ENGINEERING BULLETIN

A regional centre for space science and technology education for Western Asia will be sited at the Royal Jordanian Geographic Center (RJGC) by April, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has announced.

Awni Khasawneh, general director of the RJGC and secretary general of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS), made the announcement at the 10th Arab conference on astronomy and space held in Muscat, Oman, from 5-8 February under the theme “The role of astronomy and space sciences in the development of contemporary societies”.

The conference was organised by the AUASS in cooperation with the Omani Astronomical Society.

According to a study presented at the conference, the centre will be the only one to use Arabic and will serve Arab countries through a series of theoretical courses and research applications.

The study proposed that the centre focus on developing skills and knowledge among university scientists and environmental researchers, with the objective of building indigenous capacity in core disciplines.

The UN-affiliated centre is the sixth of its kind in the world after India’s facility for Asia and the Pacific, Nigeria’s and Morocco’s for Africa, and Brazil’s and Mexico’s for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Full text of the article: University World News