Sarah Al Amiri Chairwoman of UAESA: The Woman Who Took the U.A.E. to Mars
New Age Islam News Bureau
25 February 2022
• Iran’s Rakhshani Shortlisted For 2022 International
Women’s Day Awards
• Qatar University Marks International Day Of Women
And Girls In Science 2022
• India Hijab Ban: Targeting Of Muslim Women Condemned
Across the Middle East
• Congressional Briefing Calls Out BJP over “Sexual
Harassment” Of Muslim Women
• Minister Sets Goals for Women, Haredim, Arabs In
Tech Industry
• KAUST To Organize Workshop For Women In Science,
Engineering And Research
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/amiri-uaesa-nasa-uae-mars/d/126452
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Sarah Al Amiri Chairwoman of UAESA: The Woman Who Took
the U.A.E. to Mars
Sarah Al Amiri, the U.A.E.
Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space
Agency, photographed in Dubai, Jan. 25, 2022. Natalie Naccache for TIME
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By Jeffrey Kluger
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Sarah Al Amiri was in COVID-19 quarantine after
arriving in Japan in July 2020 when she learned news beyond anything she had
ever dreamed of: while scrolling through Twitter to pass the time, she learned
that the government of the United Arab Emirates was reshuffling some of its
higher ranking offices and officers and that Amiri, now 35, was being appointed
chairwoman of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA)—the equivalent of
NASA Administrator.
Amiri was already a member of the U.A.E. Prime
Minister’s office, serving as Minister of State for Science—she was in Japan
for the launch of her country’s first Mars mission, aboard a Japanese
Mitsubishi rocket. Yet she says the news still stunned her. “I was shocked. I
think that is the right word,” she recalls.
Shocked at the honour and the responsibility that came
with it, perhaps, but she could not have been entirely surprised. Amiri has
been fascinated with space since she was 12 years old, when she first saw a
picture of the Andromeda galaxy and learned that it is 2.5 million light years
from Earth—an almost unfathomable distance. However, given that space
exploration was still in the hands of just a few of the world’s largest
nations, it seemed unlikely to a young Amiri that a country like the U.A.E.
would reach space any time soon. So rather than anything directly
space-related, Amiri studied computer programming in college. But by the time
she graduated in 2009, the first green shoots of an Emirati space program had
begun to sprout. She applied to join UAESA and was hired at 22 as a 22-year-old
software engineer, working on an advanced aerial systems program.
The U.A.E. launched its first Earth observation
satellite, Dubai SAT, in 2009, followed by Dubai SAT 2 in 2013. Then, in 2014, it
set its space ambitions far higher, announcing a goal to send a probe to
Martian orbit by 2021—the country’s 50th anniversary. That gave UAESA only
seven years to plan the kind of mission that usually requires a decade or more
of preparation. Amiri was named deputy project manager and science lead on the
mission, which had the ambitious goal of mapping Mars’s entire atmosphere over
a whole Martian year (687 Earth days).
The spacecraft Amiri’s team designed and built for the
mission was dubbed Hope—a 1,380 kg (3,000 lb.) SUV-sized vehicle that took
seven months to reach the Red Planet. Waiting for news of the spacecraft’s
arrival on February 9, 2021, was, says Amiri, “the toughest point.” But this
time, instead of being in quarantine, she was standing outside the Burj
Khalifa—the tallest building in the world—and celebrating with the crowds who
had gathered to mark the moment.
The Hope spacecraft has now been studying the Martian
atmosphere for close to a year, sending down regular tranches of data which UAESA
shares freely with the world. Among the craft’s most noteworthy discoveries:
the detection of what’s known as a “discrete aurora” on the nighttime side of
the planet—a phenomenon caused by solar energy interacting with crustal
formations that still bear traces of the planet’s long-gone magnetic field.
Other spacecraft have seen the discrete aurorae, but none have seen it as
sharply or mapped it as precisely as Hope. The spacecraft also detected
dramatic variations in atomic oxygen and carbon monoxide in Mars’s dayside
atmosphere; previous studies led scientists to expect more uniform
distributions of the two gasses.
The mission’s successes have not only made
contributions to science, but helped put the Emirates’ space program in the
cosmic big leagues. “The U.A.E. has been very ambitious in developing an
outstanding space program,” says Pascale Ehrenfreund, research professor of
space policy and international affairs at George Washington University’s Space
Policy Institute. The country’s achievements—which, aside from the Hope mission
and the Earth observation satellites, have included sending an astronaut to the
International Space Station—“are symbolic of a new era in the region,”
Ehrenfreund says.
The Hope mission was not just ambitious in terms of
its scope, but also in terms of gender representation. Amiri’s science team
included 80% women, an unusual number in the field of space exploration. She
has always been determined that gender would not in any way hold her back in
her chosen field. “I grew up to be—and continue to be—deaf to the challenges
pertaining to gender,” she says.
However, Amiri is aware of the challenges for women
advancing in the field of science. In her work as Minister of State for
Advanced Technology, she has helped put together a team that has focused
exclusively on women in sciences—addressing what she describes as “a leaky
pipeline” that too often sees women drop out of STEM programs before beginning
their careers. “It’s something that exists and something that you need to acknowledge
exists, and by acknowledging it, you’re able to treat it,” Amiri says.
Ehrenfreund believes that Amiri can help plug that
leak, setting a standard for other women to follow. “Her successful career from
computer science and space research responsibilities to becoming Minister of
State for Advanced Technology in the government of the United Arab Emirates is
certainly exemplary,” she says.
As for the U.A.E.’s ambitions in space, Amiri is not
standing still. The country’s next major mission, which will be launched in
2028, will involve a flyby of Venus as well as a tour of seven different
asteroids, culminating with a landing on the last of them, making the U.A.E.
just the fourth country in the world to pull off such an acrobatic maneuver.
The country may be taking its first, early steps into space, but led by Amiri,
it’s taking them confidently.
Source: Time
https://time.com/6150593/sarah-al-amiri-mars/
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Iran’s Rakhshani Shortlisted For 2022 International
Women’s Day Awards
Iran’s Rakhshani
shortlisted for 2022 International Women’s Day Recognition
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February 24, 2022
Three outstanding female candidates each respectively
make up the Leadership and Emerging Leadership category. Three organizations
have been shortlisted for the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) and International
Federation (IF) category.
The awards primarily recognize women in the Paralympic
Movement who inspire and emulate the Paralympic ideals and serve as positive
role models. Following hundreds of nominations, this year the shortlisted women
and organizations nominated come from Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Iran, Botswana,
Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Mongolia.
The Leadership category recognizes sustained and
consistent leadership over a period of time, advocacy, overall contributions
and impact promoting and supporting women in sport. Candidates considered
included coaches, current or former athletes, administrators and officials.
Rakhshani, current chairperson of the Asian Paralympic
Committee’s Women in Sport Committee, has a substantial influence on women in
Para sport in Iran.
A two-term vice-president of NPC Iran, she increased
the number of females in the Iranian delegation at the Paralympic Games from
less than five per cent at the London 2012 to 17 percent at the Rio 2016.
Through her athleticism as a Para swimmer, Rakhshani also works to involve
communities in physical activity.
Oripa Mubika from Zimbabwe and Malaysian Ras Adiba
Radzi are also nominated for the award.
The 2021 winners were Kate Caithness of World Curling
Federation (Leadership category), Iranian Para archer Zahra Nemati (Emerging
Leadership category) and World Para Powerlifting (National Paralympic
Committee/International Federation category).
Source: Tehran Times
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Qatar University marks International Day of Women and
Girls in Science 2022
25 Feb 2022
Qatar University (QU) is distinguished in keeping pace
with world events, especially those related to science in various fields. In
this regard, QU recently held the International Day of Women and Girls in
Science for the fourth consecutive year, which is organised annually by Unesco
on February 11.
The celebration this year came under the theme:
“Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”. This event was organized
at QU with efforts from Research and Graduate Studies Sector and in cooperation
with the Unesco office in Doha and Qatar National Commission for Education,
Culture, and Science.
This celebration comes from QU’s belief in the role of
women and their active participation in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics, as well as their prominent role in creating practical and
community-based solutions for the preservation of natural resources, especially
water, and in educating generations about its importance.
Prof. Mariam Al-Maadeed, Vice-President for Research
and Graduate Studies, applauded Qatar’s achievement in terms of laws and
legislation as well as providing women with various types of support and
opportunities, opening the doors for education and employment, and enabling
them to contribute actively to development and reaching the highest positions
in leadership. She added that choosing water as a theme for this year
represents the first natural wealth for life on Earth, and the sixth goal of
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in appreciation of the
importance of water for all its uses and its increasing need with the economic
and population development of societies.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anna Paolini, Director of the Unesco
Regional Office in Doha and Unesco Representative in the Arab States of the
Gulf and Yemen, said, “Building collective and local competencies and providing
opportunities for women, men, girls and boys to reach their full potential is
of paramount importance to meet today’s challenges such as climate change, loss
of biodiversity, deteriorating ocean health, and epidemics.”
As keynote speakers, Dr. Mai Al-Ghanem – Senior
Biologist, Department of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Municipality, and
Dr. Marwa Al-Ghanem, Head of the Environmental Laboratory Department -
Monitoring Department and Environmental Laboratory at the Ministry of
Environment and Climate Change participated in this year’s event.
The event included a panel moderated by Dr. Noora
Al-Shamari, Senior Research Assistant at the Environmental Sciences Center,
Qatar University, with the participation of several female specialists and
researchers; Reema Tayyem, Professor of Human Nutrition at the College of
Health Sciences, Qatar University, Zahrah Saif Al Abri, Research Assistant in
Unesco Chair on Aflaj Studies-Archaeohydrology, Nizwa University, Oman, Mashael
Almas, Engineer at the ConocoPhillips Global Center for Water Sustainability,
Noor Bader, Research Assistant at the Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar
University, Fatima Al-Mesnad, Head of Community Awareness and Development,
Kahramaa.
A number of themes were discussed during the panel
discussion, including water and heritage, water innovation, and applications.
The event also honoured several female researchers at
QU who were distinguished by their research efforts on the topics of the
Coronavirus (Covid-19), as well as honoring Dr. Nuura Adam Abdi, Research
Associate at Qatar University’s Biomedical Research Center, winner of the 2021
L’Oréal-Unesco Prize in Dubai.
Munera Al-Kuwari, Administrative Affairs Expert at the
Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science stressed that
“raising women’s awareness of the importance rationalization of water has
become an important demand, and a joint responsibility undertaken by all
relevant State institutions and civil society organizations. This will ensure
women’s effective participation in various fields of sustainable development,
and investing their capabilities in formulating policies, programs and plans
for the use of water.”
Source: The Peninsula Qatar
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India hijab ban: Targeting of Muslim women condemned
across the Middle East
By Nur Ayoubi
24 February 2022
A ban on the hijab in schools in the southern Indian
state of Karnataka, along with an escalation of religiously motivated attacks
against Muslims in the country, has prompted widespread solidarity in the
Middle East and beyond.
From Dutch-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid to Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, public figures and social media users
worldwide have spoken out against the discrimination against Muslim women
because of their choice of how to dress.
Videos circulating online have shown disturbing scenes
of Muslim students being refused entry into school buildings and Muslim women
being heckled outside educational establishments.
Young Hindu men and women have been seen brandishing
saffron scarves to symbolise their opposition to the hijab.
On Wednesday, footage was widely shared of an Indian
bank refusing to allow one of its veiled customers to withdraw money from her
account.
India’s 200 million Muslim minority community now
fears that the hijab ban is infringing on their religious freedom.
The events in Karnataka have triggered a major row,
one that has reverberated into the Arab world, sparking protests and social
media activism against the ban.
In Kuwait, various protests have taken place over the
last few weeks, with demonstrators standing outside the Indian embassy,
carrying placards.
Kuwaitis also took their frustrations to social media,
starting a campaign using #ExpeltheIndianambassador in both Arabic and English.
The campaign has proven impactful, with the hashtag
rising among Kuwait’s trending topics on Twitter.
Others in Kuwait are calling for the boycott of Indian
products.
The issue has even received political attention in the
country. Last week, a group of Kuwaiti parliamentarians demanded that the
government put an immediate ban on the entry of any member of India's ruling
BJP party into Kuwait.
In the letter, they wrote, “we can't sit back and
watch Muslim girls being publicly persecuted”.
The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq has also
condemned the hijab ban. In a statement, it denounced the Indian government’s
discrimination against Indian Muslim women and restrictions on the hijab.
Protests have also taken place in Turkey where NGOs
held a demonstration in Istanbul in front of the Indian consulate, denouncing
the hijab ban.
“We don't approve of a ban on the clothes of members
of any religion,” human rights activist and lawyer Gulden Sonmez said.
In Tel Aviv, women hosted a demonstration, with one
protester sending a message to India’s Muslims saying, “We are all with you,
the hijab is our right.”
In a tweet, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala
Yousafzai wrote, “Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is
horrifying. Objectification of women persists - for wearing less or more.
Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women.”
Meanwhile, Dutch-Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid
took to Instagram to call out various countries which have made headlines for
their position against the hijab.
Writing in her caption to her almost 50 million
followers, Hadid said “I urge France, India, Quebec, Belgium, and any other
countries in the world who are discriminatory against Muslim women, to rethink
what decisions you have made or are trying to make in the future about a body
that is not yours.”
Source: Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/india-hijab-ban-muslim-women-targeting-middle-east-condemned
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Congressional Briefing Calls Out BJP over “Sexual
Harassment” Of Muslim Women
25th February 2022
Washington: The Congressional briefing held on
Thursday was critical of the Karnataka High Court’s interim order of banning
the Hijab at schools.
The panellist viewed the order as harassment or even
expulsion of Muslim women from educational institutions for wearing the Hijab
as per their Constitutional Right. Expressing concerns over the Hijab row,
Indian American activist Sumaiya Zama, a former official with the Council on
American-Islamic Relations said, “What is happening right now in India in front
of the entire world is mass sexual harassment.”
“The High Court order banning hijab was “humiliating,
infantilising and patronising, “she added. The activist stated that girls must
have the right to choose what to wear and what not to. “Our silence on efforts
to ban the hijab in India means the approval of the violation of Indian Muslim
women’s bodily autonomy,” she further remarked.
Amina Kausar, an Indian-American IT professional said
the Kartka High Court’s order was a part of the larger plan of Muslim genocide
in India, “obviously a part of the larger goal of genocide of Indian Muslims
set by the Islamophobic, autocratic Modi regime,” added Kausar.
The meeting was jointly hosted by coalition of
international human rights organizations experts and activists from both India
and the US . The agenda of the virtual meet was the ongoing debate in India on
whether or not allow Muslim women to wear the Hijab in educational
institutions.
It is to be noted that a number of Muslim students and
teachers have been denied entry into schools and colleges for wearing the
Hijab. Speaking of the emergence of Safron scaves Kausar said, “Saffron
scarves… [are] something that has been coming in the society just to oppose the
hijab.”
Expressing displeasure over the saffron scaves Kausar
remarked, “No matter where the place is… wherever we go, we wear hijab. But
saffron shawls, we never saw them wearing it except for their religious places.
So this point needs to be clearer.”
“They take saffron shawls as something… equal to
hijab, which is not true,”Kausar stressed.
Expressing here views on the definition of secularism
in India Sumaiya stated that It is a selective secularism that positions
religious minorities as having to be religiously neutral while the current
government advances and makes public its own agenda around the creation of a
fascist Hindutva nation state.
Source: Siasat Daily
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Minister sets goals for women, haredim, Arabs in tech
industry
24 Feb, 2022
In a policy directive for the Israel Innovation
Authority, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Orit Farkash Hacohen
has for the first time set goals for significantly increasing the
representation of haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews), Arabs, women, and residents of
Israel's periphery in the country's technology industry.
The policy's two main goals are to deal with the
manpower crisis in high-tech, and to introduce additional population groups
into the industry.
This is the first time that the government, led by the
Minister of Innovation, has set significant numerical targets for reducing the
under-representation of population groups. The targets for the period 2022-2023
are interim targets, to be enforced by the Innovation Authority. While long term
goals are now being set, in the light of the dimensions of the crisis, the
minister says that she has decided not to wait for future budgets before taking
action.
The interim goal is to add 24,000 employees to the
high-tech industry, through programs of the Israel Innovation Authority. The
plan calls for 45% of the new employees to be women, and for at least 4,500 of
them to be drawn from the Arab population and 2,800 from the ultra-Orthodox
population. An additional 3,000 workers at least will be people returning from
abroad through the Returning Israelis Program and new immigrants. At least 30%
of the additional employees will be from the periphery of the country.
The intermediate goal is to add 180,000 workers to the
high-tech industry by 2026, which means increasing manpower in the industry by
50%, while doubling the number of ultra-Orthodox and tripling the number of
Arabs in the industry.
Among other steps that Farkash-Hacohen has taken are
simplifying the visa procedure for experts, tax benefits for high-tech workers
who return to Israel from overseas, an IMPACT Program for the Arab community,
and the creation of a task force headed by the VP of Intel to help solve the
manpower problem.
Long-term goals will be specified after the work of
the inter-ministerial team established by the minister is completed.
"I see great importance in integrating
populations that are under-represented in the hi-tech industry today: women,
the ultra-Orthodox, Arab Israelis, and the integration of residents of the
periphery residents in the industry," Farkash Hacohen said. "We must
make sure that the success of high-tech in Israel will not be a divisive factor
in Israeli society. On the contrary, it is an opportunity to reduce social gaps
in Israel.
"In the last eight years, there has been no real
increase in the number of women working in the industry. We must change the
particularly low rate of ultra-Orthodox and Arab Israelis in the industry.
Finally, we must change the equation so that the chances of an Israeli child
entering the high-tech industry will not be dependent on where he or she grew
up. This program does just that."
Source: Globes
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KAUST to organize workshop for women in science,
engineering and research
February 24, 2022
THUWAL — King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology (KAUST) will hold the KAUST Workshop for Women in Science,
Engineering, and Research (WISER), on March 8-9, 2022. This hybrid event will
be held on Zoom and in-person at the university campus.
KAUST aspires to be a destination for education and
research in science and technology. By inspiring discoveries to address global
challenges, KAUST aims at being a beacon of knowledge that bridges people and
cultures for the betterment of humanity. These goals cannot be reached without
a strong contribution from women, KAUST said in a press release.
The workshop will include talks by renowned scientists
and engineers about their personal journeys, struggles, and life-changing
approaches. Experts in gender equity will also share their recent discoveries.
Practical sessions about how to address gender issues, guidelines to successful
interviews, leadership and time management techniques will be proposed.
Anyone who wishes to share their experience, opinion
and ideas, KAUST is organizing a short video competition with exciting gifts
and social media coverage for the selected videos. The participants shall
prepare the videos on the following topics.
• Women in science, engineering, and research are
successful.
• Women in science, engineering, and research are too
few.
• Women are needed in science, engineering, and
research.
The deadline for submission is March 1, 2022. The
video should not be longer than 60 seconds.
The video will be evaluated based on its meaning,
originality, impact, and creativity. The WISER 2022 Short Video Competition is
open to everyone. There will be no discrimination based on age, ethnicity, or
nationality.
Selected videos will be broadcast during the workshop
and on social media. Their authors will be recognized, unless they prefer to
remain anonymous, and will win a gift card worth $250.
For registration and details, visit wiser.kaust.edu.sa
— SG
Source: Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/617461
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/amiri-uaesa-nasa-uae-mars/d/126452