Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri ( ar, سارة بنت يوسف الأميري, born 1987) is the Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology and Chair of the Board of Directors of th
Emirates Schools Establishment
She is the former Minister of State for Advanced Technology within the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in the government of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. Al Amiri is also the chair of the UAE Space Agency and the

Council of Scientists, and Deputy Project Manager of the

Emirates Mars Mission , ''Al-Amal'') , manufacturer = , dry_mass = 550 kg , launch_mass = 1350 kg, including800 kg hydrazine fuel1,350 kg , payload_mass = , dimensions = 2.37 m × 2.90 m , power = 1800 watts from t ...

Early life and education

Al Amiri was born in the United Arab Emirates in 1987. She grew up in Abu Dhabi. She studied computer science at the

American University of Sharjah American University of Sharjah (abbreviated AUS; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية في الشارقة) is a private university in the United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 1997 by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and ...

, earning bachelor's and master's degrees. She was always interested in aerospace engineering but grew up at a time when

did not have a space program.

Research and career

Al Amiri began her career at the

Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC; ar, مركز محمد بن راشد للفضاء, markaz Muḥammad bin Rāshid lil-faḍāʾ), is a Dubai government organisation working on the UAE space programme, which includes various space s ...

, where she worked on

DubaiSat-1 DubaiSat-1 ( ar, دبي سات-1) is a remote sensing Earth observation satellite built by the '' Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST)'' under an agreement with Satrec Initiative, a satellite manufacturing company in ...

and

DubaiSat-2 DubaiSat-2 ( ar, دبي سات-2) is an electro-optical Earth observation satellite built by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology under an agreement with Satrec Initiative, a satellite manufacturing company in South Korea. ...

. In 2018 she was appointed the chairwoman of the UAE Council for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in 2016 the head of the Emirates Scientist Council. She is the science lead for the

, Hope. The mission is partnered with

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and Arizona State University. She spoke at TEDxDubai Salon about the Hope Mars Mission. In November 2017, Amiri became the first Emirati to speak at an international TED event when she spoke about the Hope Mars Mission in Louisiana. The mission launched in July 2020 and reached Mars in February 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the

. In 2015, the World Economic Forum honoured her as one of its 50 Young Scientists for her contributions to science, technology and engineering

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. In October 2017, Amiri was named Minister of State for Advanced Sciences in the

Cabinet. In an effort to increase global scientific collaboration, Al Amiri toured US scientific institutions in November 2017. She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women (BBC) announced on 23 November 2020. In February 2021, she was also named in the 2021 ''Time'' 100 Next, an annual list of the next 100 most influential people. In May 2022, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, appointed Al Amiri as Minister of State for Public Education and Future Technology and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Schools Establishment. In 2021, Al Amiri was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst. As part of the program, she attended the annual New Economy Forum held in Singapore, and the Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst Retreat that same year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amiri, Sarah Emirati aerospace engineers Emirati women engineers Women aerospace engineers 21st-century women engineers Women government ministers of the United Arab Emirates American University of Sharjah alumni 21st-century Emirati women 1987 births Living people