Emirati students return from Nasa

The first all-female group of Emirati engineering students returned home after successfully completing its internship from the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).

Hayam Al Blooshi and Ghena Al Hanae from Abu Dhabi, and Maryam Yammahi from Fujairah, conducted mission-based research at Nasa in areas relating to Mars exploration rovers, water based absorption impacting space suit design and waste-water treatment.

Hayam Al Blooshi, Ghena Al Hanae and Maryam Yammahi at Nasa during the training.

The students were sent by the Arab Youth Venture Foundation (AYVF), a not-for-profit educational consultancy founded in the UAE in 2007. AYCF is best known for its Space Act Agreement for Middle East educational programmes with Nasa. Emirati interns to Nasa have now reached 16. Of these, 50 per cent now work with government entities across the country, while 30 per cent will enter their Engineering master’s programmes at leading schools such as Stanford University, Cornell University, Columbia University and Masdar this fall. Twenty per cent of student are yet to complete their degrees.

Mubadala Aerospace has sponsored 60 per cent of the current UAE Nasa alumni (10). Other sponsors include Mubadala ICT, Boeing International, Lockheed Martin, and Advanced Water Technologies. Michael Flynn, principal scientific investigator at Nasa Ames Research Centre and mentor to four UAE interns since 2010, noted the importance of the internship.

“Exposure to Nasa’s innovative research methods and technologies will further help build practical skills in the UAE talent that will help them evolve into the next generation of experts in UAE’s leading fields,” he said. Maryam Yammahi, a chemical engineering student and the first intern from Fujairah who worked on solid waste processing for space shuttle missions commended her internship at Nasa as “very valuable, and I am returning home with a huge quantity of knowledge, respect for different ways of doing things, and many new colleagues.” - olivia@khaleejtimes.com

IAT chief visits training camp

Dr Abdul Latif Al Shamisi, Director-General of the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT), made a visit to the training camp at Nasa in Houston where 25 Emirati students are undergoing intensive training in space technology.

Al Shamisi was accompanied by Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Director of Services and Support at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec).

The Emirati students from the Institute of Applied Technology (IAT) were sent to Nasa to spend a week-long training at Space Centre in Houston.

The trip was organised by Space Ed-Ventures, which runs international-based technology and science courses for students.

The students are given training in various space technology areas and machines including the robotic Mars Rovers, which retrieve rock samples from the planet.

They will also receive training as astronauts and hear tales from space first-hand from mission-control personnel and Nasa astronauts. Al Shamisi asked the students to concentrate well on their lessons so that they can benefit from the training.- Wam