'Who is going to develop the next Iron Dome?'

Prof. Ami Moyal, president of Afeka College of Engineering in Tel Aviv, told attendees at The Jerusalem Post Miami Summit last week that Israel’s most valuable resource is its human capital and discussed the vital role of academia in educating the country’s human capital.

“The world around us is changing,” said Moyal. “We are facing exponential technological breakthroughs in various fields, and every aspect of our lives is changing,” emphasizing that these major changes will affect the employment market as well.

Moyal noted that the job market will become even more oriented toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills in the coming years. But, he added, it is also important to train students in critical thinking, self-learning, multidisciplinary teamwork, and the capability to ask the right questions, particularly in the AI era.

“If we take into consideration that two-thirds of the new pupils in primary school will work in jobs that we cannot even describe today, are we really preparing them to function in a modern society and in a dynamic job market?” Moyal said. “The answer, in my opinion, is no. We need to move from knowledge-based education on the whole educational continuum to competency-based education, in knowledge, skills, and ethics.”

Moyal described the pedagogical changes made to the educational curriculum at Afeka to meet this challenge, in which the college integrated these skills as learning outcomes for the courses. “Students do not want to sit for eight hours in class and hear their professors. That’s the past. They need to be actively participating in their learning process, especially through projects. We changed pedagogy, updated curricula, offered quite a large range of extracurricular activity, and completely renovated the physical campus.”

He addressed how the Israel-Hamas War has affected the student body, with more than 1,700 students called to IDF service, with a combined total of 200,000 days of service. “It is our duty and moral obligation to help them to complete their studies successfully, and, if possible, on time,” he said.

“Who is going to develop the next Iron Dome? Engineers are very important to Israel’s prosperity, economy, entrepreneurship, and investments.” Moyal concluded his remarks by mentioning that the college has established an emergency fund to support the students.