Marwa Al Mamari made history when she became the first Emirati aerospace engineer, but the trailblazer isn’t just satisfied with opening the door for herself – she’s holding it wide open for others, using her platform to get more women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). 

She is currently a specialist in the Air Accidents Prevention Department at the General Authority of Civil Aviation and a PhD candidate working on AI in aviation. But the path to get here wasn’t always easy. Growing up in a typical Arab family, Marwa felt she had two career options to choose from: She could either become a doctor or an engineer. And until she was 17, she had every intention of working in medicine, right up until the  ‘pivotal moment’ in her life, when she attended a talk at school from someone in the aviation industry. 

Her family, not thrilled with the idea of her joining such a male-dominated industry, discouraged her. She spent 18 months on a medicine course before dropping out, and worked in a number of different industries including banking and media, before finally coming back to the career path she felt so passionate about. 

Marwa says she didn’t quite realise the magnitude of her achievement when she became an aerospace engineer – she was more delighted to be doing something she had been dreaming about since she was a teenager.

Speaking with Villa 88, Marwa says, “I always tell people there is no set time for a dream or for an achievement. Just keep trying and testing and experiencing life, because you never know when it will actually hit you that this is what you hoped for in life. Sometimes you feel lost, and sometimes we are so sure that this is our dream, and suddenly you have a change of heart and mind, and you believe, ‘No, this is not the dream I really want.’”

She adds, “Dreams can be born over an incident, or in just a minute. It doesn’t have to be something you’ve always been thinking of or looking for. You can start right now – at any age, at any time. There are no restrictions for your dreams, no boundaries.”

In addition to her scientific side, Marwa also has a creative spirit. She is a painter, and previously ran her own online publication, Salfa Magazine. For those struggling to pick a career path, she suggests looking inwards to find something you love that can sustain you. She says, “We all have the artistic part and the scientific one within ourselves. We have the crazy one, the settled one, the sane and the insane. We need to get in touch deeply with ourselves and understand what we like, what we dislike, what we’re interested in, how we can approach that interest and reflect on it. Just focus on something you love and you really feel you can put your heart and mind into it.”

Marwa shares her achievements on Instagram and in TEDx talks. She also works with schools and colleges, including the Emirates Aviation University. 

While working in an industry that continues to be male-dominated is no doubt hard, women in aviation “shine”, she stresses, wholeheartedly encouraging other women to join her. “It is so rewarding and so fulfilling,” she notes. “It’s like an unlimited life, because you live so many lives in the industry.”

“Yes, it’s all about space and aeroplanes, but we are involved in so many other sectors and so many industries that we intersect with. So, even if [aspiring women] graduate in any other major, they can still join the industry,” she explains. “And for STEM in particular, we do need all those scientists and engineers, because women have the greatest minds.”

With the UAE becoming the first Arab nation to successfully send a probe to Mars, and Emirati astronauts Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi touring schools across the country, all eyes are looking to the stars. Marwa believes the UAE is going to be a pioneer in space exploration, noting that “we have the tools, the means and the ambition for it”, and, she adds, the presence of an interested younger generation that has no doubt been inspired by the work of the UAE Space Agency since its formation a decade ago.

As for Marwa, her next big challenge is her PhD, for which she is focussing on the use of artificial intelligence in aviation. Rather than being concerned about AI replacing human jobs, she sees the development of the technology as a way to enhance security, accuracy and safety. “Artificial intelligence is going to remove human errors; it’s going to make it safer to fly rather than just replacing a human. We will always need human presence in this industry, and in all industries, but AI will be used to eliminate the flaws in a human.”

Follow @eng.marwaalmamari on Instagram.