Hong Kong professors visit technion 370.
(photo credit: Courtesy Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)
Hong Kong’s academic institutions have a lot to learn from Israel – especially
from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said Prof. Tony Chan,
president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on
Sunday.
Leading a senior delegation from Hong Kong to the Haifa
institution of higher learning, Chan delivered a lecture before top professors
and students on “Building a University on an International Level in 21
Years.”
Although the Hong Kong university was established exactly 21
years ago and is one of the youngest in the world, it is considered a leader in
advancing the hi-tech industry and allows residents of Hong Kong and China to
study close to home rather than go abroad. The government of Hong Kong, he said,
understands that it must invest in scientific and technological
fields.
“I see many similarities between our university and the
Technion,” he continued.
“My dream is that in 40 years, I will be able –
like the Technion president – to boast of the fact that our graduates are in the
forefront of the leading hi-tech companies in the world.”
The guests
asked Technion president Prof. Peretz Lavie and others what contributed
to the Haifa institution turning into a “start-up power” and how it encourages
the development of initiatives among students.
They also were interested
in how the Technion promotes cooperation between academia and
industry.
The Technion heads were asked to explain how they convinced
leading scientists who had emigrated from Israel to return, and to elucidate
upon the contributions of immigrant scientists from the former Soviet Union.