Ms. Basma Dhiab:- B.Sc. in physics from the University of Jordan, 1990.
- Teacher of general science and physics, and a coordinator for the teachers of science in a secondary school in Amman-Jordan.
- Member of the Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS) since 1996 , and was the secretary during the period 2001-2003 .
- Head
of the Astro_Clubs committee of the Jordanian Astronomical Society
(JAS) and coordinator of the annual astro clubs festival.
- Coordinator of the Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS) forum.
- Member of the Media Committee of JAS.
- Participated in the conferences which were held by AUASS and JAS in Jordan.
- Email: bdhiab @ icoproject.org
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Mr. Hasan Hariri:
Founder of Dubai Astronomy Group, Pioneer in Astronomy Edutainment,
Established many Astronomy Activities, Participated actively in most of
regional Astronomy events, multi talent personality, Owner of IT
Establishment and Professional IT Consultant, other hobbies : GIS,
Electronic, Geology and Meteorology, Pursuing his dream since 1977 till
it become his passion. Email: hhariri @ icoproject.org |  |
Dr. Ilias Fernini:
- Astronomy and Physics Professor in United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain city (Abu-Dhabi).
- Email: ifernini @ icoproject.org
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Prof. Jalal Addin Khanji:
- Ph.D. in Physical Sciences - University of Grenoble France – major in Engineering 1975.
- Former professor at the Faculty of Engineering - University of Aleppo - 1975.
- Career Engineer advisor (Engineers Union) -1995.
- Certificate of Merit for the first engineers (Engineers Union) -1999.
- Member of the Audit Committee studies for the restoration and rehabilitation of the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo, 2001.
- Former scientific adviser to the House of Islamic monuments (Kuwait National Museum) - 2002.
- Former engineering consultant in the General Organization for Housing Welfare Department of Planning - Kuwait 2004.
- Founding member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS) in 1998.
- Member of the Crescents and Mawaqeet Committee in the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences (AUASS).
- Member of the Committee in the Directorate of Forensic astronomy endowments of Aleppo, which is responsible for monitoring the new moons and determining timelines.
- Member of ICOP since 1997.
- Consultant in forensic astronomy to the Syrian Ministry of Awqaf ( endowment )- 2000.
- Consultant in forensic astronomy to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf ( endowment )- 2003.
- Lecturer forensic astronomy courses for preachers and imams in the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf ( endowment )- 2004.
- Participated in many conferences, local and international astronomical research and forensic studies in astronomy.
- Email: jkhanji @ icoproject.org
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Mr. Mohammad Odeh:- B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology, 2002.
- Head
of the Crescents Observation and Mawaqeet Committee of the Jordanian
Astronomical Society (JAS) during the period (1995 - 2009).
- Member of the Official Jordanian Committee in charge of declaring the beginning of Ramadan and Eid.
- Member of the Official Jordanian Committee in charge of Prayer Times Calculations.
- In charge of calculating the official Prayer Times and Hejric Calendar in Jordan.
- Author
of a new crescent visibility criterion (Odeh Criteria), which was
published in the refereed journal “Experimental Astronomy”, 18, 39-64,
2004.
- Author of Astronomy Software “Accurate Times” which
calculates prayer times, crescent visibility and other astronomical
application in Islam.
- Writing several articles about crescent
visibility and prayer times in Arabic and English magazines, such as an
observation report published in The Journal of the Royal Astronomical
Society of Canada in February 2005.
- Co-edited a volume of proceedings from an international conference on Islamic astronomy (2007).
- Participate in several astronomical conferences dedicated for crescent visibility and prayer times calculations.
- Received
several official initiations to visit the officials in some Islamic
countries or the Muslim delegations, such as an invitation from the
Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Morocco, invitation from Muslim World
League in Saudi, invitation from officials in Lebanon to discuss Prayer
Times in Lebanon, and other invitations to attend conferences in
different countries.
- Email: modeh @ icoproject.org
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Prof. Nidhal Guessoum:
Algerian
astrophysicist; he received his higher education partly in Algeria (B.
Sc. in Theoretical Physics in 1982) and partly in the States (M. Sc. in
1984 and Ph. D. in Astrophysics in 1988 from the University of
California, San Diego; post-doctoral research associateship at the
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center). In addition to his two decades of
teaching at several universities, he has been an active researcher on
the international scene in the field of gamma-ray astrophysics:
published about 50 papers on high-energy astrophysics; attended over 30
international conferences; received many invitations as visiting
professor or guest researcher, received several research grants and
awards. In parallel to his formal academic activities, Nidhal Guessoum
has for many years been very active in the area of popularization of
science and the interface between science and religion. He has
co-authored 2 books, one on “The Crescent Visibility and Islamic
Calendar” problem (1st edition, Dar al-Umma, Algiers, 1993; 2nd edition,
Dar at-Taliaa, Beirut, 1997), and the other entitled “The Story of the
Universe: from Early Conceptions to the Big Bang” (1st edition, Dar
al-Maarifa, Algiers, 1998; 2nd edition, 2002; 3rd edition, Dar
al-Multaqa, Beirut, 2006); he has also co-edited a volume of proceedings
from an international conference on Islamic astronomy (2007). Finally,
he has published dozens of general science articles in various
magazines: about 40 in Arabic, many in highly-respected and/or refereed
publications such as the Arab Journal of Science (Tunis), Al-Majalla
al-Falakiyya (Italy), Alam al-Fikr (Kuwait), Dirassat Arabiyya
(Lebanon), Turjuman (Morocco), Al-Arabi (Kuwait), etc.; a dozen in
English, in magazines like Mercury (the publication of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific), African Skies / Cieux Africains (the
publication of the Working Group on Space Sciences in Africa), eLearn
Magazine, and Algerian Scientist; another dozen in French, in magazines
like La Recherche (the premiere science and research magazine in France)
and others (e.g. Etudes Orientales, PhiloScience). Email: nguessoum @
icoproject.org |  |
| Mr. Qamar Uddin:1986
Science and Engineering graduate from an UK university and is a member
of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). He has a keen
interest in astronomy and is a member of York Astronomical Society (UK).
He has participated in a number of Radio/TV shows and has given many
presentations on moon sighting. He has been an active member of Islamic
Crescent Observation Project (ICOP) for over 10 years and is a founding
member of the UK section (ICOUK). Email: quddin @ icoproject.org |  |
Mr. Saleh Al-Saab:
- B.Sc. in Astronomy from King Saud in Riadh,1980.
- Worked at King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) as a (Research Scientist) and director of the crescent’s observatories and then president of the astronomy department, then supervisor of the National Center for Astronomy.
- Participated in the site testing processes for the astronomical observations.
- Participated in the construction and equipping of the astronomical observatory and crescent’s observatories.
- Participated in many courses, seminars and scientific conferences, in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
- He has many posts in the dissemination of astronomical awareness through a variety of newspaper articles, educational pamphlets, radio and television interviews.
- He has good experience in Crescent’s observation using the different types and generations of telescopes and has many innovative ideas in this area.
- He was nominated to work in the scientific division in king Abdulaziz and his companions foundation for the gifted (2000-2004).
- Participated in several programs and astronomy projects in KACST.
- Participated in many discussions with the official committee of the crescent and it’s observation with the legitimacy and administrative bodies, including Shura council and the Supreme Judical Council, and some universities.
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Dr. Saleh Al-Shidhani:
Graduate
of the physics department of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in 1992.
Worked as a demonstrator (TA) for 1 year before going to for an MSc in
Astronomy. Completed MSc. in 1996 from the Astronomy Centre; University
of Sussex with a thesis titled "Mapping the Universe with galaxy
redshift surveys" and returned back to SQU as a lecturer before leaving
again for PhD. In September 2003 defended a thesis titled "The Cosmos
Explorer" from the School of Science and Technology, University of
Sussex, UK. Since then working in the Physics Dept. as an assistant
professor, and have been there since then. Teaching Physics and
Astronomy at SQU for 7 years, teaching the following General Physics
courses: Phys1091, Phys2101, Phys2102, and Phys2105. Also teaching
Introductory Astronomy courses Phys2901 and Phys3901 (Universe's
Mysteries), in additional to Experimental Physics and Project courses
namely Phys3005, Phys3006, Phys5016 and Phys5500. In addition to the
regular lectures teaching many tutorials, observations and labs. Current
teaching duties include teaching Introductory Astronomy and Universe's
Mysteries courses. Interdisciplinary research interests cover several
areas of interest such as: - Cosmic Microwave Background and Simulation of Large Scale Structure of the Universe.
- Astronomy/Physics Education and AI.
- Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran.
- Atmospheric Seeing Condition and Moon Sighting (with focus on Visibility on the Sultanate).
- Web-based Virtual Classroom (WebCT at SQU).
- XRD, ESM and Mossbauer Studies of Meteorites.
Email: sshidhani @ icoproject.org |  |