Emirati girl returns after NASA internship

An Abu Dhabi female NASA research fellow has returned home from a four-month internship at the US Space agency. Ghena Al Hanae has completed her mission, providing research support for Nasa’s Mars rover educational and outreach programmes with the goal of inspiring the next generation to pursue science and technology careers involving Mars research and exploration. The Nasa Lunar Science Institute, where Ghena worked, played an integral part of Nasa’s Curiosity Rover in terms of software design, sensor integration and wind tunnel testing. Ghena Al Hanae said: “Being able to participate in such a prestigious programme and hone my practical work and research skills at Nasa was a great opportunity to develop myself in different areas such as education, culture and working teams. My work involved a small rover used to bring hands-on space exploration experiences to students, scientists, engineers and the public to engage the future generation in charge of rovers such as the Curiosity Rover. Representing my country was a great honour and a responsibility at the same time as I was setting an example for the young female Emirati.” Lisa LaBonte, CEO of the Arab Youth Venture Foundation, commented: “By facilitating such work experiences we aim to empower Emirati graduates in their quest toward securing high-impact careers in key growth sectors of the UAE economy. The calibre of talent we have seen in interns such as Ghena, is a testament to UAE universities’ engineering programmes.”