Engineering and high-tech seem like an antithesis to the Jerusalem we are used to envisioning - a city full of history, milk and honey, religion... But there is a well developed high-tech and bio-tech industry in Jerusalem which is in constant growth - and a college whose goal it is to train highly-skilled engineers for these industries.  

In order to position its graduates to integrate into advanced knowledge-based industry settings, The Jerusalem College of Engineering (JCE) was founded in 1999, following a government decision to strengthen technological advancement in Jerusalem and open a college that would train engineers in this city. Both the opening of the College and the bringing of high-tech to Jerusalem were part of a broader strategy to strengthen the city and boost its economy.  

Located in Ramat Beit HaKerem, positioned between the city's main high-tech hubs: Har Hotzvim in the north and the Malcha Tech Park in the south, JCE has actively met the challenge of supplying Jerusalem's growing demand for human capital, offering B.Sc. degrees in engineering with a cutting-edge curriculum and a hands-on approach to developments in the industry. 

JCE began with 72 students and 2 departments. Today, it has grown to include a student body of 1,800, studying in 5 departments: Software Engineering; Industrial Engineering; Electronics Engineering; Advanced Materials Engineering; and Pharmaceutical Engineering. Other departments are scheduled to open including graduate programs in several of JCE's departments. 

Since JCE's primary goal is to provide leading-edge education and training for Israel's next generation of engineers, JCE naturally has a strong partnership with top high-tech corporations such as TEVA, Intel, AVX and NDS. In fact, JCE's Pharmaceutical Engineering Department, one of its kind in Israel, and one of only four in the world, was established in cooperation with TEVA, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical industries, in order to fulfill the shortage of Pharmaceutical Engineers in Israel's rapidly growing bio-tech industry. 

Such close cooperation with the high-tech industry results in the successful integration of the vast majority of JCE's graduates in the industry, although many also opt to continue researching and go on to study towards advanced degrees. As JCE continues to grow and develop, it is also increasing its collaborations with other institutes, partnering with leading names such as MIT, the Technion and Hadassah-University Medical Center.  

As a stimulant of change in Jerusalem, a city whose citizens run the gamut of diversity, JCE is committed to empowering young adults and closing socioeconomic gaps through higher education. Approximately 70% of JCE's students are Jerusalemites, 30% are female, and 14% are immigrants from over 25 different countries. The College provides social and economic aid to underprivileged students to help them break the cycle of poverty, rampant in Jerusalem. Students who receive scholarships perform community service at social welfare projects and give back to the city. 

For more information on the Jerusalem College of Engineering, visit www.jce.ac.il

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