About Speaker

As UAE Assistant Foreign Minister for Advanced Science and Technology, Omran Sharaf represents the Emirates globally in the fields of advanced science, technology, and space. In June 2022, he was appointed to chair the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Prior to these appointments, he was the Project Director of the Emirates Mars Mission at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. He was responsible for developing, launching, and operating the mission, including the design, engineering, and construction of the Hope probe, which reached its orbit of Mars on 9th February 2021. Omran led the project from its initial conception and developed all the necessary capabilities and partnerships at MBRSC, transitioning the organisation from a focus on earth observation satellites to interplanetary exploration mission capability.