INSPIRING SAUDI YOUTH THROUGH SPACE

KAUST and the Saudi Space Agency launch inaugural space and science camp: Space 2101

In February 2023, KAUST held the first iteration of Space 2101 with its founding partner, the Saudi Space Agency (SSA). The event aimed to encourage Saudi students to pursue studies related to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), strengthening the future of Saudi Arabia.

Two hundred students between the ages of 12 and 15 from across the Kingdom were chosen to participate in the five-day event. Several renowned STEAM educators and five NASA and SpaceX astronauts delivered the course. KAUST believes that most jobs will soon require STEAM skills and is using events such as this to encourage more youth in Saudi Arabia to develop those proficiencies from an early age. “When we want to raise the innovators and researchers of the future, curiosity is a very strong element into that,” said Frank Salzgeber, Acting Vice Governor for Space at Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space & Technology Commission.

The astronaut’s participation in the event attracted students from across the Kingdom who have an interest in space. Their presence was also expected to encourage individuals in the program to pursue a STEAM-related career. Those looking to work in the space industry, particularly astronauts, should develop competencies in a range of STEAM fields, emphasized Susan Kilrain, an aerospace engineer and former NASA space shuttle pilot. There are no specific degrees for astronauts; rather, students must master the foundational STEAM skills required for the role.

As part of the event, students were allowed to visit KAUST’s laboratories and research centers, including facilities such as the Clean Combustion Research Center, the KAUST Solar Center, the Visualization Core Lab, the Microbial Ecogenomics & Biotechnology Lab, the KAUST Smart Home, the Museum of Science & Technology in Islam, and KAUST’s greenhouse.

The event helped the university showcase some of its facilities on a public platform and encouraged youth to choose KAUST for their future STEAM-related studies.

The program culminated in a competition in which teams applied STEAM tools to design habitats capable of sustaining life in space or on Mars. The winning team was awarded a trip to Florida in the United States to watch a live launch at the Kennedy Space Center, making for a competitive event. Several of KAUST’s STEAM professors provided guidance and supported students in their design process. For example, students learned how to use 3D-printed materials to develop their habitats and were taught about electronics that can operate in the kind of extreme conditions found in space.

NAJAH ASHRY

Vice President for Strategic National Advancement and Senior Associate to the President

While the Kingdom is a relatively new player in the space industry, under Vision 2030 the Saudi government is actively developing a space program that is expected to support economic diversification and drive innovation. The SSA was established in December 2018 to help accelerate the Kingdom’s space program, and KAUST hopes its laboratories and research will be central to achieving the Kingdom’s ambitions in the field. In line with this vision, KAUST partnered with Spire Global to develop a CubeSat satellite, which it launched into space in April 2023, to gather high-quality and high-resolution data of ecosystems across the region. The university is home to researchers from around the world that are working on space-related projects that are expected to be central to the Kingdom’s future space industry.