The increasing demand for electronic engineers and Information
Technology experts by Israel's high-tech industries is a pressing issue
for the academic administrators as the Technion Institute of
Technology. The Technion is preparing to celebrate its 75th birthday
while Israel is celebrating its jubilee anniversary. In 1948 as modern
Israel was born the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Technion in
Haifa were the only available universities for those seeking higher
education. The Technion's student body numbered 676 including 39 women.
Of the total 660 served in the army which protected the young state
from attacks by its neighbors. During that turbulent period, in
contrast to today's conditions, there was little assurance that a
student who earned an engineering degree would find a job.
Last month Technion President Zehev Tadmor hosted a group of
international journalists, presented the Technion and introduced us to
the university's leading educators and researchers. The Technion's
student body is a remarkable 11,800. (equivalent to the number of
students enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) . "Over the
past two years we have increased our student body by 40% and every
graduate found a good job," emphasized President Tadmor. Degrees in
medicine, computer science and electronic engineering are in greatest
demand. Israel has the highest number of doctors per 1,000 population
and soon it may apply to electronic engineers and software specialists.
It is not only the availability of good jobs for graduates which draws
so many students to the Technion. An additional allure is the prospect
of "striking it rich". Israel's Biblical name is the "Promised Land"
but as it heads towards the next century it is appropriate to call it
the "Land of Limitless Opportunity". For many years talented Israelis
after completing their army service attended universities long enough
to earn a degree and then emigrated to the United States in search of
economic opportunity, personal recognition and success. Arguably
Yitzhak Rabin, during his first stint as Prime Minister derisively
labeled these individuals as "yordim" (those who "went down"). In his
mind emigration was unacceptable but then he refused to come to terms
that with the issue of a lack of opportunity for "making it big" in
this country. . Since the 1990s the situation has drastically changed
for the better. High-tech startups, the nurseries of technological
innovation, matured and their products find acceptance on
international markets. Investment bankers sold the shares of these
companies to the American public. As a result many of the founders of
the high-tech companies discovered the taste of "instant riches". This
success served as a magnet and Israeli engineers who were working in
the fabled Silicon Valley returned to their native land. They assessed
correctly that Israel of the 1990s offered both an outlet for their
talents as well as the prospect of financial rewards.
The most recent instance is of the three computer nerds, in their early
20s, who spent three years developing a software program that allows a
computer user to know in real time which of his buddies are logged into
the Internet, is a case in point. The 'clever-idea-software' developed
by the young computer specialists has reportedly drawn 12 million
users and has attracted a buyer for their company by the giant America
Online, the leading US Internet Service Provider. America Online
announced in mid-June that it paid the unheard of sum of $287 million
to acquire Mirabilis. The young men overnight become national heroes
and undoubtedly have become a role model in Israel and even better
known in Israel than the Spice Girls.
The social impact of this financial success may negatively impact the
mores of a whole generation of young people who may substitute personal
wealth as the measure of status in a society where doctors and judges
still stand at the top of the list of "most respected professions".