The new trend was opened in view of the apparent shortage of water engineers in Israel
Given the apparent shortage of water engineers in Israel, the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion is opening a new course of study that will train water resources and environmental engineers. Professor Noah Galil, who heads the new track, explained that the decision was made following a survey conducted last year and pointed out that in 2003 most of the engineers registered in the water sector, about 2900 in number, were already at retirement age, and only 780 of them were actually working.
"The survey was conducted by the Israeli Water Association for the Water Commission, and it follows that there is already a shortage of skilled water engineers in Israel today," says Professor Galil. "The survey shows an alarming picture of a severe shortage of water engineers which will manifest itself drastically in less than ten years."
According to Professor Galil, Israel is currently at the forefront of science and technology in everything related to the intelligent use of water (conservation and advanced water economy), research and development of innovative and pioneering technological applications in the fields of desalination and recycling. "The Technion has a teaching staff with international experience and reputation, excellent teaching and research laboratories and good interaction between its faculties," he adds. "The graduates of the track will have many employment options, since upon graduation there will be a demand for hundreds of water engineers in Israel."
All students in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion study the same courses in the first year of their studies, and they can choose the courses of study and specialization starting in the second year. "According to the forecasts, in the not too distant future over a third of the population on Earth will suffer from a severe water shortage," says Professor Galil. "The urban environment is expanding and crowded, and the open environment is shrinking. The urban, regional and national infrastructure systems require rethinking, research and development of new technologies and the upgrading of existing ones."
The students in the new water course will learn, among other things, topics related to the infrastructure of water transmission and supply systems, principles of water flow on the surface of the ground, in planned conduits and underground, movement, dispersion and survival of pollutants in bodies of water, water treatment, collection of wastewater and rainwater, treatment of wastewater and its treatment For reuse in agriculture, seasonal and multi-seasonal storage systems, sea waves and marine engineering, planning and efficient utilization of water resources from various sources and development of new water sources.
"If we do not train civil engineers in the field of water resources and the environment in the near future, we will be forced in the near future to 'import' engineers in these fields from abroad," warns Professor Noah Galil.
