US Embassy Celebrates Egyptian Space Camp Participants

On June 27, U.S. Embassy Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy Ruben Harutunian hosted a talented group of eleven Egyptian university students and two mentors who recently returned from the prestigious NASA Space Camp in the United States. 

The students were members of the three winning teams at a U.S Embassy-sponsored NASA Space Apps Hackathon event at American University in Cairo (AUC) which took place in October, 2023. This was a two-day competition which engaged young Egyptians to solve challenges related to space exploration, artificial intelligence, climate change, and water conservation. 

All participants met former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, who visited Egypt in 2023 and is slated to blast off into space with Blue Origin in October 2024. The three winning teams travelled to the United States April 21-May 4, 2024 for science-focused exchanges including a visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and a program at NASA Headquarters in Houston, Texas, where the students met with NASA engineers, including Egyptian Engineer Mohamed El Wassimy.

Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy Ruben Harutunian stated: “U.S. Embassy Cairo has now twice supported the NASA Space Apps initiative, and we are pleased that these young Egyptians, who aspire to be leaders in STEM careers, were able to meet important people in the field of space exploration and expand their global perspectives. 

This NASA Space Camp exchange program is just a small example of Egyptian-U.S. cooperation on space issues.”

Cooperation in scientific fields such as space exploration, artificial intelligence, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is a crucial part of the strong, strategic relationship between Egypt and the United States that ensures increased security and economic prosperity for Egyptian and American people. 

The United States remains committed to cooperating with Egypt in science and technology to overcome shared challenges and build a brighter future for the Middle East and North Africa region and the world