identity, criteria, and opportunities. It’s designed for students, early-career professionals, and academics with meaningful work that may be in-progress, visual-first, or not easily conveyed in a 15-minute oral slot.

Poster topics are carefully selected to reflect areas of high innovation and interest where visual clarity, rapid dissemination, and exploratory thinking matter. Poster 2.0 draws directly from the global #BetterPoster movement, which rethinks how posters communicate to increase engagement, understanding, and meaningful conversations.

At its core, posters are about interaction, intended to spark hallway conversations, impromptu feedback, and spontaneous collaborations. Poster 2.0 is a space to connect, explore, and stand out.

The deadline for submitting and modifying a submission to the Poster submissions is Friday, February 20 at 11:59pm Eastern.

Eligibility:

• Abstracts previously submitted to WEFTEC 2026 technical sessions are not eligible.
• Only open to students & young water professionals, SYPs & Academics

Submission Materials:

• Title
• Author
• Affiliation
• Poster Abstract (1000 words) + 2 figures
• Learning Objectives (3 max)
• Relevance: how does your poster contribute positively towards the topic (less than 200 words)

Poster Topic:

• Climate Change & Resiliency
• Advances in digital modeling & AI
• Fundamental Water and Wastewater Research
• Microplastics
• PFAS Treatment
• Potable Reuse
• GHG Monitoring & Mitigation
• Data driven operations
• Resource Recovery

Scoring Criteria:

• Novelty: Originality of idea, approach, or insights. Does it present new thinking or applications?
• Impact and Application Potential: Significance of findings and likelihood of real-world implementation or influence.
• Technical Rigor: Soundness of methods, data quality, and defensible conclusions; alignment with scientific standards.
• Graphical Quality: Visual clarity, readability, logical flow, and use of figures/tables to communicate results effectively.
• Current Relevance: How timely and aligned the topic is with current industry or research challenges.

Recommendations:

WEF encourages the use of #BetterPoster principles:

• Optional “ammo bar” with extra stats, citations, methods
• One large central message
• Minimal, high-impact text
• Sidebars for supporting visuals or methods
• QR code linking to deeper content (video, dataset, full paper)