Cathy Dove, Vice President of the Technion-Cornell Campus in New York: The Applied-Engineering-Science Center for Research to open in 2017 will impact the entire city

13A delegation of 30 senior entrepreneurs and officials of NYC’s Department of Economic Development visited the Technion and met with economic leaders

“The joint Technion-Cornell research center will have a huge impact on New York City,” says Cathy Dove, the newly appointed Vice President of the Technion-Cornell Campus in New York, on her recent visit to Israel with a delegation of 30 senior entrepreneurs and officials of NYC’s Department of Economic Development.

“New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made it a goal to develop the high-tech industry in the city and to attract companies, investors and technology entrepreneurs. The joint Technion-Cornell Applied-Engineering-Science Center for Research will play a pivotal role in achieving this end,” adds Dove, in charge of infrastructure development and operations, as well as human resources on the new campus. “Bloomberg envisions this project as a magnet for attracting high-tech companies and students in engineering and technology fields. The research center will change the face of the entire area and will have a huge impact on NYC, starting from developing the public transportation to the Roosevelt Island, necessary for the establishment of the campus, through the construction of residential towers for students and the academic faculty, and the creation of thousands of new jobs.”

Dove explained that places not on the subway lines are considered by New Yorkers to be inaccessible. According to her, developing the public transportation on the Island is necessary and a key to the progress of the new campus, and will occur simultaneously with the construction of the campus. The campus will be built in a number of stages, starting from the northern part of the Island southward, with its construction consistent with the progress of public transport development in the area.

Already in the initial stages of campus construction, scheduled to open in 2017, residential towers for students and academic faculty will be built alongside academic buildings, which will draw new residents to the area. “The new campus will create hundreds of new places of work, in construction and infrastructure, and in service oriented jobs on the new campus,” says Dove. “It is well known that the establishment of a university has a catalytic effect on urban development. The new research center will act as a stimulus for growth and prosperity of the entire region.”

Members of this sizeable delegation met at the Technion with Israel’s senior economic leaders. According to delegation, a “high-tech strip” has already formed in New York all along the “F” subway line. “We are seeing start-ups forming one next to the other in minutes, and as far as we can tell, the interactions between these companies are excellent.”

The panel was hosted by Dr. Yossi Vardi, who emphasized that Uzia Galil (present in the audience) and Dan Tolkovsky are hailed as  “the fathers of Israel’s high-tech industry.”  He added that the establishment of the Technion-Cornell campus in the middle of NYC is sure to draw serious investors and spur high tech growth in the region, just as development centers of multinational companies were built in Haifa near the Technion, the high-tech industry of the Silicon Valley grew near and around Stanford, technology centers were established along the 128 Highway running near MIT, and the British high-tech industry situated itself near the University of Cambridge.  Even the famous “Bell” laboratories were built near the University of Princeton.

All attendees were presented with the book “Technion Nation: The Technion’s Contribution to Israel and the World” by Professors Amnon Frenkel and Shlomo Maital.

Above: Cathy Dove with Technion’s President Professor Peretz Lavie