Technion President's Report 2019
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TECHNION PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2019 TECHNION PRESIDENT’S REPORT TECHNION PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2019 presidentsreport.technion.ac.il www.technion.ac.il Cover: Superconducting Quantum Circuits Lab in the Helen Diller Center for Quantum Science, Matter and Engineering PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2019 REVIEWING A DECADE OF THE TECHNION ETHOS OF ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE In recent years, a new spirit has pervaded all areas of life, from academia to industry, through to the new technologies on which our lives depend. This is the spirit of innovation. In the 21st century, innovation is Israel, is Technion. As a nexus in the global ecosystem of progress, we are proud to offer the 2019 Technion President’s Report under the banner iTechnion. I #iTechnion From Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie elcome to the 2019 President’s Re- speech laying out the goals and priorities Strategic Goal: W port, in which we review a decade of for my presidency. This strategic vision Replenishing the Faculty progress and look forward to continu- arose out of an intimate knowledge of In 2009, Technion’s faculty had been ing fruition of the Technion vision. the university since joining the faculty in reduced due to a wave of retiring baby 1975. Prior to my presidency, I was dean boomers. The departure of a large cohort When I received the tremendous honor of of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of professors affected the quality of the becoming Technion President ten years of Medicine for six years and Technion education and research. Consequently, ago, I felt that I was handed an enormous Vice President for Resource Development a top priority was to refill the faculty’s responsibility: not only to maintain Tech- and External Relations for seven years. ranks with first-rate young professors. nion’s status as Israel’s first and lead- ing university but to steer it onward and This year’s President’s Report has a dual I was personally involved in recruiting upward to new levels of excellence and role. As always, it relates Technion’s candidates, meeting with the most prom- global standing. The challenges along the development since the last Board of ising men and women in their fields to way were numerous, but now that I am Governors meeting, but this year, we also persuade them to join Technion. The only completing my tenure, I look back at the summarize the progress of the entire last way to replenish the faculty with outstand- last decade with satisfaction. Technion’s decade. It is an opportunity to revisit our ing educators and scientists would be to role at the forefront of science and tech- strategic vision of 2009 and compare it provide up-and-coming stars with cut- nology is indisputable, both in Israel and to what actually unfolded. ting-edge laboratory facilities on a par around the world. with those at top universities around the At the time, I divided my strategic vision world. Consequently, during my tenure When I became President, the global fi- into fields which I deemed critical to the dozens of state-of-the-art labs were built nancial crisis of 2008 was fresh and Israeli university’s development: recruiting new and renovated throughout the campus higher education was in an existential crisis, faculty, improving the student experience, in order to accommodate incoming new caused by the proliferation of new private advancing the level of research conducted faculty – most of whom were moving back colleges and by the diminished status of on campus, developing the campus, and to Israel after spending years at the finest academia within Israeli society in general. strengthening Technion’s global role. institutions in the world. A large share of the campus development budget was At the beginning of my tenure, I presented allocated to these projects every year. a vision to the academic assembly in a PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2019 3 Orientation day for new faculty, 2018 Approximately half of Technion’s current other important steps. The Students As- All these efforts have begun to bear fruit, faculty was hired in the past ten years. See sociation has been involved in the ongoing and we have made a quantum leap in page 6 to meet some of these impressive efforts to improve the student experience recent years. Technion has now been young professors. at the university. voted the top Israeli university for student satisfaction for three consecutive years! Strategic Goal: The Technion Center for Promotion of Upgrading the Student Experience Learning and Teaching continues to play a Strategic Goal: It is a delight to be part of the heightened key role in upgrading the quality of teach- Advancing Basic and spirit on campus. Over the past decade, ing, which is a critical factor for improving Applied Research the overall student experience at Technion student satisfaction. Intensive efforts are A fundamental part of the Technion found- has changed dramatically. Despite being being made to introduce more dynamic ing vision is to empower Technion’s position a first-rate teaching university, many as- and flexible learning environments, as at the front line of scientific and technologi- pects of student life were not optimal ten well as innovative, non-traditional forms cal research and development. In joining years ago, and this meant that a growing of learning suitable to the 21st century, the ranks of the world’s leading scientific number of excellent potential students such as MOOCs, flipped classrooms and and technological research universities, were choosing to study elsewhere. We video lectures. (See page 12) Technion is of service to the State of Israel made it a top priority to empower a nur- and to all of humanity. In addition to hiring turing and inspiring educational environ- Another initiative with a significant im- top researchers to join our faculty, the fund- ment in which each and every student pact on teaching quality is the Yanai Prize ing of research labs and equipment has can flourish. for Excellence in Academic Education. increased by 93 percent. Moreover, we have Launched in 2011, the Yanai Prize recog- dedicated a great deal of energy to rais- A committee headed by Prof. Yachin nizes faculty members who set an exam- ing funds for research. During my tenure, Cohen was tasked with examining the ple through their valuable contributions sponsored research from external sources student workload, and its findings led to to teaching, and who strive to improve has grown by 50 percent, from $61.7 million important changes implemented as of student involvement which enhances the in 2009 to $92.8 million in 2018. 2013. These included shortening the se- sense of belonging. The prize is consid- mesters and the exam periods, as well as ered prestigious and provides an incentive We have also encouraged collaboration coordinating and balancing the workloads to improve classroom performance and between Technion scientists and industry. of students in different faculties, among interaction with students. (See page 14) The new Center for Machine Learning Construction of the new Susan and David Wilstein Gate Solar panels atop the Sara and Moshe Zisapel Nanoelectronics Center and Intelligent Systems that was re- aged tissue, revolutionize information During the last ten years, three new build- cently inaugurated, in partnership with processing and predict the effectiveness ings have been inaugurated: the Emerson Intel Corporation, is just one example of antibiotic cocktails, among many other Family Life Sciences Building, the D. Dan of a 21st century Technion platform that exciting advances. (See page 16) and Betty Kahn Mechanical Engineering facilitates cooperation between Technion Building and the David and Janet Polak faculties and high-tech companies, both Thanks to the hard work of T3, the Tech- Visitors Center. During this period, many Israeli and multinational. (See page 20) nion Technology Transfer Unit, optimal older buildings underwent significant alliances are being forged between sci- renovations, and labs were added and Another focus has been to increase global entists, industry and investors in order to upgraded on a massive scale throughout collaboration. Technion has academic bring Technion innovations to the mar- the campus. collaboration agreements with 213 uni- ketplace. The new DRIVE accelerator pro- versities in 41 different countries, and has gram for entrepreneurs who are part of The Technion is giving a whole new kind submitted 15 cooperation projects within the Technion community and whose start- of welcome to visitors. All entrances to the Erasmus+ program to strengthen ups are in the pre-seed or seed stages Technion City have been upgraded and the cooperation with European universities. is also showing impressive results after new main gates and approach roads are (See page 36) only 2.5 years. (See page 35) designed to ease traffic. Other large-scale ongoing projects included accessibility, Technion frequently makes headlines Strategic Goal: and the upgrading of basic infrastructure thanks to the numerous, highly impres- Campus Development such as air-conditioning and water-saving sive breakthroughs emanating from its We have invested heavily in state-of-the- systems, and improving campus safety. labs. It is heart-warming that many of art facilities and increased accommodation these groundbreaking discoveries are units on campus. Our priority has been to In addition, nearly 1,000 new dorm improving the world and benefitting hu- develop our beautiful campus on Mount beds have been added thanks to sev- manity. Just this past year, the work of Carmel to ensure that it keeps pace with eral major projects: the construction of our scientists is expected to improve the the university’s growing needs. the Stanley Shalom Zielony Graduate quality of brain scans, regenerate dam- Student Village, the new undergraduate PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2019 5 Rededication of the Rosen Solid State Research Building Technion’s campus at CornellTech in New York City student village, and substantial renova- student exchange programs has risen opened in 2017; and the Joan and Irwin tions of the Canada Dormitory Village sharply.