The Harvard Business School Aerospace Alumni Group officially launched its local chapter in Abu Dhabi at the opening of the Global Space and Satellite Forum (GSSF) held recently in the UAE capital.

With ‘Passion for Exploration and Innovation’ as their slogan, the aerospace group will have a primary office in Washington DC, with upcoming representative regional offices in France, the UAE, and Singapore to provide valuable services for the aerospace community in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Middle East.

Today, the association serves as one of the foremost resources for all matters involving the aerospace industry, and is built on the pillars of science, technology, engineering and business, said a top official.

The Alumni Group is a unique platform for the aerospace community as a whole, and caters specifically towards three clusters within the industry.

"It is laser focused on the three clusters of civil aviation, defence/security and space exploration. Innovation and reinvention are imperative to everything we are doing in all three clusters," remarked Maher Ezzeddine, the chief executive of Ideanco and Alumni Group president.

"Exploiting the core business of the association to fulfill our vision, mission and objectives is a must, and in parallel exploring new and innovative ways to be brought to the core business is as important as exploitation, ensuring the successful continuity of the association towards the future," he added.

Ezzeddine said: "Engaging with the trends that are shaping our future in terms of aviation and space is a must. Our vision is to become a prominent, self sustaining global Harvard aerospace alumni association providing our aerospace community with access to world class resources, knowledge and experience in both aviation and space."

The GSSF provided a golden opportunity for international experts to meet regional leaders and discuss satellite projects underway across the Middle East, Africa & South Asia region.

In its fifth successful year, GSSF 2015 hosted top ranking officials from over 30 regional national space projects and research centres and featured  parallel conferences, numerous technical seminars, product showcase area and a number of networking events throughout the event.

Senior representatives from NASA, ESA, Chinese National Space Agency, and Roskosmos addressed the summit which was held in partnership with many regional and international organisations. GSSF 2015 was officially hosted by the UAE Space Agency.

The nation also witnessed the official launch of the UAE Space Agency at the event.-TradeArabia News Service