Sarah Al Amiri

Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri was born in Iran to a Baluch family in 1987 before emigrating to the Emirates.  She holds a bachelors and master’s degree in computer engineering from the American University of Sharjah. She was appointed head of the Emirates Science Council in 2016 and, a year later, was contacted by the government to lead the new ministerial role for developing advanced sciences. Al Amiri started her career in the field of space technology at the Emirates Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, where she worked as a program engineer on the UAE’s first satellites, Dubai Sat-1 and Dubai Sat-2. That’s when her childhood dream became reality:  at the age of 12, having seen an image of the Andromeda Galaxy, she had decided to learn as much as she could about space.

https://kayhanlife.com/authors/whos-leading-the-uaes-mission-to-mars-the-iranian-born-scientist-sarah-al-amiri/

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Al Amiri began her career at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, where she worked on DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2.[4] She joined the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment before taking on a senior role at the Dubai World Trade Centre.[5] In 2016 she was appointed as head of the Emirates Science Council.[3][6][7]

Today she is the science lead for the Emirates Mars Mission, Hope.[3][8][9] The mission is partnered with University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley and Arizona State University.[3] She spoke at TEDxDubai Salon about the Hope Mars Mission.[10][11] 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.[12] The mission launched in July 2020 and reached Mars in 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the United Arab Emirates.[13] She was an invited speaker at the 2016 World Economic Forum.[14]

In October 2017 Amiri was named Minister of State for Advanced Sciences in the United Arab Emirates Cabinet.[15][16] In an effort to increase global scientific collaboration, Al Amiri toured US scientific institutions in November 2017.[7] She was a participant at Foo Camp 2018. She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women (BBC) announced on 23 November 2020.[17]