“There is no happier event in academia than to acknowledge and encourage outstanding students”, said Shenkar President, professor Sheizaf Rafaeli, in his opening statement at the excellence scholarship award ceremony for students of the Azrieli Faculty of Design. “We’re proud of the faculty graduates’ accomplishments in exhibitions, competitions and journals. We’re proud to show off these accomplishments, and we’re so happy for the students who are the heart and soul of this process.”

The celebratory ceremony was conducted in the presence of the excited students and their families, the department heads, the dean of the Faculty of Design – professor Yael Moriah, the chair of the board of trustees – Orit Efrati, the chair of the executive committee – Tzvi Yemini, and the guest of honor – Dana Azrieli, head of the board of trustees until 2013 and one of Shenkar’s most important donors.

Professor Sheizaf Rafaeli, president of Shenkar

“I admit that I haven’t been here for 7 years. A long time. And a lot has changed”, Ms. Azrieli said in her speech. “Before I came, I looked at the summary of works that brought you here and I have to say that I was very impressed by your commitment to the topic of sustainability. This is an area that I champion in Azrieli projects and it is very important to me. I’m so glad to see this and also to see the connection to Israeli companies. The idea behind Shenkar was always to connect between academia and industry.”

Dana Azrieli

“Studying here exposes you to the world of academia and theory, and also to the practical world of business. In my opinion, this is truly a gift. I’m happy that I, and we – at the Azrieli Foundation – have the honor of being here with you to celebrate these moments together.”

“If I could give you advice for the future, it’s simply 'don't stop dreaming'. Keep pushing your personal boundaries and the boundaries of what seems possible to the limit, and I’m convinced you’ll succeed in making them all come true. What unifies the students at Shenkar is the ability to persevere and the audacity to dream big.”

During the ceremony, Dana Azrieli was presented with a 3D model of the Azrieli Towers, which was designed and printed at Shenkar’s Keter Plastics Digital Prototyping Center.

The chair of the board of trustees – Orit Efrati (right) presents Dana Azrieli with the 3D model of the Azrieli Towers

The dean of the Faculty of Design, professor Yael Moriah, congratulated the students on their academic success at Shenkar and expressed her wish for the future: “You, who won the Azrieli Scholarship this year, are outstanding students in each of the Faculty of Design departments. We hope to see you become excellent people and professional leaders of today and tomorrow, professionals who will continue to ask questions and who will not settle for obvious answers, and who will expand and set the narrative of tomorrow.”

During the ceremony, around 20 scholarships were granted to outstanding students – graduates of the Faculty of Design. Here is the full list of the scholarship recipients:

The Department of Visual Communication
Ben Shenfer	Tal Nistor	Gida Ben Shlomo
The Department of Fashion Design
Omer Shifris	Gal Yosef	Stav Brokman
The Department of Interior, Building and Environment Design
Lilach Arik	Olga Standuke	Roni Menachem
The Department of Industrial Design
Tal Amram	Keren Darnel
The Department of Jewelry Design
Alma Leon	Yarden Hadad
The Department of Textile Design
Stav Shuker	Rotem Finzi
Master’s in Design
Eden Ben Ami	Reut Ben David
Master’s in Design (engineers' class)
Noa Tsror
Master's in Digital Game Design and Development
Shai Segal	Doron Weiss

Photos by: Achikam Ben Yosef