Last Friday morning at 4:45AM Eastern Standard Time, I landed safely back in the United States of America from Tel Aviv, Israel. After passing through customs and then a quick layover at Newark International Airport, I was in Washington by 8:20AM. All in all, it has been a very long, but satisfying summer in Israel these past 10 weeks. In so many ways, this program met and then exceeded my expectations. It was awesome!
Showing posts with label reception. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reception. Show all posts
Back In The USA
First Three Weeks
As we approach the end of the our first three weeks in Israel, I think it's probably as good a time as any to provide a recap of where we've been so far. I'll try and do this a few times this summer in order to fill in any new readers on anything they may have missed. Anyway, the past weeks have certainly gone by quickly. We've seen and done quite a bit. In fact, it's actually hard to believe how much we've been able to fit in to such a short amount of time.
Pre-Departure: in the weeks leading up to the trip I blogged here and here about the reasons why I believe Israel is important and what are the unique characteristics that have lead to Israel's economic and technological achievements of the past few decades. Start-up Nation - the unofficial handbook of our trip - was mentioned on a few occasions. On April 29, the team celebrated the beginning of the program, while also recognizing the contributions of the program's many generous donors, at an evening reception in Washington, D.C., hosted by Miles Gilburne and Nina Zolt.
Week 1: After months of planning and hours of travel, the Smith team finally arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, passed through customs, and then made the hour long drive up the coast to Haifa - our home for the summer. The first few days were set aside for us to get acclimated to our new surroundings. The fact that we'd arrived during the holiday of Shavuot certainly helped keep things quiet that first night. By Thursday we'd had a chance to settle in and proceeded to the Technion for our first class and to meet our Israeli teammates. The projects were finalized and the patent creators presented on each of their technologies. On the weekend we toured the city of Haifa - the German Colony and the Baha'i Gardens - and then traveled north for visits to Rosh Hanikra and Acre.
Week 2: The second week began slowly - with Monday through Wednesday working at our office at the Technion. I blogged about the Israeli business culture here. On Wednesday we had a presentation from the Technion Entrepreneurship Club. Then on Thursday, we had our second class with presentations from the Technion incubator and our project leader Asher Epstein, among others. At the end of the week we departed Haifa for a weekend visit to Tel Aviv. Friday morning we had a brief meeting with Israel's Warren Buffet, Yossi Vardi. Later that afternoon, we went on a guided tour of the city - from Jaffa and Neve Tzedek to the Hacarmel Market. Saturday we were free to explore on our own - or head to the beach - as a few folks did. It was awesome! Before heading back to Haifa, on Sunday we had meetings at two venture capital firms, Tamir Fishman and AquAgro Fund, where we met with Moshe Levin and Hillel Milo respectfully. Altogether it was a busy but exciting week!
Straight To Work
After a free day to rest and recover, on Thursday we had our first class at the Technion. Around 4PM, we left our place in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood to head to the campus.
Upon arrival we had a reception and had our first chance to meet our Israeli classmates (and teammates) for the summer. It seemed clear from the get-go (at least to me, and I believe to the other Smith students as well) that our Israeli teammates are just as excited as we are to get started. Our Israeli counterparts are all current students at the Technion, though many are also still employed during the week, mostly in the high-tech, aviation, and defense industries. To be sure, their diverse technical expertise will come in handy!
Class began promptly at 5PM with our professor, Uzi de Haan, spending a few minutes introducing the material, outlining the course, and setting expectations. Uzi - a professor at the Technion since 2003 and formerly CEO of Philips Electronics Israel seems like a real "no nonsense" kind of operator. He offered the class a pretty stark assessment of the challenge in front of us. Also, he didn't sugarcoat the assignment by shying away from the reality that some of the patents we'd be looking at wouldn't necessarily be "ready for prime time".
At 7PM we moved to a different classroom to hear presentations from each of the various patent inventors, scientists, and researchers regarding their technologies. Over the course of the next 2+ hours, we were given a terrific introduction to each of the patents. Some were already in a prototype stage, while others were still merely conceptual. Some had clear problems they looked to address, whereas others were still solutions looking for the right question. Regardless, what was clear was that each was very different and thus, would require teams to undertake multiple approaches.
Celebrating The Future
Last night, myself and my fellow program participants joined donors, faculty, program supporters, and other guests, for a reception at the home of Miles Gilburne and Nina Zolt. The event offered us a chance to honor and thank our gracious benefactors. It also gave us time to share, not only an overview of this amazing program, but also relate what we each of us hopes to take away from this tremendous opportunity.
After about an hour of mingling and small talk, we moved directly into the heart of the event. First, we had a brief introduction from our host, Miles Gilburne. This was followed in short order with some remarks by the Smith School's current Dean, G. “Anand” Anandalingam. Next, Asher Epstein - head of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and leader of this expedition - provided a window into his vision and strategy for the program.
After all of that, it was time for us - the students - to shine! Everyone spent a moment formally introducing themselves. Then myself, Chris Rajashekar, and Steve Kushner each made some broad comments on all the various aspects of the summer program.
The long and the short of it, is that the reception went off without a hitch! We met some fascinating people and made some fantastic connections. Altogether, it's clear that the enthusiasm we have is matched in intensity (and in a few cases, perhaps even exceeded!) by the many donors and supporters in the DC-Baltimore area.
After all the fun it's back to classes for another week, then finals, and then on to Israel! We're not there yet, but each day the anticipation builds. Only a very short time to go now ... t-minus 17 days and counting!
After about an hour of mingling and small talk, we moved directly into the heart of the event. First, we had a brief introduction from our host, Miles Gilburne. This was followed in short order with some remarks by the Smith School's current Dean, G. “Anand” Anandalingam. Next, Asher Epstein - head of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and leader of this expedition - provided a window into his vision and strategy for the program.
After all of that, it was time for us - the students - to shine! Everyone spent a moment formally introducing themselves. Then myself, Chris Rajashekar, and Steve Kushner each made some broad comments on all the various aspects of the summer program.
The long and the short of it, is that the reception went off without a hitch! We met some fascinating people and made some fantastic connections. Altogether, it's clear that the enthusiasm we have is matched in intensity (and in a few cases, perhaps even exceeded!) by the many donors and supporters in the DC-Baltimore area.
After all the fun it's back to classes for another week, then finals, and then on to Israel! We're not there yet, but each day the anticipation builds. Only a very short time to go now ... t-minus 17 days and counting!
