The Symposium convened various stakeholders from academia, industry, start-ups, and government organizations to discuss and strategize fundamental aerospace efforts in the UAE, high-level collaborations in aerospace, and future expansion of local expertise and industrial activities in related sectors, including launch capabilities for atmospheric missions and beyond.

The Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences & Technology, represented by Eng. Yousuf Faroukh and the CubeSat Laboratory participated in the “Making Space: R&D Collaborations / Strategies” panel. Professor Matt Karau, the director of Engineering Design Studio at New York Abu Dhabi, chaired the panel. The panelists included Professor Milan Bogosavljević, an astrophysicist and Lecturer of Physics at New York University Abu Dhabi, Eng. Ingie Baho, a Systems and Mechanical Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Eng. Yousuf Faroukh, a Space Systems Engineer at Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Science & Technology, working on the Sharjah-Sat program in the CubeSat Lab, and Dr. Anton Ivanov, the Executive Director of Space for  Beyond Earth Exploration at the Propulsion and Space Research Center at the Technology Innovation Institute (TII).

The panel highlighted and discussed initiatives in the UAE in advanced manufacturing for aerospace, satellite development, experimental payload development, scientific instrument development, sponsored design challenges, partnership projects with international space agencies, and efforts to establish a local sounding rocket launch ecosystem.