Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Loay Muhammad Hassan Al-Basyouni (in English: Loay Elbasyouni) is a Palestinian electrical engineer who headed the team to develop the control electronics within the side motors and electric propulsion motors of the “Ingenuity Mars Helicopter,” the robotic robot responsible for collecting data on the planet Mars.
Foundation
He was born in Germany while his father was studying medicine there. His family returned to Gaza when he was five years old. He lived during the first intifada and received his primary and secondary education in the schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
From Gaza to NASA
He left Gaza with the intention of studying, and then obtained a partial scholarship to study at a university in Pennsylvania in 1998. Then he moved to the state of Kentucky to work and study, where he studied electrical engineering. He stopped his studies and worked during his studies due to poor circumstances after the Israeli occupation bulldozed his father’s orchards. He completed his bachelor's degree in engineering in 2004, then a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Louisville in 2005. He worked at the General Electric Company on a project to develop electric cars. He moved on to work on developing very light engines for electric drones in an American company working for NASA.
He headed the team of engineers to design the electric propulsion system for the “Ingenuity” robotic helicopter, whose engine weight should not exceed 20 grams - to be carried by the vehicle called Perseverance - and it could fly and move on the surface of Mars in extremely cold conditions, a temperature of -100 and almost no air. The other teams of the Mars mission also participated in the Tunisian scientist Mohamed Obeid and the Moroccan Kamal Al-Wadghiri.
The arrival of Mars is easier than the arrival of Gaza
He was unable to meet his family after leaving Gaza due to the ongoing events and the closure of the crossings. Only in the year 2000, and he was not able to meet his family after that until 2011 in Germany.
Achievements and Awards
Awards and awards
Membership of the IEEE Power Electronics Society
Honored by UNRWA for his selfless work
John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr. Award for space exploration from NASA
Ingenuity Airlines
The helicopter made its first successful flight on Mars on April 19, 2021, 11:30 GMT, marking the first flight on another planet.
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- Years in active
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