On June 13, 2025, Carl Albrecht Waldstein and his DesertGreener engineering team were awarded the Viktor Kaplan Medal – the highest award given by the Austrian Association of Innovators, Patent Holders and Inventors (OPEV) for outstanding innovation and technical excellence. The award recognizes the pioneering Austrian DesertGreener technology for solar-powered seawater desalination, for which patents have been filed in 120 countries. OPEV Vice President Bukac paid tribute to the decades of work: “I would like to thank them for their courage, perseverance and infectious spirit. Austria needs many more people and companies like you.”