“Project Poalim From Three to Five”

Technion Alumni Association Assists High School Students from the Gaza

Envelop and the Confrontation Line in the South

The Technion Alumni Association academically assisted high schools students from the South in the framework of “Project Poalim [Working] From Three to Five”,
a program financed by Bank Hapoalim (the project’s name is a play on the Hebrew word for “working” and the Bank’s name). The students were taken from the
line of fire to the Sharon region and the North in order to provide a respite for them. Similar activities took place in Arad. Engineers, graduates of the
Technion, provided academic assistance for these students, giving lessons and conducting workshops to prepare them for the matriculation exams in mathematics.
They even held exercises in small study groups.

Beyond what was taught in the classrooms, the engineers also took part in social activities and assisted the students in activities that gave them a break from
the debilitating tension of living in the line of missile fire.

“Project Poalim From Three to Five” is now in its third year. In its framework, engineers (who are Technion alumni) and Technion students assist high school
students from the periphery in science and technology in order to boost their academic achievements from the level of the three-point matriculation exams in
mathematics to that of the five-point exams.

In the framework of the activities taking place over the past few days, a group of Ethiopian students from Ashkelon, Beersheva, Kiryat Gat and Ashdod went to
Givat Haviva and Nordiya. In addition, an additional group of Project Na’aleh students from Ashdod, Beersheva, Kiryat Gat, Kfar Silver, Netivot and Ofakim went
to Kibbutz Nir Etzion on Hof Hacarmel. Some 200 students from the South and Gaza Envelop communities took part in this activity.

The students participated in special workshops, which prepared them for the questions on the winter matriculation exams, especially in mathematics.
The ORT Network in Israel was responsible for professional and pedagogical preparations.

Daniel Reisberg, who immigrated to Israel two years ago without his parents in the framework of Project Na’aleh, said that in light of the large study gap and
the loss of study material due to the war, the assistance he received from the Technion alumni helped him tremendously and that he can see himself enrolling in
the Technion to study engineering after his IDF service.
Among the additional activities held by the Technion Alumni Association were: taking high school students from the Bnei Akiva yeshivas and ulpanas in Ofakim for
intensive study days in Arad, holding small study groups in protected spaces in Kiryat Gat and even having enrichment lessons in students’ homes in those areas
in which it was not possible to gather because of lack of protected spaces.

Pictured: Technion alumni with students from the South in Givat Haviva

Better Place CEO Shai Agassi (r) meets with
Visiting Prof. Isa Bar-On (l) and MSc student
Michal Landau Morgenstern, who researches
transportation and air quality.

Electric Avenue

Shai Agassi, Technion alumnus and global pioneer in electric vehicle operation, gave an open lecture at his alma mater in July 2008 on “The Future of Green Transportation.” Invited by the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Agassi described how his company, Better Place, plans to implement its electric vehicle infrastructure and business model in Israel by 2010. Agassi challenged Technion students to participate in the movement to position Israel for oil independence, offering internships with the company.

Regarding the move to electric cars, Agassi said, “We have the science.” Non-polluting Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries exist, and now it is a matter of “scaling.” It is a question of convenience and infrastructure for recharging. “We need an electric point at every parking space,” he said. “What we’re doing is the largest ever ‘extension cable’.” Better Place believes it is critical to separate the car from the battery.

“The nice thing about Technion,” said Agassi, is that “they teach you from Day One how to think in an interdisciplinary fashion. This has helped me somewhere along the way. It lets you see the broader picture.” Better Place involves multidisciplinary design and development; it is “the ultimate system integration,” he said.