By Gail Lichtman

How does Li Ka-shing, one of the world’s 10 richest men, his namesake Li Ka Shing Foundation and the Foundation-supported Shantou University come to partner with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, a university located in a country nearly half-way around the world from China with a population that barely constitutes a small-sized Chinese city?

The answer lies in the shared belief of the parties in the power of education and scientific research to cross international and cultural boundaries in the search for knowledge for the benefit of all.

In September 2013, a memorandum of understanding was signed to launch Technion-Guangdong Institute of Technology (TGIT), a joint venture between Israel’s prestigious Technion and Shantou University (STU). TGIT will be a new academic facility located in Guangdong Province. Its establishment will open up a new era in research and innovation in science, engineering and the life sciences between Israel and China.

Sponsored by the Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF) with a grant of US$ 130 million to Technion, TGIT represents unprecedented cooperation between the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, the Shantou municipal government, STU and the Technion. In addition, Guangdong Province and the Shantou municipality will set aside US$ 147 million to fund construction and initial operations, as well as providing 330,000 square meters for the campus, which will be located next to STU.

The LKSF gift is the largest ever to Technion. Opened in 1924, Technion is Israel’s oldest institute of higher education, with 13,000 students and researchers in 18 academic departments and 52 research centers and institutes. It will be used to strengthen Technion’s home campus in Haifa and enable Technion to fulfil its role in TGIT.

Israel’s emergence as a world leader in high-tech, with its cutting-edge research, innovation and entrepreneurship, has been largely credited to Technion. In the past decade, three Technion scientists have won Nobel Prizes and its researchers are in the forefront of science, technology and medicine. Technion graduates constitute the main driving force behind Israel as a “start-up nation.” Ranked in the top 100 of world universities, Technion is now partnering with Cornell University to establish a new, innovative applied science campus in New York City, a move which is being hailed as a “game changer” for that city’s tech sector.

The partnership between Israel and LKSF began in 2011, with a visit from LKSF executives to the Technion campus in Haifa. It was followed by a visit by Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie to LKSF headquarters in Hong Kong.

The LKSF visit to Technion led to an investment from Mr. Li’s private investment company Horizons in Waze – an innovative GPS navigation technology developed by an Israeli company. Waze was recently sold to Google and the profits from this sale became part of the donation to Technion.  

At the center of TGIT is Hong Kong philanthropist Li Ka-shing, who has pledged to donate one-third of his assets to support philanthropic projects, especially with respect to education and healthcare.

At the ceremony in September, Mr. Li explained his rationale for TGIT. “In this new world of fluid boundaries, the fast changing, fascinating and transforming power of technology sometimes does seem to wave like a magic wand, bringing new models and opportunities to many frontiers and generating new solutions to entrenched problems at a pace that is often hard to keep up with. But we all know that the magic wand is only as powerful as the wizard who uses it. The magic comes from the genius within, not from some ‘deus ex machina’. Our responsibility is to invest in reforms in education that unlock the genius and enable the continuing realization of human potential – thus building a knowledge-rich society and securing a sustainable quality of life for all. Failing to do so amounts to a crime against the future.”

“So if I could wave a magic wand, this would be my wish,” he continued. “I would wave it to enable change makers to maximize their effectiveness. I would bring them together in great institutes like Technion and the new Technion campus soon to be built in Shantou… I would watch with satisfaction as the grace of education unlocked the confluence of their genius and potential… enabling the finest young minds from Israel and China to create a continuing series of ‘solutions revolutions’ addressing the biggest challenges facing mankind in the 21st century.”

For both Technion and STU, the partnership represents a win/win situation, with the whole greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Technion President Lavie recognized this. Commenting on the “historic voyage” the Technion has embarked upon with STU in the building of TGIT, he said: “We see it as a bridge solidifying the growing relationship between the people of China and Israel, a bridge between two ancient cultures that have contributed immensely to humanity… Our collaboration will be truly transformational for Technion, Shantou and Chinese education. The combination of the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Israel with the unbelievable scale of China will result in a great partnership… Together we will create a major research institute that will help not only China and Israel but also mankind in general.”

STU, which was co-developed by the Ministry of Education, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and Li Ka Shing Foundation, is dedicated to driving educational reforms. Founded in 1981, it is the cornerstone project of LKSF and has 5,113 faculty members and medical workers, as well as 9,448 full-time students.

It was this drive for educational reform that initially brought the parties together.

“The LKSF came to visit [Technion] and wanted to learn about possible cooperation with their protégé school – Shantou University,” recalls Prof. Paul Feigin, today Technion Vice President for Strategic Projects, who served previously as Technion Senior Executive Vice President. “LKSF explained to us that STU was a special university in China with Western management and aspirations. We offered some ideas for joint projects in education and research.”

The initial contacts led to the development of the plan for TGIT. “I think that LKSF realized that if STU was to make an impact on high-tech in the province, it needed to enhance its academic reputation by bringing in a highly reputed institute of technology to partner with,” Prof. Feigin adds. “Technion was chosen both for its education and research. The best way to make it work was to set up an independent institute. The advantage is that such an institute can give foreign degrees. TGIT will offer Technion degrees as well as Chinese degrees.”

In addition the plan includes the establishment of an innovation center which will also serves for incubation and hosting start-up companies and R&D efforts, something Technion is especially suited to seed.

“This agreement provides a new dimension for Technion’s internationalization/ globalization strategy,” Feigin explains. “If Technion wishes to maintain and improve its academic reputation, it needs to be active on a global scale. There is a limit to the number of international students we can accommodate in Haifa. This new campus, under our academic auspices, is a way of expanding our international education and research enterprise. It will provide a sister campus for our students to visit and experience a different society while still getting a Technion education. China is a growing force in research and investments in R&D. This move is also a strategy for obtaining access to research resources in China for Technion faculty. Plus, the innovation center, with its industrial park, can also provide a bridgehead for Technion companies or Israeli start-ups to gain access to China while still being in a familiar environment provided by TGIT.”

For STU, the advantages are also clear. “The contributions Technion has made to nation building cannot be matched by any university in the world,” states Prof. Gu Peihua, STU Provost. “The significance for us is to learn from Technion on building a world-class educational institution… STU will have an opportunity to collaborate with Technion on education and research programs. Through, these initiatives, we will learn directly how to build such a university. In addition, TGIT will facilitate student exchanges and faculty collaborations between STU and Technion. It will also promote STU’s internationalized reform and development.”

“Guangdong is undergoing a crucial period of industry transformation and upgrading,” Prof. Gu adds. “We need the support of high-tech talents and the driving forces of scientific and technological innovation. TGIT will provide the talent needed for strategic high-tech development in Guangdong and will help bring Israeli high-tech to Guangdong to improve our innovation power and industrial competitiveness.”

TGIT will begin undergraduate programs in civil and environmental engineering, as well as computer science in the 2014/15 academic year. The language of instruction will be in English and the faculty will be recruited not only from Technion but from international researchers and scientists from around the world. By 2020, TGIT will be offering courses in other engineering fields from mechanical to aerospace engineering.

No doubt, TGIT will be inspired by the words of Li Ka-shing, who said: “Imagining the impossible is the necessary and game-changing condition to shaping and making ‘solution revolutions’ into reality.”