A Visit to the Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA)

The Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering conducted a field trip to the Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA) which was established in 2019 in New Cairo. The visit was an eye-opener for the students on how to utilize their studies in the real world, and the opportunities to explore within their fields.

An example of such is the agency’s current work on building satellites with the target of taking clear and specific photos of Egypt from space. With multiple labs on-site, one of the labs the students visited was currently working on building high-resolution cameras with their current circuit design for inserting them on satellites whilst enabling image processing of the images received from space. The lab was also working on designing a high-frequency system that can work up to 44 GHz as well as building the power system of the satellites that are based on solar cells integrated with satellites, to maintain the power of the communications system, in order for the engineers on earth to stay connected to the system to monitor as well as control it.

The agency holds many projects for senior students to enroll in; a summer training program, as well as sponsoring graduation projects. Participating students are assigned to work on one of the following subsystems: power systems, computer-on board, communication system, etc. The agency provides special kits for students to work on these tasks, and they can use the multiple utilities in the agency such as high-performance GPUs, clean rooms, 3D printers, electromagnetic simulation tools, FPGAs, etc.

The Department of Electronic and Communication Engineering is planning to collaborate with the agency to allow the students to benefit from these opportunities.