Sultan Saif AlNeyadi

UAE astronaut, 38-year-old AlNeyadi holds a PhD in Information Technology and a Master of Information and Network Security from Griffith University. Previously a UAE military network security engineer, AlNeyadi is a member of the back-up team for the 2019 mission to ISS.

DATE OF BIRTH: 23 May 1981

AGE: 38

FAMILY STATUS: Married, with 4 children

HOME TOWN: Al Ain

EDUCATION: PhD Information Technology, Griffith University, Australia; BSc Electronics & Communication Engineering, University of Brighton, UK

PREVIOUS OCCUPATION: UAE Military network security engineer

HIGHLIGHTS: Network Security Engineer for UAE Armed Forces & Information Security Researcher. Honoured with Griffith University Award for Excellent Performance 2008; Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Award for Scientific Achievement 2017; published academic research scientist

AlNeyadi has been at the forefront of information technology in the UAE military for many years. An internationally published research engineer, he obtained a BSc in Electronics and Communications Engineering in the UK, and later his PhD in Information Technology from Griffith University in Queensland with a focus on data leak prevention. His work in the UAE Armed Forces specialised in network security and entailed travel to more than 20 countries around the world.

Both AlMansoori and AlNeyadi are national heroes, selected from thousands of applicants according to the highest international standards. As one of three international astronauts on the backup team for this mission, AlNeyadi undergoes the same rigorous physical, mental and scientific training as his colleague. In the months leading up to launch, the backup crew is equally prepared, including all launch procedures, ISS preparations and knowledge of the space science experiments, to be able to step into the place of a primary astronaut if necessary.