Professor Shyam S. Nandwani has crowned a long career at the Laboratory of Solar Energy of Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica, by receiving the prestigious Energy Globe Award for his project "Thirty years of research, dissemination and uses of solar cookers for both rural and urban areas to conserve human and planet health". His project was the national winner for Costa Rica, and was selected from among a total of 769 projects from 111 nations.

The national awards were presented by high-ranking representatives of the European Union during a ceremony held in Prague on 13 April.
Professor Nandwani has visited ICTP since the 1970s, and was an Associate from 1986 until 2007.