THHI Building (Deloro) Community Kickoff Meeting
In the spirit of cross-faculty academic collaboration, a successful kickoff meeting was held for the communities of the new THHI building (Deloro Institute).
Around 130 participants, including Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, VP for Research Prof. Noam Adir, VP for Public Relations and Resource Development Prof. Wayne Kaplan, cross-faculty deans and academic unit deans, faculty members, administrators and graduate research students, filled every corner of the "Black Sheep" pub in the Student Center. This cross-faculty meeting aimed to encourage the formation of academic connections around shared themes and topics.
The meeting was held following the call for the establishment of thematic research groups that will reside in the open, collaborative research space of the THHI building for Transformative Biomedical Sciences and Engineering. which is expected to be inaugurated at the end of 2026.
The President of the Technion, Professor Uri Sivan, shared his vision for advancing multidisciplinary research. Addressing the challenges facing humanity requires combining knowledge and research culture from diverse fields.
The idea behind building the THHI building community is to create opportunities for the formation of multidisciplinary research teams that will break through disciplinary glass ceilings. This is the only way to confront the enormous challenges facing humanity in the 21st century," the President described.
The meeting facilitator, Prof. Noam Ziv, Senior Deputy VP for Engineering and Medical Sciences and Head of the Technion Human Health Initiative (THHI), presented in detail the guiding idea of the institute, its planning, and principles. "We are lowering the fences between faculties and creating conditions for collaborative research without compromising the faculty identity of each researcher," he noted as the central message.
At the meeting, Prof. Moti Segev from the Faculty of Physics and Electrical Engineering, who heads the Institute for Solid State, and Prof. Omri Barak from the Faculty of Medicine, associated with the Laboratory for Biological Network Research, shared their experiences. The two described how collaborative, cross-unit research leads to significant and original insights, and how to overcome concerns and obstacles on the way to building successful research communities.
Prof. Moti Segev: "We aim for excellence, but it is very difficult to excel when you are alone. The connections, collaborations, and physical proximity increase the commitment and dedication to research of all faculty members involved."
During the conference, an open discussion and Q&A session was held on the practical aspects of the project.
Later this month, an operational follow-up meeting with an intimate roundtable format is expected to take place.
Prof. Ziv thanked his partners and assistants for the project from the stage, including: Prof. Phillippa Melamed (Faculty of Biology), Prof. Yuval Garini (Faculty of Biomedical Engineering), Mrs. Liat Retter (Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering), and Dr. Merav Saker (THHI).
