A Joint “Mekorot”–Technion Five Year Plan

A joint Mekorot–Technion work plan for the next five years is to be formulated soon. The decision comes during a tour of Mekorot’s Eshkol site by representatives from the Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Following these visits, it was decided that a joint Mekorot–Technion work plan for the next five years is to be formulated. The plan’s objective is to address issues of human capital, water technologies, research and scholarships. The plan will be drawn up in the near future by a joint Mekorot–Technion team.

This project is a continuation of past productive Mekorot–Technion collaborations. Previous cooperation dealt with, among others, challenges in the field of distillation, e.g., improving the quality of distilled water and the use of environmentally-friendly chemicals, as well as challenges in the area of water, e.g., optimization of chemical treatment of the water in the National Water Carrier prior to filtering and while in the carrier, and optimization and integration of devices based on biological testing, designed to signal deterioration of water quality, Additional collaborations have included successful participation of Mekorot in the “Atidim for Infrastructures” project, as part of which Technion students are placed at a Mekorot facility and assigned personal mentors and given the opportunity to acquire valuable practical experience during and at the of their studies.

Today, many Technion graduates work throughout Mekorot in different position. The company’s chairman, Alex Wiznitzer, who graduated from the Technion in 1978, is the most senior Technion alumnus working at Mekorot. Wiznitzer graduated from the Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

 “The Technion is an unparalleled research and scientific institution, and cooperating with it on projects benefits both sides immensely,” said Wiznitzer. “Mekorot is proud to partner with the Technion in the field of R&D and will promote the awarding of scholarships to students in the field of water engineering in order to increase the supply of engineers needed by the Israeli economy.”

“Mekorot is a high technology national infrastructure company,” says Prof. Arnon Bentur, dean of the Faculty of Civil & Environment Engineering. “The strategic collaboration you are promoting will advance technologies that will not only address the country’s needs, but will also leverage and advance business activities abroad, which will be based on innovative ‘blue-&-white” technologies.”

In the picture: Alex Viznitser (right) and Prof’ Bentur