Two Proposals by the Faculty of Engineering Were Accepted to Bar-Ilan's Academia 360 Program

Two proposals by the Faculty of Engineering were accepted to Bar-Ilan's Academia 360 program. Headed by the university's rector, the program's goal is to rethink and redesign the curricula to meet the needs and realities of the changing technological world. "Our mission is to make a profound change, not just a touch-up, to the curricula and produce better engineers who keep up with the tides," explains Prof. Moti Fridman, the Faculty of Engineering's project leader. "Most of the university's faculties and departments submitted one proposal. We submitted two, for our longest-running tracks—electrical engineering and computer engineering—and both were accepted."

Academia 360 is a four-year program launched by the CHE with the goal of encouraging higher education institutions to develop strategies for updating their bachelor's degree curricula and keeping academic education relevant in today's fast-paced, ever-changing job market. "Technological revolutions are constantly taking place, tools appear and disappear just as quickly, and academia must keep up," says Prof. Fridman. "In the 1980s, for example, computers entered our lives, and it took academia a long time to catch up and adapt its offering. We are now on the brink of another technological revolution, the AI revolution, which is already underway, but this time we possess the ability to react quickly. This program lets us ask ourselves how we perceive engineers today and what we would like them to be in the future, what tools we want to equip them with—and construct the courses accordingly."

Prof. Fridman's team, with notable members Dr. Adi Makmal, Dr. Tamar Goldzak Mizrachi, and Dr. Hila Chalutz-Ben Gal, stormed the task head-on. Questionnaires were distributed to Faculty of Engineering alumni in the industry and in academia, conversations were had with potential employers, and in early July, a dedicated retreat attended by 15 faculty members took place. "During the retreat, we talked about the 'future engineer' not just in terms of academic knowledge, but also in terms of job preparedness and contribution to society. We described the ideal alumnus from three perspectives: knowledge, skills, and perceptions and positions," explains Prof. Fridman. "We considered tangible parameters such as command of mathematics and physics, professional English, and AI, we also considered skills such as analytical thinking, team management, systemic thinking and creativity, and values such as commitment to professional ethics and integrity, aspiration to excellence and personal liability, cooperation, and community-orientation."

Prof. Fridman says that the goal now is to map out the current curriculum, understand what's crucial and necessary, and design the ideal curricula accordingly. "Until today, our points of reference were programs in other academic institutions, in Israel and abroad; this time, we gave our all to accumulating as much data on the 'typical' engineer. That way, we can create an innovative curriculum that will shape engineers who best suit the reality and demands of the industry."