{"id":84757,"date":"2021-05-20T19:13:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T16:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/the-andrew-and-erna-viterbi-faculty-of-electrical-and-computer-engineering\/"},"modified":"2021-05-20T19:13:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T16:13:52","slug":"the-andrew-and-erna-viterbi-faculty-of-electrical-and-computer-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/the-andrew-and-erna-viterbi-faculty-of-electrical-and-computer-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"The Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion will henceforth be known as the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering \u2013 in light of evolving world trends and recent developments in the field\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Technion Faculty of Electrical Engineering will change its name to <\/span>The Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering<\/b>. The addition of the term \u201cComputer\u201d to the title reflects a long process of expansion of the traditional electrical engineering discipline into numerous, diverse spheres related to computer engineering. The Technion Senate recently approved the change of name of the long-standing faculty, which is the largest in the Technion alongside the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan (on the right) and Faculty Dean Prof. Nahum Shimkin unveiling the new sign<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion was established 86 years ago, in 1935. In 1949, when the State of Israel celebrated its first birthday, the Electrotechnical Department was established under the leadership of Professor Franz Ollendorff, a world-renowned scientist and later recipient of the Israel Prize. In 1956, the faculty was relocated from the historical Technion building in the Hadar neighborhood to today’s campus, and in 1965 it was renamed the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the faculty\u2019s inception, its alumni have been driving the development of Israeli high-tech. In the words of its Dean Professor Nahum Shimkin, \u201cThe title \u2018electrical engineering\u2019 has accompanied us for more than five decades. We look back on our past achievements with pride and look ahead to the future and the technological advances yet to come. The present change is designed to reflect the broad fields of research and teaching at the faculty. As a modern, leading academic electrical and computer engineering department, our areas of specialization and research encompass most high-tech related disciplines, including microelectronics and nanoelectronics, electromagnetics and photonics, quantum technology, energy and power systems, electronic circuits and computer chip design, signal and image processing, machine learning and intelligent systems, robotics and control, communication engineering and information theory, computer communication networks, computer systems engineering, and more. Renaming the faculty and expanding its areas of activity are in line with the global trend, and particularly with the U.S., where most of the leading electrical engineering departments have already changed their names similarly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Distinguished Prof. Shlomo Shamai (on the left) and Distinguished Prof. Emeritus Jacob Ziv<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Technion President Professor Uri Sivan praised the decision and said, \u201cThis is a day of celebration. The change of name reflects the faculty\u2019s most important feature \u2013 the ability to innovate and keep abreast of the latest trends and developments. By recruiting outstanding staff members, the faculty has succeeded in continuously broadening its fields of research and teaching, in maintaining its leading position in research in the global arena, and in making a great contribution to the Israeli economy. I know the faculty will not rest on its laurels but will continue to expand its areas of research and teaching into new and future worlds of technology.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a video greeting broadcast at the ceremony, Dr. Andrew Viterbi, after whom the faculty is named, said, “I am always happy to congratulate the Technion community – students, professors, and staff, and especially those in the faculty whose name is changing today.” Dr. Viterbi, one of the founders of Qualcomm, inventor of the Viterbi algorithm and past recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor, made many major contributions to the faculty, the largest of which was $50 million in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Electrical engineering and computer science could not exist without each ot<\/span>her,” he said. \u201cIt’s clear that without the breakthroughs of the electronic engineers and physicists of the 1940s and 50s, there would be no computers in the 19th century, and on the other hand, Professor Charles Begge of Cambridge tried \u2013 and failed – to build a computer without electricity, so, today let us rejoice with a Shehecheyanu [prayer] at the recognition of the union between Electrical and Computer Engineering.”<\/span><\/p>\n