Presents three papers at Italy event which witnessed participation from 3,000 space industry representatives from over 70 countries

Dubai, October 23, 2012: The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science & Technology (EIAST) presented three papers at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) that took place in Naples, Italy, from October 1 to 5, 2012. The IAC is the most important annual inter-disciplinary meeting worldwide with 3,000 participants from over 70 countries, including representatives from the space industry, space agencies, policy makers, students, young professionals, researchers and academicians.

In one of the papers, EIAST presented the High Resolution Advanced Imaging System (HiRAIS), a camera developed for the DubaiSat-2 earth observation mission, describing the overall system design of the HiRAIS electronics.

"The Dubai-Sat programme has played an important role in the establishment and development of the Space Industry in the UAE. The programme was initiated as a result of a shift in strategy and economic structure. The collaboration with South Korean company, Satrec Initiative, proved to be a successful story of the ability of a Space developing nation empowered by making knowledge and technology accessible," said Ahmed Al Mansoori, Director General of EIAST.

"EIAST is keen to make use of space technologies in the nation building process. We are happy to have had the opportunity to highlight the UAE's competencies in space technology and research at such an elite international platform as the International Astronautical Congress. Through key presentations at the event, EIAST stressed its commitment to develop the space sector in the UAE and establish the global credentials of the emirate in the space industry," said Suhail Al Dhafri, Head of Electronic systems section.

Following the development of the HiRAIS, there is a major improvement in image quality over that of DubaiSat-1; which was made possible by implementing a larger optical design with a larger mirror diameter. The primary payload of DubaiSat-2 saw a complete redesign compared to the payload of its predecessor. The redesign helped increase the resolution of DubaiSat-2 and improve the downloading and storage capabilities of the satellite to provide better products for consumers. Its enhanced features also give the HiRAIS better image data encryption and compression capabilities.

"The experiences gained throughout the design and manufacturing of DubaiSat-1 was utilized in developing the HiRAIS Payload. The new payload design implements advanced image acquisition and processing techniques, critical to taking forward the country's ambitious space programme," said Hamad Al Jaziri, Head of Power and Communication System Unit.

Another paper entitled 'UAE and the Space Industry - through the lens of Dubai-Sat', presented the benefits that Small Satellite programmes and their applications have on various sectors, including, infrastructure, education, planning, industry and development by taking the case of the DubaiSat projects and their contribution to the UAE.

The paper also touched upon the development of the space programmes and how they benefit the growth and expansion of the industry, ultimately benefiting humanity. It outlined the cooperation between countries which have already established a presence in the Space arena and those which are developing their presence. The paper showed how such cooperation benefits the industry, economy and science by sharing of knowledge and technology between the two entities.

The third paper titled 'Developing a Space Workforce in an Emerging Nation through Inter-Regional Cooperation' presented EIAST as a working model.

In line with EIAST's long term objective of building the UAE's space technology capabilities, the paper showed how obstacles were constantly being tackled at international, regional and domestic levels.

"EIAST was established to promote advanced scientific research in Dubai and the UAE with the long term objective of building technology. The journey of developing an organization in the advanced science and technology field has been tough. However, over the last six years, EIAST has invested heavily in developing its workforce, making the development of its team its top priority. We have successfully managed to enhance the team's skills and abilities, sharing knowledge and working closely with South Korea's Satrec Initiative," said Sarah Amiri, Head of Research and Development Section.

With the success of the first satellite and the full involvement of the team in the design of the second, the DubaiSat programme is well on track to achieve another successful mission. The paper described the measures taken to provide the engineers with the necessary tools required to establish themselves in this mission and to benefit the Space Industry and humanity as a whole. In addition, the paper also presented the various factors, both negative and positive, that contributed to the development of the Space workforce at EIAST.

-Ends-

About The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science & Technology (EIAST):
The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) is a Dubai Government Department established in 2006 to promote scientific innovation and advanced technology in the UAE.

EIAST's primary roles are to promote the culture of advanced scientific research and technology innovation in Dubai and the UAE, enhance and build an internationally competitive base for human skills development, position Dubai and the UAE as a science and technology development hub among advanced nations, and establish international collaborative links and joint projects with industry and research organizations.

EIAST is conducting research using satellite data in many areas to monitor various environmental changes, and manage natural hazards, in addition to identifying the quality of water in the Gulf region

- especially the effect of waste distillation on the environment and marine life existing in the oceans surrounding the UAE. In addition to studying ways to improve the clarity of satellite pictures, EIAST is researching change detection on land and sea as well as image algorithms and quality enhancement.

EIAST provides services and programmes at all local, regional and international levels, and is also cooperating with several bodies and international space programmes.

EIAST is closely working with UAE universities on different educational areas, such as resolution enhancement, quality improvement and detection algorithms for different phenomena in images.

For more information, please visit www.eiast.ae.

For further information, please contact:
Nedal Alasaad / Samer El Zein,
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller,
Tel: (971 4) 4507600
Fax: (971 4) 4358040
Email: nedal.alasaad@bm.com
samer.elzein@bm.com

© Press Release 2012