Professor Eduard Yakubov, President of Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), told attendees at the Jerusalem Post Conference on Monday that the academic institution has focused on STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – during its almost sixty years of existence. 

Yakubov said that HIT considers the STEM acronym to have an additional meaning. “The ‘S’ stands for society, because of the very great impact of science, technology, and engineering on society. ‘T’ is very important for us. It stands for togetherness, which is the key to our victory in this war. ‘E’ refers to education. We educate our students not just to be engineers and scientists, but also to be true citizens of Israel. Finally, ‘M’ stands for medicine, because this is a new direction of our institute.”

 Yakubov, who participated in a panel at the conference entitled “Engines of Resilience” with Tema Klausner, President, World Emunah, and Rabbi Zalman Duchman, Executive Director of Colel Chabad, said that HIT combines the worlds of science, technology, and medicine. 

He said that Israel faces a shortage of 80,000 engineers in the applied sciences. “We should be ready, and we should know how to increase the number of engineers. We must not only train and graduate them but also supply them with practical skills.”

Yakubov said that while the country will develop new technologies and applications of AI and cybersecurity, ultimately, what is most important, is being together and preserving unity. “The key is to be together. I am sure that together we will win. Together, we will continue to contribute to our unique state, the State of Israel.” 

This article was written in cooperation with Holon Institute of Technology (HIT).