The total annual output of the engineers who graduated from the Technion in the hi-tech and computer services, communications and research and development sectors is estimated at at least 21 billion dollars;

A study by the Shmuel Na'eman Institute at the Technion, produced for the one hundredth anniversary of the laying of the Technion's cornerstone, states that the annual return from Technion graduates reaches at least 76-197 percent, or in absolute terms a return of 35-60 billion dollars during a 50-year cycle of graduates

The investment in the creation of human capital at the Technion yields annual rates of return of at least 76-197 percent and in absolute terms a return of 35-60 billion dollars during a 50-year graduate cycle. These findings are published in a new study conducted by the researchers Prof. Amnon Frankel and Prof. Shlomo Mittal at the Shmuel Naaman Institute for National Policy Research at the Technion, who discovered that investments in human capital at the Technion to train students in engineering and science yield significantly higher positive returns for the economy and are risk-free.

The calculation showed that the training cost of the 2010 batch of graduates from a bachelor's degree at the Technion was about one billion dollars (in four years of study). Compared to this, the return to the Israeli economy from this investment in terms of net cash flow of the addition to GDP that these graduates produced compared to the value they would have produced if they had not studied at the Technion, was estimated at approximately 2.97-1.76 billion dollars (depending on various assumptions). These findings indicate that the government's investment in training Technion graduates in science and engineering proves itself, as the return received from this investment for the Israeli economy is very high considering the fact that it is a risk-free investment.
A careful estimate that was made indicates that the total annual output of the engineers who graduated from the Technion in the hi-tech and computer services, communications and research and development industries is estimated at a minimum of 21 billion dollars, or about 20% of the total annual gross output of these industries. These engineers even contribute to the creation of 78,000 high-paying hi-tech supporting jobs in the economy. The contribution of Technion graduates is also reflected in the annual income from taxation that they generate for the government estimated at 16.6 billion NIS, which is about 13% of the total state income from direct and indirect taxes.
Hence, the estimates that were evaluated in the research carried out are there to point out the Technion's unique contribution to the economy through its graduates. The large amount of human capital that has been created within the walls of the institution during the decades since its establishment and the high quality of its graduates, show the integration of the graduates and their leadership in the branches of growth in the Israeli economy.
Processing Dunn & Bradstreet data reveals that among the top 125 business leaders in Israel, 41 (about a third) are Technion graduates. Of these, 28 established publicly traded companies and 13 private companies.
Technion graduates lead the 11 largest Israeli companies in terms of export volume, employing approximately 80,000 workers and exporting approximately $19.5 billion out of a total of $45 billion.
Entrepreneurship: 121 Israeli companies are traded on Nasdaq and they make up 41% of all 298 foreign companies traded on Nasdaq. Of these, about half (59 companies) are run or founded by Technion graduates. The market value of these companies is estimated at approximately 28 billion dollars (as of November 2010).
Additional findings from the study, which was based on an internet survey with approximately 4,000 Technion graduates conducted in the months of August-December 2010, indicated a significant and important contribution of Technion graduates to Israel and the world. The results of the survey were used to derive estimates for the entire population of Technion graduates who are currently of working age in order to gauge their current impact on the labor market.
• Human capital: Since its founding, the Technion has had about 67 graduates who have integrated into the life of the economy, economy and society in Israel, and about 90 graduates have received certificates. About 27% of Technion graduates have advanced degrees, some of which were acquired at the Technion and some at other higher education institutions in Israel and abroad. The integration of Technion graduates in the various sectors of the economy is impressive, especially in the employment sectors and in positions where the salary level is high. The median income of Technion graduates is the salary group 25-20 thousand NIS gross per month and is significantly higher both in relation to the average salary in the economy (about 8 thousand NIS gross per month), and in comparison to the average salary of salaried employees with an academic education (+16 years of schooling). A fifth of Technion graduates (about 12,000 graduates) earn over 35 thousand NIS per month gross.
• Entrepreneurship: the research findings indicated that 23% or 13.5 thousand of the graduates were among the founders of new companies in the economy. Although entrepreneurship is usually considered a male trait, it was surprising to discover that about 15% of the Technion's female graduates founded a new company during their career.
• Management: Technion graduates hold senior positions in the economy and most of them are engaged in various management positions. About a quarter of them serve as CEOs and VPs and another 41% hold other management positions (Figure 2).
• Discoveries of Technion graduates: Among the leading inventions considered to be breakthroughs that were discovered by Technion faculty members and its graduates, we can mention: Disk-on-Key (Dov Moran), Ziv-Lampel - an algorithm for compressing information, the drug Resgelin/Aziltec ( for the treatment of Parkinson's disease) developed by professors John Feinberg and Musa Yodis, ICQ (instant messaging) (Technion graduate Yossi Verdi is the father of the founder of Mirabilus, Eric Verdi, and contributed greatly to the success of the start-up company), "Better Place" electric cars, (Shay Agassi ), ubiquitin, the protein that causes cells to die, a discovery by Prof. Hershko and Prof. Chachanover, Nobel Prize winners (the discovery used as a basis for the drug Velcade against myeloma cancer), a quasi-crystalline substance (the discovery that won Prof. Dan Shechtman the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the year 2011), Prof. Hussam Haik's "artificial nose", capable of "smelling" cancer in very early stages, dissolving cancer tumors with ultrasound (Insightec company, with Technion graduate Yoav Midan leading the development), ultrasound imaging for cardiology needs (GE Medical), led by Technion graduate Alex Silberklang and more.
• Employment: Technion graduates integrate into leading employment sectors in the economy. In the five employment sectors that include industry, R&D services, computer services, communication and universities, the estimate of employed Technion graduates is estimated at approximately 34 thousand employed (about half of them in the industrial sectors). The rate of Technion graduates employed in these industries is three times higher than the general rate in the economy.
• Hi-tech: The number of graduates employed in the high-tech industries is particularly notable, estimated at approximately 13 thousand graduates. These constitute 75% of all Technion graduates employed in industry (Figure 3) and 14% of all jobs in the economy in this industry. About 14 thousand of the graduates (24%) serve in the most senior management positions (CEOs and VPs) in the companies where they work.
• The start-up companies: Israel is known in the world as a country with the highest rate of start-up companies which are a platform for the creation of innovative technological ideas on an international scale. In this context as well, Technion graduates have a very significant specific contribution. About 18% of the graduates (over 10 graduates) work or have worked in start-up companies, a rate that is three times the average rate in the economy, which also has no equal in the entire developed world, and about 39% of them serve in a senior management position in these companies (CEO or VP).
• Technological innovation: over half of the graduates were involved in the development of new products and/or new processes. This is also reflected in the large amount of applications for registering patents and registered patents of Technion graduates, in which about a quarter of the graduates are involved.
Source: The Technion's contribution to the economy in Israel through its graduates by: Amnon Frankel and Shlomo Mi-Tal, Shmuel Naaman Institute, working paper, January 2012.