Institute of Space Technology (IST) celebrated World Space Week (WSW) in collaboration with the National Space Agency of Pakistan (SUPARCO) at its campus located in Islamabad. The theme for WSW is “The Moon: Gateway to the Stars”.
The purpose of celebrating WSW is to create space awareness amongst the students from a large number of schools and colleges of the twin cities and surrounding areas besides general public.
Competitions and activities in WSW started from 4th October and continued till 6th of October. Students from 80 different schools and colleges of Islamabad and Rawalpindi participated in about 90 different events and activities of WSW.
Chairman SUPARCO, Major General Amer Nadeem HI graced the occasion as the chief guest in opening ceremony. He emphasized on the importance of research and innovation in the fields of science and technology while addressing the participants. He advised students to realize the broader perspective of education.
He mentioned that SUPARCO would send its first astronaut in space in 2022 and inspired the young space enthusiasts seeking their career in space science and technology.
At the end, He praised the efforts of Institute of Space Technology for celebrating WSW which is key step in creating awareness about space technology among the youth and educating the students about the benefits of space technology.
Programme Director World Space Week 2019 Dr Najam Abbas welcomed the participants and briefed about various space themed competitions and activities designed and developed by Institute of Space Technology for the WSW.
WSW includes number of competitions, workshops and activities for students of schools/colleges in the major categories of Space Knowledge, Space Innovation, Space Creative Writing, Space Technology Demonstration, Space Mathematics, Space Fine Arts, Space Visual Arts, Space Graphics, Space Entrepreneurship, Space Workshops, Space Awareness Activities, and Space Entertainment.
WSW is celebrated in accordance with the United Nation’s General Assembly’s declaration of 1999. In 3rd United Nations Conference on “The Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space” proposed the celebration of the World Space Week. So Pakistan is endeavoring to enter into the realm of Space Science and Technology and related applications.
Vice Chancellor IST Prof Dr Syed Wilayat Husain was also present on the occasion and presented a souvenir to the chief guest.