Not just war victims: 5 Middle Eastern scientists and innovators that changed the world

“Remember the last time you heard about amazing feats coming from scientists and innovators in the Middle East? Some of us may have never even heard of one. But Middle Eastern pioneers have long made world-changing discoveries and innovations, even if the world today only focuses on its wars and victims. Coffee, clocks, and soap — these modern-day necessities were invented in the Middle East. Yet, the inventions and impact of Middle Eastern pioneers often slip under the radar in favour of a world that’s extremely Eurocentric. Especially when it comes to media exposure. At Study International, we know talent is universal and we’ve heard from many inspiring students and graduates from the Middle East. So we’d like to right that Eurocentric view a little. So, here are 5 Middle Eastern pioneers who made a great impact on society Fatimi Al-Fihri When you think of the oldest universities in the world , it’s easy to immediately pander first to the UK — the likes of Cambridge and Oxford are some of the most well-known. But did you know that the world’s first university was actually founded in Morocco? Not only that, but the founder of the Mosque and University of al-Qarawiyyin is also a woman . Fatimi Al-Fihri, born in Qairouan, Tunisia, founded the world’s oldest running university so that members of her local community could pursue higher education while practising Islam. Al-Fihri purchased a plot of real estate in the city centre of Fez, alongside her sister, and hired the most skilled engineers and craftsmen to begin construction at the beginning of Ramadhan in 254 AH. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dr. Sh. Haifaa Younis (@drhaifaayounis) Ismail al-Jazari Ismail al-Jazari, born in 1136 CE in Cizre, Turkey, is known as the first Arab mechanical engineer — called the “father of robotics.” Without his scholarly innovations, we probably wouldn’t have the mechanical clocks or plumbing systems of modern day. Having designed more than 50 contraptions, from water-raising machines to musical devices, al-Jazari’s most popular invention is the Elephant Clock. It’s 22 feet tall, modelled like a rotating rider on an elephant . It’s a symbol of medieval engineering, automated by a weight-powered water mechanism inspired by the Indian ghatika. Nora Al Matrooshi At 28 years old, Nora Al Matroosh became the first Arab woman astronaut in 2021 when she was selected for the second batch of the UAE Astronaut Programme. A mechanical engineer by training, Al Matrooshi first developed a love of space during an arts and crafts activity as a child. The classroom was turned into outer space, and she was tasked with creating astronaut equipment. You could call it manifestation, because years and years later, Al Matrooshi would get selected from 4,000 candidates to train at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston. She graduated in 2024 from NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Class, qualifying her for future space missions. Omar M. Yaghi Okay, so: how often do you actually keep up with the Nobel Prize winners every year? Last year, Jordan-born Omar M. Yaghi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a new type of molecular architecture. They’re called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and as materials that can capture carbon and store hydrogen, they could one day be used to harvest drinkable water from desert air . Yaghi was actually born to a Palestinian refugee family in Amman, and at one point, could only receive fresh water once a week. He’s come a long way since then, producing a system that can generate up to 1,000 litres of drinking water per day. Dr. Iman Al Mansour The coronavirus feels like a chapter from forever ago, now that the world has mostly recovered, but it’s impossible to forget the many lives that were lost — as well as the many lives that were saved by pioneering researchers across the globe. One of them is Dr. Iman Al Mansour from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. A PhD graduate from the University of Massachusetts , Dr. Al Mansour and her research team developed the first coronavirus vaccine in Saudi Arabia. By mid-June 2021, pre-clinical studies were completed at the Institute for Research and Medical Constitutions.

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