Emirati girl soars with Nasa stint

Unlike most women her age, Heyam Alblooshi, a mechanical engineering graduate from Petroleum Institute (PI) Abu Dhabi, grew up with an affinity towards cars and other machines.

So, it was only natural for her to be accepted as an engineering intern to the US space research agency Nasa.

Heyam left for the Silicon Valley’s Nasa Ames Research Centre on February 16 and returned 
to the UAE on June 3. “Needless to say, I am still jet lagged,” 
laughs Heyam.

She was selected by the Arab Youth Venture Foundation (AYVF) and approved by Nasa for one of the three spots for the Spring 2012 Nasa programme.

During her four-month stint, she conducted specific activities in the design, construction and testing of advanced spacecraft water recycling in order to assure precious resource sustainability in space.

Heyam said that she would like to use her talents as a mechanical engineer to make a world a ‘greener place’.

“There are certain opportunities that life throws at you and you need to grab it with all of what you have. This is what I had in mind when I gave my application to the AYVF.”

Born on April 29, 1988, Heyam grew up among five brothers.

“I was a tomboy, I grew up playing and fighting with them. When my brothers found that I would be interning at Nasa, they got very jealous. One of them teased me saying things like Nasa has found a new monkey to send to space. But jokes apart, I have been blessed with so many wonderful things and my family is extremely supportive of what I do,” she said.

“One of the best things about the UAE is that the people here are very supportive of whatever you want to do.”

Heyam’s internship concerned the Green Building Water Treatment Control Systems research, where she conducted specific activities involved in the design, construction and testing of advanced spacecraft water recycling technologies, for instance, design of mechanical systems, fabrication and assembly, pressure safety documentation, and controller performance optimisation. Spacecraft water recycling addresses the need to supply drinking water to astronauts in flight by recycling human wastewater into drinking water.

“I don’t think a lot of people know that grey water is recycled in spacecraft to create drinking water for astronauts. Another misconception that a lot of people have is that Nasa only deals with space research. But they do so much work to make things better for life on earth,” added Heyam.

She was partially responsible for engineering design and construction of technologies that are to be integrated into Nasa’s next generation life support systems. “Even though I had several options to work from, my mentor at Nasa, Micheal Flynn, recommended that I work on this particular project. I personally find it very interesting as it involves mechanical skills, plumbing and lab skills,” she said.

Speaking about the application process, Heyam said: “I was one among the 125 Emirati students who applied for the internship, and to be honest, I didn’t think I would make it.

“It is not that I am not confident about myself; it’s just that I don’t think there is anything extraordinary about me. You have so many brilliant female students in the UAE and my GPA and other scores were average. So, when I received the email saying that I have been accepted, I was ecstatic.”

Lisa LaBonte, CEO of the Arab Youth Venture Foundation, commented: “The UAE nationals engaged and excelling in such leading edge research and engineering design provides yet further evidence as to the world class intellect, motivation and abilities of our Emirati youth.” Heyam thinks that the UAE has a bright future in space research. “Maybe in a couple of years, we will be sending people to space,” she said.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE