Dubai: While she is not the first Emirati Nasa intern, Ghena Al Hanaee was among the first graduating batch to include female graduates from the Petroleum institute of Abu Dhabi.
Ghena graduated in January 2012, With a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering before interning at Nasa this past summer.
She told Gulf News about how she got into the internship programme, her work there and what she learned.
Ghena said she applied for the Nasa Education Associates Program through the Arab Youth Venture Foundation (AYVF).
AYVF launched this programme with Nasa in 2010, in which high potential Emirati engineering students are competitively selected and sent to Nasa for two to 12 months, depending on position openings and the candidate fitting in with potential projects.
“I applied to the programme and was shortlisted with 20 others. We were then interviewed and three of us were chosen to go this time.”
Ghena said she was at the Nasa Lunar Science Institute for 16 weeks, working on an individual mission project under the supervision of two Nasa scientist mentors. “My research work was titled ‘Exploration Uplink’, which involved research into the different components and technologies being used in the Mars rovers, both their mechanical and electrical aspects.”
The Nasa Lunar Science Institute where Ghena interned played a big part in the Curiosity Rover mission, in terms of software design, sensor integration and wind tunnel testing.
“However, the research I worked on involved a small rover used to bring hands-on space exploration experiences to students, scientists, engineers and people in general.” She explained that the project she worked on focuses on young students to encourage them to pursue careers in science and technology, and hopefully become the future generation in charge of rovers such as the Curiosity Rover.
Lisa LaBonte, CEO of AYVF, said, “We are very pleased with the feedback from Nasa regarding Ghena’s mission work. The type of research undertaken by Ghena at Nasa supports education of future scientific and engineering talent for the space industry, specifically involving Nasa’s Mars programmes and exploration activities.”
She added that the calibre of talent that they have seen in their interns such as Ghena is a testament to UAE universities’ engineering programmes as well as a tribute to students’ talent and their parents’ support.
“Working at Nasa was different from what I initially expected. The work environment was very relaxed, flexible, and new ideas were always welcomed and appreciated. Everyone I came across seemed to enjoy their job very much.” Ghena said.
Ghena along with the other AYVF interns from the UAE, participated in an International Panel at Ames and gave everyone an insight into the UAE and its culture. She said, “At the end of my internship, I presented my research poster and findings. All in all, it was a very enlightening and enjoyable experience.”
Now Ghena is looking forward to pursuing her masters in Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University next month.
