Professor Danielle Wood has been invited by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to represent the US as part of the "US Speaker Program on Economic Prosperity: Space Innovation" in Saudi Arabia, in honor of World Space Week.

This event is Professor Wood's third opportunity to represent the US by invitation of a US embassy to speak about space technology, having done previous, similar trips in Italy and the United Arab Emirates. 

Program description: 

Building off last year’s launch of Saudi Arabia's first astronaut program, with astronauts Rayannah Barnawi (the first Arab female in space) and Ali Alqarni flying on the Axiom II mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the establishment of the Saudi Space Agency (SSA), there is enthusiasm across the country to learn more about space travel, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

With new relationships forged at the Commission on Communications, Space, and Technology (CST) and the Saudi Space Agency, the US embassy is eager to continue to use programs to advance bilateral space interests—a key goal of the newly established US-Saudi bilateral working group on space.

The program will also help advance space innovation through engagements with the public and private space sectors, university researchers, young professionals, and civil society. 

The audience for this program will include:

• NASA Space Apps Hackathon participants, which will include young professionals and university students
• Emerging professionals interested in STEAM, innovation, and technology
• Alumni of US government exchanges (from a variety of fields, many with technical background in STEAM)
• Members of clubs/civil society interested in space and science
• Saudi Space Agency and the Saudi Commission on Communications, Space, and Technology (for a discussion not on policy, but rather an informal discussion of the speaker’s experience supporting space exploration)