Pal-Think hosts engineer Loay Elbasyouni on his journey from Gaza to Mars

Pal-Think for Strategic Studies hosted the Palestinian electronics engineer Loay Elbasyouni, a member of the team that made the first helicopter belonging to the American space agency NASA, who managed to achieve a historic accomplishment with the launch of the first flight of the INGENUITY helicopter over the surface of Mars.

Eng. Elbasyouni reviewed, during a Zoom seminar organised by Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, the challenges he faced during his course, alongside the future ambitions and the possibility of developing research facilities in Palestine — this amid great celebration from the Palestinian, Arab, and foreign participants in the scientific seminar.

The participants praised the efforts of Eng. Elbasyouni and the Pal-Think institution in instilling the spirit of hope in the souls of Palestinian youth, who suffer great frustration in the reality of the political, economic, and social circumstances.. etc.

For his part, Mr Omar Shaban, founder and director of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, made clear that the distinguished scientific encounter comes in the context of the principles and goals from which “Pal-Think” set out — it being a Palestinian reflection and research institution that attempts to keep pace with the developments in the fields of politics, economy, society, and culture — with his indication that the institution is Palestinian, of independent thought and non-profit, working in the field of research at the national and regional level.

For his part, Eng. Elbasyouni pointed out at the start of his intervention that his origins descend from the town of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip, and he studied in the schools of the United Nations agency for the relief of Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), and obtained a partial scholarship to study at one of the universities of the state of Pennsylvania in 1998, then moved to the state of Kentucky, where he studied electrical engineering.

Elbasyouni managed to finish his basic university studies in 2002 and obtained the bachelor's degree in engineering, then enrolled in graduate studies and obtained the master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Louisville in 2004.

Elbasyouni points out that many difficulties faced him upon leaving the Gaza Strip and even upon his arrival in the United States — with his indication that the experience of expatriation and self-reliance was extremely beneficial to him at the personal and also the practical level.

Elbasyouni pointed out that he did not feel discrimination in the system inside the United States of America, or inside its institutions whether governmental or civil; however, he found discrimination from some categories in American society, he being an Arab.

Elbasyouni reviewed many of the challenges that faced him, among them the difficulty of visiting Gaza because of the restrictions imposed on travel from and to the Strip, as Israel obstructs the condition of movement from the Gaza Strip to the outside world and vice versa.

Elbasyouni considers that his success in reaching that degree of distinction sends a clear message to the world that the Palestinian is able to think and create in many fields.

Elbasyouni mentioned that his work in the field of astronomy and space will not stop at this limit — he is engaged in founding a company of his own, which can conclude contracts with the NASA agency in order to continue achieving more successes.

Elbasyouni advises the youth of the necessity of ordering their priorities and setting a clear agenda for their future, with the necessity of much reading, and choosing the specialisation according to their passion and not according to the market's requirements alone. He likewise directed advice to the educational academies in Palestine and the Arab homeland of the necessity of accordance between theory and application — pointing out that the greatest problematic in education inside Palestine or the Arab homeland is the existence of a great gap between theory and application.

At the end of the encounter Elbasyouni expressed his complete readiness to help the Arab and Palestinian academies in setting the necessary conceptions and exchanging experience, to achieve progress in the fields of space engineering.