| Electricity in the Palm of Their Hands |
| Written by Henk van Esch |
| Thursday, 19 February 2009 12:25 |
300 female high school students from all over Israel come to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in order to realize that electrical engineering and electronics are not so frightening300 outstanding female high school students from all over Israel, who are studying for the five-point mathematics matriculation exams, came to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion for a study day organized by the Faculty for women in electronics, computers and communications. The aim of the study day was to encourage young women to study in this field which is generally considered to be a male bastion. They were received by the Technion’s Senior Executive Vice President, Prof. Paul Feigin, who said to them: “There is no reason for a male majority at the Technion, just as there is no reason for a male majority in the Air Force pilot-training course.” The Dean, Prof. Israel Cidon, said that the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, which he heads, is ranked as one of the 10 outstanding faculties in the world for electronics engineering, computers and communications, and in a number of fields is even ranked number one. “During the last year, the number of young women starting to study in the Faculty has risen to 22%,” he emphasized. “It is our desire to continue to increase this number.” Adi Weisman, a third-year student in the Faculty, related her personal story and encouraged the students to integrate into the fascinating field of electrical engineering. “Studies are not easy but when you succeed – the satisfaction is great,” she said. Faculty member, Prof. Yonina Eldar, who organized the event, told the students about the many opportunities inherent in electrical engineering and the numerous job opportunities for Faculty graduates, who, in fact, established the high tech industry in Israel. The high school students visited the sophisticated labs for computerized vision, signal and image processing, optics, communications, robotics and computers. They met with female students studying in the Faculty and were interested in knowing how faculty members relate to them as women and how the male students view them. “Better than they relate to the guys,” they responded. Pictured: Control and Robotics Lab engineer, Koby Kohai, shows the robot dog AIBO to the high school students. The robot was built by Sony and is used to demonstrate robotics in the lab.
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 19 February 2009 12:38 |
