Shenkar Jam Week is an annual event taking place this year for the tenth time. It connects lecturers and students from the design and engineering departments to those in the arts, creating a unique framework of creative interdisciplinary thinking with a “hackathon vibe” (an entrepreneurial-focused, creative-thinking marathon).

The event lasts four days and brings together academia, industry and social organizations; it focuses on innovation, together with technological and social initiatives.

This year, for the first time, Jam Week is taking place under the auspices of Design Factory Shenkar. Design Factory Shenkar is part of the Design Factory Global Network. It is run by Dr. Yigal David and Dr. Asaff Krebs – the Design Factory directors, together with the Jam Week producer, Tal Alon.

Jam Week 10 will host additional design factories from the network – two design factories from New York and the design factories from London and Holland will be joining the experience. The Shenkar students' teams will join them for an international networking event and creative experience.

This year’s Jam Week will focus on the challenges of old age. This subject has fast become one of the most significant social challenges in recent decades.

According to forecasts, by 2050, the global population will include two billion adults over the age of sixty. The aging population presents various social, economic, psychological and technological problems for humanity.

The number of elderly people in the world is considerable and ever-growing. Despite this, the elderly population receives relatively little attention in terms of investment and development, when measured against their percentage of the general population. Jam Week #10 aims to raise awareness among the young students who are tomorrow’s designers and engineers and to encourage creative, innovative thinking in their field.

Jam Week has several main goals: finding inventive and technological engineering and design solutions for problems associated with aging; education and acquaintance with the important subject of the elderly; learning about, exposure to and development of interdisciplinary work skills with design-focused methodology; coping with engineering, design and technological complexity; and creating international networks.