Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, has been named as one of Time’s 2021 list of the Next 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Her inclusion comes after successfully leading the UAE’s Hope Probe into Mars’ orbit in the first-ever Arab interplanetary mission.
The 2021 Time100 Next list, which celebrates 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future of entertainment, health, political and business among other fields, named Al Amiri among 54 women in the list.
UAE’s Hope Probe
Al Amiri joined the ‘innovators’ category in this year’s list for heading the sustainable Hope Probe that was manufactured and developed six years, in half the duration and cost of conventional Mars missions, to benefit humanity with new Mars data.
As the deputy project manager and science lead of the Emirates Mars Mission, Al Amiri headed the team, of whom 80 percent are women, through the challenging journey of building and launching the first Arab spacecraft in collaboration with international universities.
Al Amiri is now set to lead other ambitious space and technology projects that contribute to the UAE’s bigger goal in establishing a knowledge-based economy.
A lunar mission in 2024 and plans to build a human settlement on Mars by 2117 are among the projects that await the minister.
Thanks to @TIME for naming me on their 100 Next list, it's a mark of recognition I accept on behalf of the entire Emirates Mars Mission team, many of whom deserve the accolade a great deal more than I.https://t.co/4Z3phX7C0V
— Sarah Al Amiri (@SarahAmiri1) February 18, 2021
On her selection, Al Amiri tweeted: “Thanks to @TIME for naming me on their 100 Next list, it’s a mark of recognition I accept on behalf of the entire Emirates Mars Mission team, many of whom deserve the accolade a great deal more than I.”
Since she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in 2009, Al Amiri joined the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre as a program engineer for two years.
She took part in building the UAE’s first two satellites – DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, and the first entirely Emirati-made KhalifaSat.
In 2014, she led the establishment of the Advanced Aerial Systems Program and also obtained her Master’s Degree in computer engineering from AUS, while heading the Space Science section at Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, where she set up the research and development unit.
In 2017, she became the country’s first Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, a title that later changed in the latest cabinet reshuffle in August to the Minister of State for Advanced Technology. She was also then named the chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency.
In 2015, the World Economic Forum honored her as one of its 50 Young Scientists for her contributions to science, technology and engineering.
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