For the past five years, the United Arab Emirates try the limits of science and technology to the test. As the first country in the world, the government announced in 2017, to appoint a Minister for artificial intelligence. He will promote automated Learning and other cutting-edge technologies in the Gulf state ahead.

in 2017 was also the year in which Sarah al-Amiri for their Top Job was selected. The young engineer is to lead the country in the space at a time, in the countries of the Region give the infinite Vastness of the universe little attention.

"We are a young country, that is what has happened to global benchmarks late in this competition," said al-Amiri the beginning of the month in the British science journal "Nature". "As such, it is quite natural that people think you are crazy," adds the 33-Year-old - and meant the next week, the planned Countdown for Mars mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With a spacecraft, which launches from Japan into space, will orbit the Mars.

"Amal" means "hope"

al-Amiri had Begun her career as a computer engineer. Later, she joined then in the field of aerospace engineering at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology. There, she worked on the first satellite of their home country. For Sarah al-Amiri, a heart's desire came true.

"As a young girl, twelve years old, I have a picture of the Andromeda galaxy seen the galaxy that is the milky way the next," said al-Amiri at the innovation conference TEDx 2017 in Dubai. From then on, she devoured anything that had to do with the space, because: "I had a dream."

in 2016, had been appointed the ambitious woman to be Chairman of the science Council of the Emirates. In the following year, she took the government to the Cabinet. And today she is the Deputy project Manager and the scientific Director of the Mars mission, the "Amal" is called - Arabic for "hope".

"The Mission will be called 'hope', because we contribute to the global understanding of our planet," she explains. Their country to leave the turmoil and the political turmoil in the Region and making a positive contribution to science.

"science is limitless"

The Mission has also changed the social norms in the country. According to "Nature," women make up 34 percent of the staff of the Mission, and even 80 percent of the scientific staff. On average, the proportion of working women in the UAE is just 28 percent.

Sarah Al-Amiri hopes to be able to with your project, even more young women and men for a future in the fields of science, technology, Engineering and math to inspire. "For me, science is the most international Form of cooperation," she explains. "Science is limitless and lives from the passion of individuals for the benefit of all."

Beyond space

But their work is limited only to the space mission. As science Minister of state, it belongs to al-Amiris tasks to strengthen the bridge between science and the economy of the UAE.

"When we talk about the economy in the United Arab Emirates in the next 30 years, then we are talking about science and technology as the basis. We want an economic System that is based on Knowledge," al-Amiri convinced. "It comes to Know about the production, the application of Knowledge and intangible assets to create value," said the politician, the scientist, the official news Agency, Emirates News Agency. Because "the most sustainable economies work around the world".

author: Lewis Sanders (ml)

*The post "Sarah al-Amiri: The woman behind the Mission to Mars" will be released by Deutsche Welle. Contact with the executives here.

Deutsche Welle

Date Of Update: 18 July 2020, 15:26