KUWAIT: Ooredoo CEO Abdulaziz Yaqoub Al-Babtain (center) honors Dr Bassam Al-Feeli (right) and Nada Al-Shemmari.

KUWAIT: Ooredoo Telecom, the first to introduce innovative digital services in Kuwait, honored Dr Bassam Al-Feeli, the founder of Orbital Space, the first private company in the Middle East to provide access to space through CubeSat technology, Nada Al-Shemmari and Abdulraof Al-Feeli, on the occasion of the success of releasing Kuwait's first Nano satellite into orbit called "Qmr Kuwait".

Dr Feeli and Nada Al-Shemmari were greeted by Abdulaziz Yaqoub Al-Babtain - Chief Executive Officer; Fadi Kawar - Chief Operating Officer; Mijbil Alayoub - Senior Director, Corporate Communications; Fatima Dashti - Senior Manager, Public Relations, Internal Communications and Social Responsibility; Essa Al-Moosa - Senior Director, Customer Care; Thamer Al-Tahous - Director, VIP and the Public Relations Team in Ooredoo Kuwait. The team expressed their pride in Dr Feeli's strenuous efforts and great achievements on behalf of the State of Kuwait, which resulted in a historic achievement called the "Qmr Kuwait", which was released from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station located in Florida, United States.

A group photo at Ooredoo headquarters.

Meanwhile, Dr Feeli gave a detailed explanation of the project and its development stages, stressing on the fact that the main objective of this project is to raise awareness about satellite technology, in addition to raising the name of the State of Kuwait and encouraging Kuwaiti youth.

Ooredoo affirmed its continuous support for youth and local skills and talents in various sectors including; science, technology and space innovations, since space inspires the youth. Further, the company stressed on the fact that the ultimate goal of such honors is to develop the capabilities of youth in scientific research and raise awareness about space experiments and their role in sustainable development along with improving the quality of life.

Dr Feeli is a Kuwaiti scientist with expertise in advanced technologies including nanotechnology, lasers and photonics, advanced nuclear reactors design, and space technologies. He is currently a Scientific Consultant and Program Manager within Innovation and Enterprise Directorate at the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). Among his responsibilities at KFAS is organizing science, technology, and innovation related learning programs that would provide local companies with tools and skills to improve business productivity and competitiveness.

Dr Bassam holds PhD in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) from Virginia Tech where he contributed to the development of micro gas analysis devices. He has served as scientist in the Nanotechnology program with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, and program coordinator in the Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee. In 2012-2013, Bassam was a Fellow of the Kuwait-MIT Center for Natural Resources and the Environment. He has served as a visiting scientist at MIT Chemical Engineering Department, and was a visiting scientist at the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Japan.