“Go forth and succeed – and do good”

On Wednesday, September 4, a festive ceremony was held at the Technion to award doctoral degrees to 258 new doctors from 12 countries. 47% of the recipients are women. The youngest recipient is 25 years old, and the oldest is 68. The ceremony, held at the Kellner Amphitheater, was attended by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, Senior Vice President Prof. Oded Rabinovitch, Dean of the Jacobs Graduate School Prof. Uri Peskin, deans of faculties, faculty members, and the families of the degree recipients. The ceremony was hosted by Prof. Irad Yavneh from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science.

From right to left: Dean of the Jacobs Graduate School Prof. Uri Peskin, Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, and the ceremony host Prof. Irad Yavneh from the Taub Faculty of Computer Science

In addressing the recipients, President Sivan said: “This evening, it is important to acknowledge not only your academic achievements but also the values that guided you and us on this journey – the pursuit of excellence, equality, tolerance, and inclusivity, the moderating role of the Technion, which unites all who come through its doors, and the social mobility that the Technion offers its graduates.

“Today, as you receive your PhD, the next phase of your life journey begins, a journey in which every breakthrough, every innovative idea, holds the potential to change lives, address global challenges, and pave the way for a better future. Remember, with your capabilities comes great responsibility. Remember that the professional dilemmas you will face will always have social, environmental, and ethical contexts, and it is your responsibility to ensure that these are taken into account. Go forth and succeed – and do good.”

Prof. Uri Sivan speaking at the ceremony

The faculty with the most graduates is the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, with 44 new doctors, followed by the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (23) and the Taub Faculty of Computer Science (22). The dissertations of the 258 new doctors cover a wide range of topics, including smart concrete structures, tissue engineering, deep neural networks, the psychosomatic mechanism, blockchain technology, planetary dynamics, co-working spaces, the barn owl’s navigation system, ways to improve teaching, stress-monitoring patches, and many more diverse subjects.

The new doctors

Dean of the Jacobs Graduate School, Prof. Uri Peskin, first addressed the international students who received their doctoral degrees and said, “I am very happy to congratulate you, your families, and your friends on receiving your degrees. This cohort at the Technion has been blessed with 31 international students who came from India, the United States, China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Austria, Albania, Brazil, South Korea, and Costa Rica. We are very proud of you. The trust you placed in us and your support, during these difficult times, are not taken for granted. Your standing by our side strengthens us, and we greatly appreciate it. I hope we have provided you with the appropriate training and the tools you need to create the future you seek for yourselves.” He continued in Hebrew and said, “At this time, we are all in pain in one way or another—whether directly or indirectly affected by the war and its horrors. We are worried and anxious about the near and distant future. Despite this, and without ignoring the extreme situation, tonight we will focus on what we have and what is good. Because despite everything, we have much to be proud of, and we also have much to be grateful for.

“I want to thank each and every one of you. The work you put in, your results and publications, and the conferences and workshops you participated in, are now an integral part of the Technion’s achievements and legacy. The excellence of the Technion, which is ranked among the world’s best, is built on your excellence, our research students, and we are what we are thanks to you. For that, thank you very much!” Prof. Peskin also thanked the academic committees at the Technion’s units and faculties, the coordinators of graduate degrees, the deans and vice deans, and the professional staff of the Jacobs Graduate School.

Prof. Yael Yaniv’s PhD group from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering

Eight of the students who received their degrees at the ceremony worked on their theses under the supervision of Prof. Yael Yaniv from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. They are: Dr. Ido Weiser Bitoun, currently an intern in internal medicine at the Rambam Health Care Campus, who spoke on behalf of the graduates; Dr. Sofia Segal, a senior R&D team leader and head of biomedical engineering at EFA Technologies; Dr. Vadim Galiner, head of R&D at Biosense Webster; Dr. Aviv Abraham Rosenberg, a scientist and senior engineer at startup company Sibylla; Dr. Limor Arbel Ganon, a research and algorithms engineer at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems; Dr. Moran Davoodi, an algorithm developer; Dr. Savyon Samia, a senior researcher at Novocure; and Dr. Noam Keidar, a postdoctoral researcher at the Taub Faculty of Computer Science, who recently received a doctorate in medicine.

Dr. Ido Weiser Bitoun spoke on behalf of all the new doctors and shared, “Twenty-nine years ago, when I was five years old, I attended the doctoral diploma ceremony here at the Technion and witnessed my mother, Dr. Rivka Weiser Bitoun, receiving her doctoral diploma from her supervisor, Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig, then dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and later president of the Technion. It was a great privilege for me to study at the Technion, continue my mother’s path in research and teaching, and receive my doctoral diploma today. To the five-year-old I was at that ceremony, I say: ‘Dream, work hard, and with God’s help, you will achieve.’”