The Technion’s story has been intertwined with Israel’s for more than a century, from laying the foundations for a new nation to shaping its future.
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When Israel was still a dream on the horizon, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology was already laying the groundwork for its future.
Established in 1924, before the State itself, the Technion educated generations of engineers, scientists, and visionaries who helped build Israel’s infrastructure, advance its defense and technology, and fuel breakthroughs across agriculture, computer science, medicine, clean energy, and more.
In December, the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, resolves to explore the question of founding a Jewish university, a Technikum to educate the impoverished Jews of Palestine as well as Jewish students denied access to higher education in Europe.
Initial capital of $100,000 for the construction of a Technikum comes from New York financier Jacob Schiff. His one condition becomes part of the Technion’s core mission: Students would be admitted regardless of their ethnic origin, religion, politics, or gender. In June, land is purchased in Carmel to begin constructing the Technion campus.
The Jewish community of Haifa gathers in celebration as the cornerstone for the first Technion building is laid on April 11.
World War I delays the building and opening of the University for more than a decade.
Albert Einstein visits the Technion campus and plants the first palm tree. His support of the University continues for decades.
The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology opens with three core values that drive its mission to this day: academic excellence, inclusiveness, and the anchor for Israel’s development and security.
Per Hayim Nahman Bialik’s suggestion, the University changes its German name to the Technion, reflecting its mandate to teach in Hebrew and establish its roots as a modern Israeli institution. The first departments of civil engineering and architecture are established. Classes begin with 17 students: one woman and 16 men.
Students of the first graduating class — 10 civil engineers and 7 architects — receive their diplomas.
Rachel Shalon, the first female engineer in Israel, becomes the first ever Technion graduate to reach the rank of full professor. At the time, she is also the only woman to serve as a Technion vice president. nity of Haifa gathers in celebration as the cornerstone for the first Technion building is laid on April 11.
The Technion’s 65 graduates build and design the roads, bridges, and tunnels in pre-state Israel (Palestine). They are employed by the government’s Department of Public Works, constructing the port of Haifa, planning the Haifa-Baghdad railway, and working for municipalities and private firms, fulfilling the Technion mission to impart knowledge on people working and creating Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). Image credit: The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the World Zionist Organization.
Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, is established. Technion graduates help build and manage water resources, including the pipelines to Jerusalem in 1948 and to the Negev in 1955, as well as the national water carrier. To this day, scientists at the University and alumni play leading roles and maintain strong partnerships in advancing water technologies. Image credit: The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the World Zionist Organization.
The American Technion Society launches during a festive dinner in New York City on May 8. Albert Einstein gives an impassioned speech, and contributions total $10,000.
It’s fortunate that the Technion existed before the State of Israel. If it had been the other way around, who knows what would have happened. The Technion created the State of Israel and deserves the credit for this.”
During World War II, Technion engineers and skilled technicians open and operate the region’s first wool-spinning plants, steel foundries for machinery, and chemical plants for pharmaceuticals, paints, and glue. In cooperation with Britain’s Royal Air Force, students manufacture replacement parts for warplanes; minesweepers are built; and warships are repaired. Technion laboratories test and create new building materials; produce carbon for gas masks; improve the quality of flour; repair electrical equipment and motors; and develop instruments to detect the sound of planes.
The Technion and its workshops become clandestine centers for the Haganah, the Jewish Defense Movement, as opposition to the British Mandate and tensions with Arab neighbors grow. After hours, students and faculty manufacture and hide weapons in the basement. Technion students makeup a significant core of Haganah members. At the same time, they help the British in the war against the Third Reich.
An audacious project of nation building begins with the birth of the State of Israel, powered by skilled Technion alumni. Newly trained architects design neighborhoods and buildings to house hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees. They build sanitation systems, waterworks, roads, bridges, and more.
Surplus military planes are brought from Europe to the Technion to be reengineered for Israel’s new air force. Its first aircraft technicians are trained on Technion grounds.
At the request of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, a department of aerospace engineering is established to support Israel’s new air force, and later to contribute to the development of defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicle technology, and space research. Today, the Stephen B. Klein Faculty of Aerospace Engineering is still the only one in the country.
Albert Einstein receives an honorary doctorate from the Technion.
The Technion has helped visualize, plan, and implement Israel’s growth. It has aided in transforming a tiny country into a great center of science and research, sharing its advances with others.”
The Technion awards Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion an honorary doctorate of architecture for his role as the builder of Israel.
Golda Meir delivers the Technion commencement address.
The Technion medical school, now known as the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, is established using the facilities of an old monastery. Today, the Technion is one of only a handful of technology universities in the world with a medical school.
Technion alumnus Raphael Mehoudar is recruited to Netafim, the inventor of drip irrigation technology. He develops pressure-compensating drippers, a breakthrough that allows consistent water flow regardless of terrain or pressure changes. This technology revolutionizes desert agriculture and promotes food security in Israel and around the world.
The Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Facility in Tel Aviv becomes operational. Many Technion alumni help develop the facility and improve the process. Today there are 67 large wastewater facilities and a nationwide pipeline network to distribute reclaimed water. Nearly 90% of Israel’s treated wastewater — the highest percentage in the world — is used for agriculture.
Israel launches its first Ofek satellite as a joint project of Israel Aerospace Industries and the Israel Space Agency, making Israel the eighth nation to achieve orbital launch capability. Nearly all leaders of the project are Technion graduates.
I can say without exaggeration that Israel could not have been built without the Technion. There is a Technion graduate behind practically every highway, desalination plant, new missile technology, and startup company in the country ”
Among the 700,000 new immigrants from the Soviet Union are 11,000 scientists, 58,000 engineers, and countless thousands of potential students. The Technion absorbs a large number of them, impacting research for generations. Their contribution to science and technology help pave the way to the Startup Nation boom. Image credit: Government Press Office (Israel).
The Technion’s Gurwin-II microsatellite launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport in Kazakhstan, becoming one of the first satellites sent out by an academic institution. The satellite orbits for nearly 12 years.
Profs. Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on the ubiquitin system, which is the body’s way of marking unwanted proteins for disposal, leading to an influx of new medicines for cancer.
Israel’s first desalination plant is built in Ashkelon. Graduates from the Technion help design and build it and the four subsequent plants. Today, desalinated water supplies more than 75% of Israel’s domestic water consumption. The Technion’s Stephen and Nancy Grand Water Research Institute is now developing next-generation desalination processes, continually working to make the desalination process (seawater reverse osmosis) more efficient and cost-effective. Image credit: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv.
The discovery of gas fields in the Mediterranean six miles off Israel’s coast is a major development for economic security and energy independence. But first, Israel needs to find the petroleum and natural gas engineers to bring the gas to shore safely and process it efficiently. As with all new technological challenges, Israel turns to the Technion, which immediately launches a master of energy engineering program. Image credit: Amir Ben-David.
Prof. Daniel Shechtman wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 1984 discovery of a new form of matter, “quasicrystalline.” Neither a crystal nor amorphous, quasicrystals have a five-fold symmetry distraction pattern that was previously considered physically impossible, redefining what it means to be a crystal and expanding the boundaries of materials science and solid-state physics.
Expanding the Technion’s global footprint, the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech is established on Roosevelt Island to create an applied sciences campus in New York City that would promote entrepreneurship and spur job creation in the tech sector.
The Technion has played a pivotal role in saving thousands of lives and enabling us to prevail against an enemy that’s many times our size. ”
President Barack Obama views a demonstration of ReWalk’s robotic exoskeleton that allows individuals with spinal cord injuries to stand, walk, and even climb stairs. ReWalk was invented by a Technion alumnus whose education in electrical and computer engineering was instrumental in its development.
The Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology in China is inaugurated: a historic venture among the Li Ka Shing Foundation, the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, the People’s Government of Shantou City, and the Technion. The institute aims to create a hub of innovation in the region, with particular focus on conservation and sustainable technology.
By 2020, more than 1,000 companies have been founded by alumni and faculty; graduates have contributed approximately $21 billion to Israel’s GDP; and the Technion is ranked #12 in the world for producing entrepreneurs.
The Technion is ranked #11 in the world for technology universities, a fantastic feat considering the size of the country and its budget compared to major American and European universities.
Wiz, a cybersecurity startup founded by two Technion alumni, is sold to Google for $32 billion, making this the largest exit in Israel’s high-tech history and Google’s biggest acquisition ever.
Novocure, invented by Prof. Emeritus Yoram Palti, celebrates 25 years, having treated more than 35,000 people with some of the most aggressive forms of cancer, including glioblastoma brain tumors. It uses electric fields to destroy cancerous cells when they divide. Image credit: Nasdaq.com
The Arrow Antimissile System, invented and developed by Technion alumni, intercepts 86% of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran. Together with Iron Dome and David’s Sling — also invented and developed by alumni — millions of lives and billions of dollars in infrastructure damage have been saved since 2011.
In December, the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, resolves to explore the question of founding a Jewish university, a Technikum to educate the impoverished Jews of Palestine as well as Jewish students denied access to higher education in Europe.
Initial capital of $100,000 for the construction of a Technikum comes from New York financier Jacob Schiff. His one condition becomes part of the Technion’s core mission: Students would be admitted regardless of their ethnic origin, religion, politics, or gender. In June, land is purchased in Carmel to begin constructing the Technion campus.
The Jewish community of Haifa gathers in celebration as the cornerstone for the first Technion building is laid on April 11.
World War I delays the building and opening of the University for more than a decade.
Albert Einstein visits the Technion campus and plants the first palm tree. His support of the University continues for decades.
Per Hayim Nahman Bialik’s suggestion, the University changes its German name to the Technion, reflecting its mandate to teach in Hebrew and establish its roots as a modern Israeli institution. The first departments of civil engineering and architecture are established. Classes begin with 17 students: one woman and 16 men.
Students of the first graduating class — 10 civil engineers and 7 architects — receive their diplomas.
Rachel Shalon, the first female engineer in Israel, becomes the first ever Technion graduate to reach the rank of full professor. At the time, she is also the only woman to serve as a Technion vice president. nity of Haifa gathers in celebration as the cornerstone for the first Technion building is laid on April 11.
The Technion’s 65 graduates build and design the roads, bridges, and tunnels in pre-state Israel (Palestine). They are employed by the government’s Department of Public Works, constructing the port of Haifa, planning the Haifa-Baghdad railway, and working for municipalities and private firms, fulfilling the Technion mission to impart knowledge on people working and creating Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). Image credit: The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the World Zionist Organization.
Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, is established. Technion graduates help build and manage water resources, including the pipelines to Jerusalem in 1948 and to the Negev in 1955, as well as the national water carrier. To this day, scientists at the University and alumni play leading roles and maintain strong partnerships in advancing water technologies. Image credit: The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the World Zionist Organization.
The American Technion Society launches during a festive dinner in New York City on May 8. Albert Einstein gives an impassioned speech, and contributions total $10,000.
During World War II, Technion engineers and skilled technicians open and operate the region’s first wool-spinning plants, steel foundries for machinery, and chemical plants for pharmaceuticals, paints, and glue. In cooperation with Britain’s Royal Air Force, students manufacture replacement parts for warplanes; minesweepers are built; and warships are repaired. Technion laboratories test and create new building materials; produce carbon for gas masks; improve the quality of flour; repair electrical equipment and motors; and develop instruments to detect the sound of planes.
The Technion and its workshops become clandestine centers for the Haganah, the Jewish Defense Movement, as opposition to the British Mandate and tensions with Arab neighbors grow. After hours, students and faculty manufacture and hide weapons in the basement. Technion students makeup a significant core of Haganah members. At the same time, they help the British in the war against the Third Reich.
An audacious project of nation building begins with the birth of the State of Israel, powered by skilled Technion alumni. Newly trained architects design neighborhoods and buildings to house hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees. They build sanitation systems, waterworks, roads, bridges, and more.
At the request of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, a department of aerospace engineering is established to support Israel’s new air force, and later to contribute to the development of defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicle technology, and space research. Today, the Stephen B. Klein Faculty of Aerospace Engineering is still the only one in the country.
Albert Einstein receives an honorary doctorate from the Technion.
The Technion awards Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion an honorary doctorate of architecture for his role as the builder of Israel.
Golda Meir delivers the Technion commencement address.
The Technion medical school, now known as the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, is established using the facilities of an old monastery. Today, the Technion is one of only a handful of technology universities in the world with a medical school.
Technion alumnus Raphael Mehoudar is recruited to Netafim, the inventor of drip irrigation technology. He develops pressure-compensating drippers, a breakthrough that allows consistent water flow regardless of terrain or pressure changes. This technology revolutionizes desert agriculture and promotes food security in Israel and around the world.
The Shafdan Wastewater Treatment Facility in Tel Aviv becomes operational. Many Technion alumni help develop the facility and improve the process. Today there are 67 large wastewater facilities and a nationwide pipeline network to distribute reclaimed water. Nearly 90% of Israel’s treated wastewater — the highest percentage in the world — is used for agriculture.
Israel launches its first Ofek satellite as a joint project of Israel Aerospace Industries and the Israel Space Agency, making Israel the eighth nation to achieve orbital launch capability. Nearly all leaders of the project are Technion graduates.
Among the 700,000 new immigrants from the Soviet Union are 11,000 scientists, 58,000 engineers, and countless thousands of potential students. The Technion absorbs a large number of them, impacting research for generations. Their contribution to science and technology help pave the way to the Startup Nation boom. Image credit: Government Press Office (Israel).
The Technion’s Gurwin-II microsatellite launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport in Kazakhstan, becoming one of the first satellites sent out by an academic institution. The satellite orbits for nearly 12 years.
Profs. Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research on the ubiquitin system, which is the body’s way of marking unwanted proteins for disposal, leading to an influx of new medicines for cancer.
Israel’s first desalination plant is built in Ashkelon. Graduates from the Technion help design and build it and the four subsequent plants. Today, desalinated water supplies more than 75% of Israel’s domestic water consumption. The Technion’s Stephen and Nancy Grand Water Research Institute is now developing next-generation desalination processes, continually working to make the desalination process (seawater reverse osmosis) more efficient and cost-effective. Image credit: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv.
The discovery of gas fields in the Mediterranean six miles off Israel’s coast is a major development for economic security and energy independence. But first, Israel needs to find the petroleum and natural gas engineers to bring the gas to shore safely and process it efficiently. As with all new technological challenges, Israel turns to the Technion, which immediately launches a master of energy engineering program. Image credit: Amir Ben-David.
Prof. Daniel Shechtman wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his 1984 discovery of a new form of matter, “quasicrystalline.” Neither a crystal nor amorphous, quasicrystals have a five-fold symmetry distraction pattern that was previously considered physically impossible, redefining what it means to be a crystal and expanding the boundaries of materials science and solid-state physics.
Expanding the Technion’s global footprint, the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech is established on Roosevelt Island to create an applied sciences campus in New York City that would promote entrepreneurship and spur job creation in the tech sector.
President Barack Obama views a demonstration of ReWalk’s robotic exoskeleton that allows individuals with spinal cord injuries to stand, walk, and even climb stairs. ReWalk was invented by a Technion alumnus whose education in electrical and computer engineering was instrumental in its development.
The Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology in China is inaugurated: a historic venture among the Li Ka Shing Foundation, the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, the People’s Government of Shantou City, and the Technion. The institute aims to create a hub of innovation in the region, with particular focus on conservation and sustainable technology.
By 2020, more than 1,000 companies have been founded by alumni and faculty; graduates have contributed approximately $21 billion to Israel’s GDP; and the Technion is ranked #12 in the world for producing entrepreneurs.
Wiz, a cybersecurity startup founded by two Technion alumni, is sold to Google for $32 billion, making this the largest exit in Israel’s high-tech history and Google’s biggest acquisition ever.
Novocure, invented by Prof. Emeritus Yoram Palti, celebrates 25 years, having treated more than 35,000 people with some of the most aggressive forms of cancer, including glioblastoma brain tumors. It uses electric fields to destroy cancerous cells when they divide. Image credit: Nasdaq.com
The Arrow Antimissile System, invented and developed by Technion alumni, intercepts 86% of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran. Together with Iron Dome and David’s Sling — also invented and developed by alumni — millions of lives and billions of dollars in infrastructure damage have been saved since 2011.
Technion scientists, students, and alumni are working on them now.
Be part of the future. Support the Technion today.
What is expected to come in the years ahead? A prosperous and secure Israel leading the world in high-tech solutions to our most pressing problems thanks to the Technion.
Israel, together with the U.S., will develop Arrow 4, the next-generation antiballistic missile interceptor designed to counter evolving threats, including hypersonic missiles. It will have a speed exceeding Mach 10 and a range of 1,500 miles.
New medications and therapies will be developed that don’t just treat cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other debilitating diseases but will also cure them. And eventually, new methods will be discovered that don’t just cure diseases but also prevent them.
Major breakthroughs in reducing global warming will include affordable hydrogen fuel cells for energy storage and conversion; cultivated meat made from cells of animals; and new construction materials that absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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