Three Emiratis recall internship at Nasa
Research fellows say stint at centre was an eye-opener and changed their outlook
It has been 10 years since three Emiratis landed in California’s Silicon Valley to become the first non-Americans to officially intern at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) Ames Research Centre.
The historic UAE-Nasa Research Fellowship programme has now reached a 10-year milestone.
The Emirati trio of Shamma Al Qasem, Hazza Bani Malek and Hamad Al Rajab made history when they became the first non-Americans to officially intern at the Nasa centre.
“They worked on actual Nasa mission teams for twoand-a-half months in areas of remote sensing, grey water recycling, sustainability and plug-load monitoring,” according to UAE-Nasa Research Fellow Alumni Organisation (UNRFAO), which is a programme of the Arab Youth Venture Foundation.
The young Emiratis went on to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Masdar Institute. They have also worked on innovative projects in the UAE’s diversified water, power, and nuclear sectors the past decade.
Recalling her stint at Nasa Ames Research Centre, Al Qasem said: “In less than three weeks, I have managed to see and learn about things that I once thought only existed on television.”
Bin Malek said, “I was assigned to work on some automation upgrades and new implementations to the electrical system of the facility I’m working in.”
Al Rajab said he learned there that anything in possible if you have the will and ambition.