UAE-based teachers invited to join trip to US space camp

Global industrial firm Honeywell has once again extended an invitation to eligible UAE-based teachers to participate in the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy, HESA, programme for 2018.

Hosted at the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre, USSRC, which is home to the Apollo 16 capsule and the Visitor Center for NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre, the team of UAE-based teachers will join educators from across the world.

Aiming to encourage educators in devising novel approaches for science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM education, the programme will be made up of 45 hours of classroom and laboratory instruction.

Focusing on science, space exploration and leadership skills development, the courses will engages teachers on astronaut-style exercises. This will include high-performance jet simulations, scenario-based space missions, interactive flight dynamics programs, as well as coding challenges.

Speaking on the invitation, Norm Gilsdorf, President of Honeywell, Middle East, Russia, Turkey and Central Asia, said, "Honeywell has been involved in most major space missions and satellite projects since the beginning of the space age, and we are committed to supporting the UAE government's ambitious science and space programmes, including Mars Mission 2021.

"We welcomed four UAE-based teachers to a previous HESA programme who are now actively sharing their experiences with students, some of whom may become our scientists and astronauts of the future. We believe that investing in teachers is an investment in our youth, and we look forward to welcoming another group of teachers from the UAE at Honeywell Educators at Space Academy in 2018."

Commenting on her own experience of the programme, Buthaina Abandah from the Applied Technology High School, Abu Dhabi, said, "Going to Space Camp was a transformative experience for me. Not only was it inspiring, I met teachers from all over the world and together we learned new techniques to make STEM education more fun and engaging for our students. I strongly recommend all teachers to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and attend Honeywell Educators at Space Academy in 2018."

The week-long programme runs twice at the USSRC's Space Camp, from 13th - 19th and 20th - 26th June, 2018. To qualify for the HESA programme, educators must be currently teaching science or math to students aged 10-14 years and should continue to teach these subject areas through 2018.