“Engineering Society 2018” Conference

The “Engineering Society” conference that was initiated by the SCE took place for the third time in the aim of connecting the engineering world with society, and presenting engineering solutions with a social impact. Tens of fourth year students presented their final projects aimed at finding solutions for persons with varying social needs, changing ways of life and advancing social change processes.

Roy Shtang, head of Strategic Customer sales at Mobileye, and Neta Li-Meiri, Managing Director of the 8200 Social Program in the 8200 Alumni Association, were among the industrialists and entrepreneurs who took part in the conference and spoke about technological revolutions, innovation and social engineering projects that serve as inspirational models.  

A competition was conducted as part of the conference between the three teams that reached the final stage in the “Life Saving Engineering” Hackathon held on the Ashdod campus. The competition, in collaboration with the “Beterem” organization, aimed to find creative and innovative solutions for child and adolescent safety issues.

The panel of judges was comprised of persons from academia and industry, as well as entrepreneurs and representatives of social organizations. The competing teams were accompanied by mentors who are experts in the relevant fields, among them: Sharin Fisher, Managing Director of the 8200 EISP accelerator program, and Dr. Miron Livneh, CEO Pfizer Israel. The students were also accompanied by mentors from “Beterem” organization, among them Ayelet Gilad, head of development activity, and Avital Epel Pinkas, head of the National Action Plan.   

Prof. Jehuda Haddad, President of SCE - Shamoon College of Engineering, summarized the event: “The ‘Life Saving Engineering’ Hackathon embodies the connection between two worlds to which we strive at the SCE: the engineering world and the social world. All student projects demonstrate, in practice, how social change can be generated through engineering-technological developments. The students who took part in the Hackathon will continue, in their professional future as well, to utilize their engineering abilities and creativity in significant endeavors for the benefit of Israeli society and the world.”

The team awarded first prize by the conference participants was the “Terem Engineers” team that included Sivan Aptebi, a mechanical engineering student at the Ashdod campus; Gal Dahan, a civil engineering student at the Ashdod campus (and Sivan’s husband), and Mor Dafna from the mechanical engineering department at the Be’er Sheva campus. The team developed the “MAGEN” system, that is based on distance sensors and an electrical controller and can identify and alert of children crossing dangerous areas based on a defined height limit. The system alert includes lights and a siren in order to prevent children from going out on to the balcony, into a garden with a pool, entering a room with dangerous objects, etc. The winning team was awarded a monetary prize of NIS 10,000.

In his remarks, Moshe Karuchi, Dean of Students who initiated the conference, addressed the importance of engineering for humanity, and the ability of engineering tools and technological innovations to improve life and influence social change processes: “The students are young, talented and creative-thinking people, at a significant stage of their learning and personal formation. As a leading research, teaching and entrepreneurship institution, we assign great importance to developing our graduates as engineers able to combine engineering abilities with capabilities and social sensitivity. We believe that the engineer of the future is a social technological entrepreneur who knows how to combine the worlds of high-tech and society. Through our graduates entering the world of entrepreneurship and technology, we will be able to generate significant social change processes.”