tripartite agreement to co-develop STU.
The agreement outlines strong financial
and policy support from the Ministry and
the Provincial Government, and will also
grant STU a unique status as a national
model for education reforms in China. As
for this TGIT project, Guangdong Province
and Shantou Municipal Governments will
set aside RMB900 million (about USD147
million) to fund the initial operations
and the construction of the massive
330,000-square-metre TGIT campus next
to STU. And it is going to happen fast.
techNioN-GUaNGdoNG iNStitUte
of techNoloGy
While other institutions may have spent
years on deliberating how to proceed,
Technion moves as nimbly as the start-
ups they have spawned. In August 2012,
Technion was already building links by
sending professors to China. From 16
to 19 August, the Technion delegation,
including Senior Executive Vice President
Professor Paul D Feigin, Deputy Senior
Vice President of International Academic
Relations Professor Anat Rafaeli, Academic
Director of the International School of
Engineering Professor Amnon Katz, Head
of the Center for Systems Engineering
Professor Aviv Rosen and Dean of Faculty
of Medicine Professor Eliezer Shalev,
visited STU.
They were met by Provost Gu Peihua,
Vice President Lin Danming, and
other representatives from College of
Engineering, Teaching Affairs Department,
Admissions Office, English Language
Centre, and Foreign Affairs Department.
They wasted no time in getting down to
the technical details that will make the
partnership work, such as details about
course work, teaching methodology
and how students are evaluated and
accredited.
The first cohort of TGIT students will
commence their studies in the 2015
academic year at Technion in Israel,
according to the proposed development
plan of TGIT, while the campus is under
construction. Undergraduate courses
in civil and environmental engineering,
and computer sciences, will launch at
the Institute. After one year in Israel, the
students will return home in the second
year to sow the seeds of innovation
borrowed from abroad. Research will
begin in 2014-15 to improve inadequate
health care systems and clinical diagnostic
procedures. Joining force with STU, TGIT
will conduct life sciences research based
on Big Data, the analysis of huge, and
sometimes real time, data collections.
More courses will be offered as TGIT
moves forward. By 2020, students will
be able to choose to study in other
engineering-related fields, such as
mechanical engineering. The language
of instruction will be English and faculty
members will be recruited worldwide.
Efforts will be made to channel Israel’s
technology and technological creativity
to China and achieve higher synergy with
the local industries in Guangdong.
All this will happen in the time it takes
for most academics to consider launching
a tutorial. Technion and STU are well
matched in their ability to take resources
and deploy them quickly and effectively
to good ends.
Never too biG a dream
Provost Gu envisions a bright future for
TGIT. The short-term goal is becoming
one of the best technological schools in
Guangdong Province and then one of the
best universities in China, devising new
technologies and launching associated
start-up companies.
“What Technion has done to advance
the Israeli economy through student and
staff research and innovation is an example
for Chinese universities to follow… If many
universities in Guangdong and China do the
same as Technion has been doing in Israel,
an innovation-based economy will emerge,”
says Professor Gu. The joint venture could
go beyond transforming China.
Professor Lavie predicts ties between
Israel and China will be strengthened
and the technology and scientific
advancement will progress. “We hope that
by combining our research methodologies
with the scale and resources of China, we
will create a major research institute that
will help not only China and Israel, but also
mankind in general.”
The joining of Technion and STU sees
the unlikely continuation of a dream
shared by Albert Einstein almost 100
years ago and Mr Li today. In 1924, 16
students started their studies in Haifa and
young Chinese students picked up their
medical books. In 1981, STU was born. In
2015, the twins of destiny will be joined
in Guangdong to build a greater future for
China, Israel and the world.
<<
“We hope that by combining our
research methodologies with
the scale and resources of China,
we will create a major research
institute that will help not only
China and Israel, but also mankind
in general.”
Technion President Professor Peretz Lavie
“If many universities in Guangdong
and China do the same as Technion
has been doing in Israel, an
innovation-based economy will
emerge.”
STU Provost Professor Gu Peihua
Above: On his first visit to Israel,
Mr Li meets the country’s President Shimon Peres.
Sphere
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2013
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