Zissie Gitel
Jerusalem abounds with scholarly institutions devoted to culture, literature, heritage and the arts. It hosts a major university, has several technical schools and dozens of yeshivot (rabbinical academies). However, there is one unique Jerusalem institution that has had an impact on the Israel economy far beyond what one would expect from an institution of its size. The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT), whose main campus, Machon Lev, is situated on the slopes of a Jerusalem hillside, is one of only four academic colleges in Israel that accredit students in engineering fields. JCT is a pioneering concept: it embodies advanced education in the applied sciences together with Judaic studies, in meaningful harmony.
This dual programme of high technology with advanced Judaic studies is mandatory, with Bible studies occupying almost half of the daily study time of all students.
When JCT first opened its doors in 1969, the college included only two technology departments - Computer Sciences and Electro-Optics, the latter the first department of its kind in Israel. A small building in the Bayit Vegan neighbourhood was large enough to house the initial 21-member student body, while classrooms and laboratories at a nearby school served as temporary facilities. In 1974, the college moved to its current location in the adjoining area of Givat Mordechai. The college quickly earned a reputation as a leading academic institute and began participation in the Israel Defense Forces deferment programme (atuda) for gifted students. Today JCT leads all Israeli academic institutes in its percentage of atuda students. Many of these students later pursue careers as officers in specialized army units, in their area of expertise.
JCT was recognized as an academic institute of higher education by the Israel Council for Higher Education, and by 1977, it was accredited to award the degree of Bachelor of Technology and Applied Science. With the growth in the scope of studies offered at the college since it first opened, JCT has gradually received approval to award additional degrees. Now students can earn degrees as Bachelor of Science in Managerial Accounting and Information Systems; Technology Management and Marketing; and Industrial and Managerial Engineering. The college, comprising two schools - the School of Engineering and the Bernard and Miriam Hochstein School of Industrial Management - now has a combined student body of over 1,600, has satellite programmes in other parts of the country, and is planning an industrial park adjacent to the Jerusalem campus. Its graduates account for ten percent of the high-tech workforce in Israel.
Constantly alert to the demands of industry and defense, JCT has added new fields of study in response to the diversified requirements of the economy and its rapidly increasing high-tech orientation. Electronics, applied mathematics, managerial accounting, computer communications, technology management and marketing, biotechnology, medical engineering, food technology and industrial marketing engineering have all been added to the curriculum. To meet the need for science teachers in secondary schools, JCT also has a science teaching department. Students may elect to take this course in conjunction with their regular studies to qualify for teacher's certification in addition to their bachelor's degree.
To meet the educational and technological needs of the 21st century, JCT has opened a department for medical engineering. Here students are able to research and develop materials, processes and implants, concentrating on medical diagnostic systems, measurement devices and imaging.
Another area being enlarged is telecommunications studies. The Optical Communications Centre at the college opened in 2001. In collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, researchers are undertaking innovative research into optical encoding and information security for the Internet. Together with researchers at the University of Southern California, JCT members are conducting applied research in nonlinear optics for optical fibre communications.
The Joshua Chair in Food Technology is the newest addition to the repertoire of cutting edge research groups at the college. Among the projects to be undertaken is one to develop electronic sensors to identify contamination and substances that develop during the various stages of food preparation. Similarly, students of bio-information will develop software to assist in developing improved food additives that are less toxic and less expensive than those presently available.
New immigrants form a large part of JCT's staff and student body. In addition to the many immigrants from Western countries who comprise a large part of the faculty, recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union have given a tremendous boost to ongoing research. For example, two optics experts joined the JCT research teams to conduct research on electroluminescence. They have developed a new type of electroluminescent fibre and identified commercial applications for their product. They are now partners in Elam Electroluminescent Industries in Jerusalem, where they produce flexible and versatile electroluminescent fibres for various industries.
Immigrant students, again, primarily from the former Soviet Union, form a substantial portion of the student body. Avid for both the Jewish education once denied them in their countries of origin as well as engineering schooling, they apparently find that JCT fills both their spiritual and academic needs. A special preparatory programme was designed to introduce these students to their Jewish heritage and help them reach the academic level necessary to cope with the advanced course work.
In 1997, a programme aimed at meeting the specific needs of Ethiopian immigrants was instituted. Students of Ethiopian origin are now able to attain an advanced high technology education by attending a preparatory programme prior to starting their engineering degree studies. The programme enables the students to find gainful employment in high-tech fields and incidentally, to serve as role models in their communities.
Immigrant scientists also find gainful employment through Patir, the JCT industrial incubator-initiative centre, under the auspices of the commercial arm of the college, JCTechnologies. Patir employs immigrant scientists who work together with JCT faculty to form start-up companies for commercial products deriving from their research projects. Since its inception, Patir has been active in technological advances, in medical physics, solar energy production, driver-accident prevention, human safety, and assistive devices for the handicapped, to name a few.
In the past ten years, 35 companies have resulted from Patir/JCTechnologies start-ups. Instant thermometers, produced by Medisim, and optical measurement systems for industrial applications, manufactured and marketed by Visionix, are two examples of Patir/JCTechnologies commercial successes. Awaiting United States FDA approval, a medical image-processing device that decreases the need for breast biopsies by 50 percent, has been developed. This high-resolution image processor of mammography films enables physicians to ascertain tiny details that are hard to discern in standard black and white X-rays. The device statistically computes the probability of a growth being malignant, and an improvement to this prototype will automatically identify mammography findings and allow extensive examination of suspicious areas.
Other start-up projects include one on the production of fabrics protected from ultraviolet rays of the sun, highly accurate blood pressure meters and monitors, and environmentally-friendly self-boiling and heating containers for "instant" meals or drinks. Other projects are under consideration, including one to develop optical security for low cost automatic identification and authentication of labels and cards at a distance and in motion, and another, designing smart speed control devices for motors to provide significant energy savings and improved performance in both industrial and domestic appliances.
The fast-paced business world has long been foreign to the ultra-orthodox sector of Jewish society. A breakthrough in integration of this sector into the workforce was achieved when, in 1998, at the request of the Ministry of Education's Planning and Budgeting Committee, JCT initiated a programme to educate students from the ultra-orthodox population. These students are beginning to find a niche in the local high-tech industry. Two programmes have been instituted to provide for the learning needs of this population at Machon Lev. The first, an intense nine-month course in computer programming, is run in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Welfare and The Jerusalem Development Authority. The second is a four-year evening course for yeshiva students who wish to supplement their daytime religious studies with academic studies towards a bachelor's degree in applied physics, electro-optics, computer science, managerial accounting and information systems, or technology management and marketing.
For years the ultra-orthodox world viewed with disfavour the education of women in professions that would have them work outside the home or family business. Times have changed and with this change came the realization that new employment opportunities need to be explored. JCT provided a solution to this problem. Breaking barriers previously imposed on the provision of higher education to religious women, JCT embarked on another revolutionary programme: to introduce them to work in in high-tech fields.
Machon Lustig, a satellite school of JCT, is located in Ramat Gan. It offers women a bachelor's degree in computer engineering, computer science, managerial accounting and information systems, as well as the additional option of teaching certification. Nearly 150 female students gain the tools necessary for employment in sophisticated fields without compromising the principles of their orthodox upbringing.
Machon Tal, located in the Givat Shaul area of Jerusalem, serves the female national religious population, offering coursework parallel to that of Machon Lev. Over 320 students from Israel and around the world study there.
How does JCT prepare its students for the leap into the competitive world of high-tech outside the protected academic environment to which they are accustomed? One means of preparation is the Soda Club Entrepreneurship Programme. Started in 2000, this programme was designed for students who are entering the business world and need to know more about what is expected of them and how to succeed in a new environment. Emphasis is placed on honest business practices and social consciousness as dictated by rabbinical sources. An integral part of the educational programmes at JCT involve Jewish business ethics, which all students are required to study. The Centre for Business Ethics and its subsidiary, the Centre for Judaism and the Environment, hold frequent seminars and conferences on issues related to ethics and the environment.
Some of the most rewarding work done in the past at JCT has involved aid to the handicapped in a combined programme with Keren Or, an institute for multi-handicapped individuals. Instruments such as a navigation system for the blind, speech facilitation devices, and computer-aided sound-linked games have been designed for teaching and entertaining disabled children and adults.
Students at JCT also participate in a technology summer camp, which provides underprivileged children from development towns the opportunity to broaden their scientific knowledge. In this programme, children who demonstrate exceptional scientific capabilities are able to expand their knowledge under the tutelage of JCT students, who devote their summer vacation to the project.
What lies in store for JCT's future? Expanding the degree programmes to include graduate studies toward second and third degrees is in the planning stage, and the staff are already discussing the next generation of cutting-edge disciplines to add to the curriculum.
At the start of the new millenium and the promise that it holds, the Jerusalem College of Technology hopes to meet the challenges expressed by Sir Isaac Wolfson at the dedication of the Sir Isaac and Lady Edith Wolfson Chair in Electronic Engineering, in 1969: "This generation will be well-versed in Jewish studies, proud of its ancient heritage, respectable professionals, leaders in their communities and models for future generations."
Zissie Gitel was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and educated at Washington University. She has worked as a medical assistant and in public relations. She was administrative assistant to the president of the Jerusalem College of Technology.