After Dinner Speakers
Astronaut, Engineer & Entrepreneur | Egypt's First Astronaut | Founder & CEO of KORA TechLabs | Founder & Chair of Deep Space Initiative
Sara was told that engineering would be “too hard” for an Egyptian woman, that the biomedical field offered her no future at home, and that an interest in space was a waste of time. In this keynote she shows how she converted each of those messages into forward motion, and gives audiences a practical method for doing the same: naming the doubt, separating it from evidence, and turning the energy it creates into momentum. Audiences leave with a way to reframe rejection and a concrete first step for the goal they have been talking themselves out of.
Journey to Space: What It Really Takes to Get Selected, Trained and Launched
Chosen from over 10,000 applicants, Sara takes audiences inside the full arc of a spaceflight: why she was selected, what astronaut training actually demands, how she prepared mentally for launch, what it feels like to sit on a rocket, the moment Earth comes into view, capsule touchdown, and the strange work of integrating back into ordinary life. Audiences leave with an unusually honest picture of high-stakes preparation and how ordinary people perform under extraordinary pressure.
The Overview Effect: How Seeing Earth from Space Changes What You Do Next
The Overview Effect is the cognitive shift astronauts experience when they see Earth from orbit — borders disappear, scale resets, priorities rearrange. Sara describes her own version of it, the sense of connection she felt looking into the blackness of the universe, and the obligation she carried back to Earth to work on problems that matter. She links that shift to the projects she is now building. Audiences leave with a wider frame for their own decisions and a sharper sense of what deserves their attention.
Bioastronautics and Spacesuits: Keeping the Human Body Alive Beyond Earth
Long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars are limited less by rockets than by human physiology. Drawing on her PhD research on planetary spacesuits at the NASA-funded UND Human Spaceflight Lab, Sara explains what deep space does to the human body and mind, the design requirements a planetary suit must meet, where current suits fall short, and what the next generation needs to solve. Audiences leave understanding the real constraints on human space exploration and the engineering work now underway.
Space Technology on Earth: The Innovations Already Saving Lives
Space research touches daily life far more than most people realise, yet the connection between the two is rarely made visible. Sara walks through technologies originally designed for space that now operate on Earth — in medicine, safety, materials and monitoring — and explains how the constraints of spaceflight produce innovation that terrestrial industries inherit. Audiences leave able to spot where space-derived technology already sits in their own sector and where the next transfer is likely to come from.
Entrepreneurship: Building Simple Solutions to Problems Everyone Ignores
Most people see a problem and assume someone else will handle it. Sara argues that many of the world’s unaddressed problems have simple solutions waiting for someone willing to start. She covers taking the first step into the unknown, working through imposter syndrome, and learning by doing — illustrated by Deep Space Initiative and by earlier ventures including a healthy bakery and a coconut butter factory, and by the healthcare systems she is building now at KORA TechLabs. Audiences leave with a method for testing an idea quickly and the confidence to act before they feel ready.
