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Dear Technion Family,
Rosh Hashanah always heralds the beginning of the new academic year, and we’re delighted to welcome new and continuing students to campus this fall. We were also pleased to host the Technion Board of Governors recently, after not having convened in person for three long years.
Universities around the globe are challenged by the ongoing revolution in the way knowledge is accumulated and distributed. Digital technologies replace traditional teaching methodologies, calling for rethinking the role of the physical campus and face-to-face meetings in the learning process.
The Technion is preoccupied with these questions. We have invested considerable resources in the Center for Promotion of Learning and Teaching and will continue to expand it in the coming years. In addition to developing new methodologies, its professional team proactively trains lecturers and develops new, cutting-edge curricula.
The newly inaugurated Mehoudar Center for Inventors is a good example of how we are changing the way we teach: the Center encourages inventors from all over Israel to gain experience in creative engineering design by building and testing prototypes. The Center provides resources, tools and a skilled technical team, and nurtures cross-faculty and multidisciplinary collaborations.
Recently, the Technion and Rambam Health Care Campus established the Wolfe Center for Translational Medicine and Engineering, which will serve as a platform for extensive clinical applied research by interdisciplinary teams of physicians, scientists, and engineers, and will promote new technologies that will benefit human health. The new May-Blum-Dahl MRI Research Center at the Technion will further enable researchers and students to use advanced imaging techniques to conduct multidisciplinary research in fields related to human health.
Another field with existential implications for the world is sustainability. The Technion is committed to being a leader in this area and we have launched a campus-wide Sustainability Committee charged with heading this important effort, across faculties.
As the Technion works to further bolster its role as Israel’s leading institution of science and engineering, we’ve embarked on a process of strengthening our ties with local and global industry leaders. Important collaborations are already in place with companies such as Google, PTC, Intel, IBM, and Doral Energy, and others are forming.
Furthermore, we have established a new academic position that opens the door for leading researchers from industry to spend at least one day a week at the Technion, taking part in teaching and research, as well as mentoring graduate students.
As we celebrate the upcoming new year, I rejoice in the Technion’s accomplishments and renew my commitment to continuing on this path of excellence. Just last month, the Technion was ranked 83rd by the prestigious Shanghai Ranking of the world’s best universities – 11 places higher than last year. The Technion was also ranked first in Europe on the list of Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2021, and first in the field of artificial intelligence in Europe. I am also proud of the growing number of successful tech transfers involving Technion researchers, totaling 57 new commercialization contracts and 15 new spinoff companies in 2021/22.
This year, we are further deepening our commitment to diversity and inclusion. In addition to promoting social values in our community, I truly believe that a diverse university is a better university. I am proud to report that we recently appointed a Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, Prof. Adi Salzberg, as well as welcomed a record number of women in senior academic positions. Over the past academic year, one-third of all new faculty members and a total of seven deans were women – a significant achievement given the relatively low representation of women in science and engineering. Equally gratifying is the fact that 42% of our undergraduate students are women.
I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Boaz Golany, Prof. Shimon Marom, and Prof. Alon Wolf, who will complete their term on September 30th, for their immense contribution to the Technion. On October 1st we will welcome two new vice presidents, in addition to Prof. Salzberg: Prof. Naama Brenner, who will serve as Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Prof. Wayne Kaplan, who will serve as the new Vice President for External Relations & Resource Development.
The upcoming year will be a harbinger of the Technion’s festive centennial year in 2024, during which we will celebrate our many achievements of the past century and plan for the next century. As we keep nurturing the next generation of scientific leadership, I’d like to thank our faculty, staff, students, partners, and donors for their continued, unwavering support of science and technology for the benefit of humanity.
I wish you all a healthy and prosperous new year.
Shanah Tova and Hag Sameach,
Prof. Uri Sivan
President
