Fri, Nov 08, 2024 | Jumada al-Awwal 6, 1446 | DXB ktweather icon0°C

Top Stories

File photo

File photo

Sheikh Mohammed praises Sarah Al Amiri, named one of world's most influential women

Dubai - The UAE Minister, who led the Hope probe mission, was among the BBC's top 100 women of 2020.

Published: Tue 24 Nov 2020, 12:59 PM

Updated: Tue 24 Nov 2020, 1:12 PM

  • By
  • Nandini Sircar

Sarah Al Amiri, a UAE minister who made it to the BBC’s list of 100 most influential women this year, on Tuesday received a special word of praise from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Tweeting about how Al Amiri is successfully leading the country’s mission to Mars, as well as the space agency, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Nothing is impossible for her.”

Responding to the tweet, Al Amiri thanked the UAE Vice-President for the trust and for being her "inspiring teacher".

"My inspiring teacher, your highness, you have always been inspiring our minds and hearts with vision that exceeds the limits of planet earth. With you, we shall continue the journey of achievements, and with your trust, nothing is impossible," she tweeted.

Al Amiri, 33, is the UAE’s Minister of State for Advanced Technology and currently the chair of the UAE Space Agency. As the science head of the Emirates Mars Mission, she had been a key figure in the historic launch of the Hope probe towards the red planet in July this year.

The minister started out as a computer engineer and later moved into the field of space technology at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, where she worked on the UAE’s first satellites.

She has always dreamt of exploring space since she saw an image of the Andromeda Galaxy — the closest galaxy to the Milky Way — when she was 12. Right then and there, she knew she wanted to learn as much as she could about space.

In 2016, she was appointed the head of the Emirates Science Council and, a year later, she had been selected to lead the government’s new ministerial role for developing advanced sciences.

Al Amiri has always persevered to bolster female engagement in science by encouraging more Emirati youth to explore the field, from science and technology to engineering and mathematics.

The BBC list

Joining her on the BBC’s list of successful women this year are Sanna Marin, who leads Finland’s all-female coalition government; Michelle Yeoh, star of the new Avatar and Marvel films; and Sarah Gilbert, who heads Oxford University’s research into a coronavirus vaccine.

For such an unprecedented year — when innumerable women across the world have made countless sacrifices to help others — one name on the 100 Women list has been left blank as a tribute.

nandini@khaleejtimes.com



Next Story