Media coverage
Felesteen Online · 2021-05-02
PalThink for Strategic Studies hosted Palestinian electronics engineer Loay Elbasyouni, a member of the team behind NASA’s first helicopter to fly on the surface of Mars, in a Zoom seminar about his journey from Gaza to the United States and the challenges he faced. Elbasyouni spoke about his roots in Beit Hanoun, his education in UNRWA schools and then electrical engineering studies in the United States, and expressed his readiness to help advance engineering research and education in Palestine and the Arab world.
PalThink for Strategic Studies hosted Palestinian electronics engineer Loay Elbasyouni, a member of the team behind NASA’s first helicopter to fly on the surface of Mars, in a Zoom seminar about his journey from Gaza to the United States and the challenges he faced. Elbasyouni spoke about his roots…
The Palestinian Institute for Strategic Studies (PalThink) hosted Palestinian electronics engineer Loay Elbasyouni, a member of the team that built the first helicopter for the U.S. space agency NASA, which achieved a historic accomplishment by launching the first flight of the helicopter “Ingenuity” over the surface of Mars.
During a Zoom seminar organized by the Palestinian Institute for Strategic Studies (PalThink), Eng. Elbasyouni reviewed the challenges he faced throughout his journey, alongside his future aspirations and the possibility of developing research facilities in Palestine. This took place amid a strong celebration by the Palestinian, Arab, and foreign participants in the scientific seminar.
The participants praised the efforts of Eng. Elbasyouni and PalThink in instilling a spirit of hope in Palestinian youth, who suffer from deep frustration in light of the political, economic, and social conditions, etc.
For his part, Mr. Omar Shaban, founder and director of the Palestinian Institute for Strategic Studies (PalThink), explained that this distinguished scientific meeting comes within the context of the principles and objectives upon which PalThink was established, as a Palestinian think tank and research institution that seeks to keep pace with developments in the fields of politics, economics, society, and culture. He also noted that the institution is Palestinian—independent in thought and non-profit—and operates in the field of research at both the national and regional levels.
For his part, Eng. Elbasyouni noted at the beginning of his remarks that his roots go back to the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. He studied in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and received a partial scholarship to study at a university in the state of Pennsylvania in 1998. He then moved to Kentucky, where he studied electrical engineering.
Elbasyouni was able to complete his undergraduate studies in 2002 and obtained a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He then pursued graduate studies and earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Louisville in 2004.
Elbasyouni indicates that he faced many difficulties upon leaving the Gaza Strip and even after arriving in the United States, noting that the experience of living abroad and relying on himself was highly beneficial to him on both the personal and professional levels.
Elbasyouni pointed out that he did not encounter discrimination within the system in the United States or within its institutions, whether governmental or civil, although he did find discrimination from some segments of American society because he is Arab.
Elbasyouni reviewed many of the challenges he faced, including the difficulty of visiting Gaza due to the restrictions imposed on travel to and from the Strip, as Israel obstructs movement from the Gaza Strip to the outside world and vice versa.
Elbasyouni believes that his success in reaching this level of distinction sends a clear message to the world: that the Palestinian is capable of thinking and creating in many fields.
Elbasyouni stated that his work in astronomy and space will not stop at this point, as he is working on establishing his own company, which could enter into contracts with NASA in order to continue achieving further successes.
Elbasyouni advises young people of the need to arrange their priorities and set a clear agenda for their future, as well as the need to read more and choose a field of specialization according to their passion, not merely according to market requirements. He also addressed educational academies in Palestine and the Arab world, stressing the need to harmonize theory and practice, noting that the major problem in education in Palestine and the Arab world is the existence of a wide gap between theory and practice.
At the end of the meeting, Elbasyouni expressed his full readiness to help Arab and Palestinian academic institutions in developing the necessary visions and exchanging expertise in order to achieve progress in the fields of space engineering.
Text © Felesteen Online — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source