Young Professionals in Space Conference highlights EO and environmental apps

Day 2 of the fourth Young Professionals in Space Conference 2019 (YPS) witnessed a huge turnout in the number of participants. The conference brings together scientists, engineers and leaders of the space industry and agencies together in a single venue to discuss recent research breakthroughs, technical advances, latest innovations, and emerging space technologies.

The second day saw the participation of the keynote speaker H.E. Masood M. Sharif Mahmoud, the CEO of Yahsat, who discussed the challenges and opportunities of the space sector, while focusing on the launch of “Al Yah 3” satellite and the team’s efforts involved in this achievement.  The second day programme highlighted topics about earth observation and environmental applications, spatiotemporal mapping and monitoring of whiting in the semi-enclosed Gulf, geo-statistical seismic analysis, hazard, and risk assessment, and remote sensing applications for the environment using open data and open source packages. These sessions were held by Prof. Abdulrazzaq Bennari, from the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) in Bahrain, Prof. Abdallah Shanableh, from the University of Sharjah in the UAE, and Dr. Nazmi Saleous, from the UAE University.

The conference also organised panel discussions on earth observation for urban applications, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and space exploration, autonomous object extraction and semantic segmentation in aerial images, amateur radio and satellite observation, and a workshop entitled “Visualising and Mapping Mars”. The workshop was attended by Noora AlRafi, Head of Educational Initiatives Team – UAE Astronaut Programme, Ahmed Salem, Senior Specialist – Systems Engineering Unit at MBRSC, Fatma Lootah, Manager – Instrument Science Section at MBRSC, Mariam AlZarouni, Head – Studies Unit at MBRSC, and Shaikha Al Falasi, Engineer – Sustainable Energy Programme at MBRSC.

MBRSC launched the fourth YPS 2019 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday, 4 November 2019. The UAE is the first country in the MENA region to host this conference, with the attendance of 300 participants and 75 speakers from the UAE and abroad. The conference will last till 6 November, 2019.

The fourth YPS conference is a Mars 2117 initiative and is funded by the ICT fund of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.