Sphere No.44 (Mar 2018)

Sphere #44 2018 23 >> Haifa, the Israeli city home to Technion, joined as sister cities. “This week, Shantou became Haifa’s fourth twin city,” says Mayor Yahav. Professor Ciechanover’s interest did not flag and he is now the Vice-Chancellor of the new GTIIT. That campus is impressive, boasting, at its launch, 13 buildings, 29 classrooms, 14 teaching laboratories and 55 research laboratories. Later, an adjacent industrial park will connect research to development and commercial applications. Behold! From promise to groundbreaking to completion, the new GTIIT may look to the future, but celebrates the past. The launch ceremony in December 2017 celebrated the ancient Chinese and Jewish cultures, Mr Li Ka-shing tries out a shofar (an ancient musical instrument made from a ram’s horn) presented by Professor Peretz Lavie, President of Technion, as a souvenir. with Chaozhou drums and lion dances combined with the Jewish hymn, “Hine Ma Tov” whose title means “Behold how good!” The whole opening verse is from Psalm 133 of the Jewish scriptures and translates as “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Unity was certainly on the minds of the backers of this important project. Unity means that this will not just be a bilateral effort, but a truly global enterprise. The on-campus language of instruction will be English, and professors, researchers and students will come from all over the world. Technion President Professor Lavie plants his flag for global unity, stating, “We believe in globalisation. We believe that Shantou University, Technion Israel Institute of Technology and the Li Ka Shing Foundation pull together for a brighter future. LKSF will commit another RMB10 million to develop new programmes and ensure GTIIT becomes a hub of innovation in Guangdong.