Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU) signed a memorandum of understanding with the School of Aerospace Engineering of La Sapienza University of Rome (SIA) and Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), on May 29.
The MoU aims to identify areas of collaboration in learning, teaching, research and development of space science and technology through collaborative initiatives, reads a press release issued on Saturday.
It is set to provide quality education in aviation and aerospace studies and to accelerate Bangladesh's entry in this field.
Professor Paolo Teofilatto of the School of Aerospace Engineering of La Sapienza University of Rome, Giorgio Spada of Thales Alenia Space in Italy, and BSMRAAU Registrar Air Commodore Md Monirul Islam signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides at the signing ceremony held in Dhaka.
The Italian Embassy's Deputy Head of Mission, Mattia Ventura, and other foreign members of these renowned organizations graced the ceremony via live streaming.
In addition, BSMRAAU Vice Chancellor Air Vice Marshal ASM Fakhrul Islam exchanged the MoU with Sajid Abdur Rahman, business development manager of Thales in Bangladesh, and Roberto Sigismondi, export sales manager for Bangladesh at Thales Alenia Space.
“Thales Alenia Space strongly believes in cooperation between industry and academic institutions as an instrument to grow local capacities and one of the pillars to establish and consolidate a local industrial network for future space projects,” highlighted Giorgio Spada.
“The roadmap is clearly defined and shared, it will encompass a local capacity building path, supported by an academic partnership, to enable and sustain a progressive deployment of space infrastructures to meet Bangladesh's strategic views and priorities for earth observation,” he added.
“This MoU will strengthen the collaboration between Italy and Bangladesh in the space and aerospace domains through innovation sharing and knowledge transfer. Having delivered Bangladesh's first satellite in 2018, this marks another pivotal moment for Thales as we support Bangladesh's continued space ambitions,” said Benoit Nalin, country director of Thales in Bangladesh.
BSMRAAU has established itself as the first aviation and aerospace university in Bangladesh, while SIA is an almost a century-old academic institution and has grounded teachings in the aerospace engineering field over the last three decades.
Thales Alenia Space, as the leader in the design and manufacturing of satellite-based systems in Europe with over 50 years of experience and an extensive heritage in building local capacities through technology and competence transfer plans, has partnered with SIA on various initiatives, including an academic cooperation program that aims to develop local competence in the field of earth observation.
Furthermore, Thales Alenia Space is the provider of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 which is the first Bangladeshi geostationary communications and broadcasting satellite.