Article by: Myron Love
Published: November 19, 2024
This year, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology – is celebrating its 100th anniversary – although, Professor Wayne Kaplan pointed out, “celebrating” may not be quite the right word here considering the current war still raging. “Marking the occasion” may be a more appropriate terminology.
The Technion’s vice-president for External Relations and Resource Development, Kaplan was in Winnipeg on Thursday, November 14, to address a gathering of about 100 Technion Canada supporters at the new-look Shaarey Zedek Synagogue.
The American-born and raised Technion professor opened his remarks with an account of how the Haifa-based university has continued to function over the past year.
“It has not been a simple matter,” observed Kaplan, who has been associated with the Technion for almost 40 years – first as a student and – since 1995 – as a member of the faculty.
“We began to plan our course of action even before we learned of the full extent of the atrocities committed on October 7,” he reported. “One of our biggest challenges initially was how to alleviate the affect on our many students who were drafted for military reserve duty (more than 3000).”
He explained that the Technion has more students in residence – about one-third of the student body of 15,000 – than any other Israeli university. (About 1,000 students are foreign students coming from 30 different countries.) While the government does subsidize university tuition to a degree, these subsidies do not cover the cost of living, and unfortunately not the extra costs associated with supporting students at a campus under war.
“It was a huge undertaking providing for our students’ additional needs in this time of war,” Kaplan said. “We couldn’t have done it without the help of our Technion supporters worldwide. “
Then there were the number of students who were called up – about 3,000. “We were worried,” Kaplan recalled. “We weren’t sure when we could start the new academic year. Students could have lost an academic year. There were also financial implications for our students.”
As it turned out, the academic year was able to begin in mid-January instead of late October, and the current academic year was only delayed by a week.
Kaplan further noted that the Technion’s programs are intense and that the war increased the stress level on students. “We added to our team of psychologists to help students with the additional stress,” he reported.
Another potential problem was potential friction between the Technion’s Jewish and Arab students. The latter make up about 25% of the student body – similar to the percentage of Israelis who are Christian or Muslim Arabs. Fortunately, he noted, that didn’t become a problem.
One problem at the outset of the conflict was that the Technion didn’t have enough bomb shelters to accommodate all faculty, staff, and 15,000 students. Kaplan noted that the solution was to erect temporary shelters all around the campus.
“Unfortunately, some of our students and alumni were killed in the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon,” Kaplan reported. “We hope that this war will be over as soon as possible.
“ I remain confident that we are going to win.”
Turning to the Technion’s history, Kaplan noted that the cornerstone for the university was first laid in 1912. “Back in the day, when a Jewish state was still only a dream,” he pointed out, “our visionaries recognized the need to begin building the infrastructure for the hoped-for future state.”
When the Technion opened its doors in 1924, it was the future State of Israel’s first university. From the beginning, the Haifa-based institution has been a pioneer in research and science education – with a focus on architecture, engineering and science. The Technion also houses Israel’s only faculty of aerospace engineering.
“Our focus,” Kaplan explains, is on fundamental science and its potential applications to new technology.”
He pointed out that one of the fruits of the Technion’s graduates is Israel’s world-leading Iron Dome missile defense system.
He further added that the university has 60 research and development centers – led by Technion faculty – which have attracted numerous high tech development centers – such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon an IBM – to open facilities nearby – which employ many of our graduates.
The university has 18 academic departments, 17 of which give degrees (where the Department of Humanities and Arts exists to provide humanity courses to the students).
As with many other universities, the Technion spins off numerous start-up companies – 15 of them in the past year alone. The difference between the Technion’s and other universities’ approach to spinning off start-up companies is that the Israeli institution takes back just 50% of the profit as compared to the normal cut of ~60% taken by most other universities.
In the question and answer session that followed, the moderator and executive director of the host Shaarey Zedek, Rena Elbaze asked about a substitute beef hamburger – developed by Technion researchers based on bovine cells grown in vats. The benefits of the lab-grown meat substitute are the need for a lot less land, and less stress on the environment.
And it’s kosher, Kaplan added. You can have a kosher cheeseburger.
“We are also working on developing lab-created honey, milk, fish and other sources of protein,” he added.
Kaplan was asked about the Technion’s partnerships with other universities around the world. Of particular interest is the Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) which was inaugurated in 2017, and the joint venture with Cornell University in New York City.
The latter agreement came about as a result of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s pledge in of a $100 million donation toward the creation of a high-tech campus in New York City. The Technion won the competition to partner with Cornell University to create Cornell Tech. The new campus welcomed its first group of students in 2013.
The Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is a joint cooperative higher education institution – affiliated with Shantou University and brokered by Li Ka Shing, China’s wealthiest individual. It was officially established on April 9, 2015 – and grants Technion engineering degrees.
The language of instruction at GTIIT, Kaplan noted, is English.
In introducing Kaplan, Elysa Greisman, Technion Canada’s executive director, noted that the organization has been active in Canada for the past 80 years – with a presence in Toronto and Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
Kaplan expressed his appreciation, on behalf of the Technion, to the members of his Winnipeg audience as well as to Technion supporters all over the world. “In these difficult times,’” he commented, “with your help, not only have we been able to cope, but also to continue to be able to support our communities under siege in northern Israel.”