Prime Highlights
- Eight Arab women are driving innovation across space exploration, AI, robotics, sustainability and aerospace, reshaping traditionally male-dominated industries.
- Their achievements are expanding female leadership in STEM while inspiring the next generation of women engineers and technology professionals.
Key Facts
- Nora AlMatrooshi became the first Emirati and Arab woman astronaut and completed NASA astronaut training in 2024.
- Leaders including Mahra AlKhaja, Yasmin Al Enazi, Alshaima Alshayeb and Dr. Raida Al-Alawi are advancing AI, robotics, sustainability and engineering leadership across the region.
Background
As the world marks International Women in Engineering Day, eight Arab women are earning attention for their work across space, robotics, sustainability and aerospace, sectors that stayed largely male-dominated for decades.
Nora AlMatrooshi became the first Emirati and Arab woman selected for the UAE Astronaut Programme in 2021. Drawn from a field of more than 4,000 applicants, she wrapped up NASA astronaut training in 2024 and is now cleared for future space missions.
Mahra AlKhaja serves as Senior Vice President of Data Management at Emirates Water and Electricity Company, converting infrastructure data into operational insights that back the UAE’s clean energy goals.
Egyptian nanotechnology professor Dr. Amal Amin has built research ties across more than 30 countries, launched the Women in Science Without Borders initiative and received Africa’s Outstanding Women in Tech Award.
Yasmin Al Enazi co-founded the UAE chapter of Women in Robotics in 2024 and featured among the top ten women driving global robotics forward, with early work built around a robotic wheelchair designed for indoor use.
Maithah Albinali works as an environmental engineer on NEOM-linked projects at AECOM, focusing on bringing sustainable practices into Gulf infrastructure development.
Alshaima Alshayeb founded the Saudi Women Engineers Society and played a key role in earning Saudi Arabia its first Gold-level Mostadam Community Certificate under Vision 2030.
Marwa Al Mamari became the UAE’s first aerospace engineer and is currently completing doctoral research on aviation technology. Dr. Raida Al-Alawi broke ground as the first woman to lead the Bahrain Society of Engineers in its five-decade history.
