FUELLING THE SPACE ECONOMY

From staring at the night sky in the desert to engineering microbes for space mining, young Emirati scientist Alia Al Mansoori is fast creating a place for herself in the UAE's growing innovation ecosystem with a mix of curiosity, grit and purpose.

- ALIA AL MANSOORI

Alia’s passion for science started early, shaped by a home where asking questions was encouraged. “As a child, I asked so many questions. Even if my family didn't know the answers, they would help me look for them,” Alia tells GN Focus.

She clearly remembers that feeling of connection whenever she looked up at the stars. That curiosity eventually turned into a drive to connect “the big picture and the vastness of space with the nanoscale biology and DNA expression.”