With small and measured but certain steps, Ashdod is literally becoming a genuine “academic city.” In 2003, the Ashdod campus was established with the SCE Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, which has since flourished and developed along with the city. The vision of the college, to make the world a better place through engineering education, integrates well with the vision of the city, which strives towards community durability, equal opportunities and individual empowerment.
Higher education is the cornerstone to building a better and stronger society. The engineering and social education that we, in academia, are instilling today, will create a better future for the city of Ashdod by expanding the financial opportunities and increasing national security. Cooperation between local and international companies, such as ICL, Elta, Adama-Agan and others, alongside the direct and natural connection to academia, has proven itself as the conduit to a technological ecosystem. This connection not only trains quality human resources, such as highly skilled engineers, but also manages to preserve strong and empowering populations in the city by absorbing them into leading and reputable workplaces.
The State of Israel is constantly in the need of thousands of engineers annually, and the general demand for engineering graduates is constantly on the rise. Technological development serves as a lever to creating new technologies, initiatives, start-ups and workplaces. Students seeking higher education know that choosing engineering studies will lead them to areas high in demand, with prompt integration into the job market at lofty positions in desirable places where they will contribute to the financial and security growth of Israel.
We are at a crossroads, and the development of education in the South, with the need to reinforce academia in Ashdod, is more relevant than ever. It is the key to creating equal opportunities, quality employment and social leadership. Therefore, the government should, by way of the Council for Higher Education, lead the vision of Ashdod as an independent academic city, and not as a campus only, for training future-generation engineers who will become part of urban architecture, hi-tech companies, military industries and develop the technologies of tomorrow in Ashdod.
Cooperation between academia and industry will enable the training of high-quality human resources that will settle in the city as a powerful and empowering population. A just society with reduced differences between its central and peripheral regions is our real strength as a nation. All that is needed is a guiding hand and a nudge of encouragement from the government.
Prof. Jehuda Haddad is rector of the SCE Sami Shamoon College of Engineering.