Shimon Peres...in Person

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. We joined the American Technion Society at the beautiful David Citadel Hotel in a small group session with President Peres and Technion President Peretz Lavie who started the morning by discussing the history of the Technion. The institution, which is about to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of its cornerstone laying, has been the backbone of Israel's high-tech industry, training its engineers and producing groundbreaking research for years.

President Shimon Peres with Peretz Lavie

President Peres, whose support of the Technion over the years helped Israel become the high-tech powerhouse that is is today, predicted the need for Israel to now move into neuroscience and neurotechnology with the same vigor that it entered the nanotechnology industry. Specifically, President Peres emphasized the importance of building better computer-brain interface technology to help researchers understand more precisely how the human mind works. With this technology, he suggested,  researchers could develop stronger therapeutic methods and devices to better cure neurological ailments such as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's.

The session ended with an open question and answer session for President Peres, who fielded questions on topics such as how Israel will incorporate the innovations of companies like Better Place into its infrastructure in the coming years.  The mere fact that President Peres dedicated his time to our group indicated the importance of the high tech industry in Israel, but in spending 90 minutes of his morning in open and frank discussion with us was truly unprecedented. When a statesman of his caliber is willing to dedicate his day to such a cause, its shows the esteem in which the Technion and its innovations are held and how treasured they are by the Israeli government and the individuals who run it.