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Refael Barkan Appointed HIT President, Pushes Industry-Linked Curriculum

By Drooid · Oct 22, 2026, 12:52 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Professor Refael Barkan was appointed president of Israel's Holon Institute of Technology (HIT).
Barkan pledged to narrow the gap between academia and industry by adopting an applied curriculum linked to challenges.
A curriculum-wide internship pilot gives students hands-on experience in technological ecosystems.
After a computer-science enrollment drop, HIT emphasized hardware, microelectronics and data science, raising EE undergraduates 20% and industrial-engineering students 13%.

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Story summary

Professor Refael Barkan was appointed president of Israel's Holon Institute of Technology (HIT).
Barkan pledged to narrow the gap between academia and industry by adopting an applied curriculum linked to challenges.
A curriculum-wide internship pilot gives students hands-on experience in technological ecosystems.
After a computer-science enrollment drop, HIT emphasized hardware, microelectronics and data science, raising EE undergraduates 20% and industrial-engineering students 13%.