Christine Khoury, 26, PhD
Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP)
“I was born in a small village in Lebanon, and when I was seven, my family moved to Israel. In 2011, I started my studies at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering and completed my BSc summa cum laude. Technion provided me with a lot of intellectual challenges as well as allowing me to learn important skills such as working in a team and self-learning. My research topic is the ‘Transformation of Biomass-Derived Molecules to Fuels and Chemicals Using Cooperative Catalysis.’ As part of my research, I am trying to accelerate environmentally-friendly reactions by designing and synthesizing new materials. In the future, I plan to work in R&D, using my skills to improve the yield of chemical processes and suggesting sustainable alternatives to existing energy-intensive processes.”
Joseph Rodriguez, 21, BSc
Civil Engineering, Technion International
“I grew up in Ecuador and I am proud to be a Technion student in Civil Engineering. I aim to someday work in the ever-growing construction industry. When I was younger, I had the opportunity to live in Tel Aviv with my family due to my Dad’s work. After experiencing life in Israel for a year, I knew it wasn’t going to be my last time here. I found in Technion the school that allowed me to fulfill my dream of both living in Israel and getting a top-level education. Throughout the past three years, this school has helped me reach my academic potential, learn from professors whom I admire, and make lifelong friendships. In my free time, I enjoy reading and playing sports such as soccer, tennis and chess.”
Roni Anna Gofman, 25, MSc
Astrophysics
“I was raised in Tel Aviv and in high school I was the captain of my school’s FIRST robotics team. I have volunteered in this program ever since. After serving in the IDF as an artillery instructor, I moved to Haifa to study physics at Technion. I’m currently doing a Master’s degree in the Physics Faculty with Prof. Noam Soker as my advisor. My research involves theoretical work in the field of Astrophysics. In my Master’s thesis, I hope to provide a theoretical model for a peculiar supernova that was detected in 2014. As a daughter of Technion alumni, I always knew that I would study here. The things I like most about Technion are the people and the atmosphere. I enjoy being surrounded by successful, interesting and excellent people. I like the fact that everyone’s main goal here is to learn and understand more.”
Boris Levin, 25, Barch
Architecture and Town Planning
“I was born in Saint Petersburg and when I was 16 I decided that I would make Aliyah and study at Technion to become an architect. I live in a dorm on campus and am considered a new immigrant, alone in the country. The most challenging thing for students in the Faculty of Architecture, I think, is a never-ending necessity to be creative, especially under the stress of a huge number of courses, projects and presentations. Nevertheless, I do love my studies and try to appreciate everything that we have an opportunity to learn here. I believe that the technological approach and the deep research in topics such as urbanism, green architecture and innovative infrastructure may be the answer to making our world a better place. Technion is the very best place in Israel which can provide this sort of knowledge at the highest level.”
Yehuda Sabiner, 28, MD
Medicine
“I grew up in Jerusalem in a family of Gur Hassidim. I live in Bnei Brak with my wife and three children. I established an organization called “Haredim in Medicine” to help integrate Haredi men and women into medical studies in Israel. I was attracted to this field since childhood, and for many years I volunteered with Magen David Adom. I am completing my sixth year at Technion and plan to specialize in internal medicine or pediatrics. My biggest challenge was having to acquire pre-academic education when I was 20. I joined the first cohort of the Technion program designed to prepare Haredi students for academic studies. What I love about Technion is that it is a superb institution that leads in developing the country in every field – and always for the most noble reasons.”
Rotem Dror, 30 , PhD
Natural Language Processing
“I am half-way through my doctoral studies in natural language processing at the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. I am one of 57 students from all over the world who was awarded a Google Fellowship this year. I have spent my entire academic career at Technion.My research focuses on developing structured prediction algorithms for natural language processing applications. I love to teach and my dream is to pursue a career in academia. I live in the Stanley Shalom Zielony Graduate Student Village with my husband and young daughter. I love Technion. I was surprised that Technion chose me for the Google Fellowship competition. The Fellowship is a vote of confidence. It’s a serious boost to my motivation.”