Around 612 class of 2020 graduates from the design and engineering faculties gathered this week for a festive graduation ceremony held on the rooftop of Shenkar’s Pernick Building. For the first time, the ceremony was livestreamed on Shenkar’s Facebook page! The ceremony was attended by the college’s president, Prof. Sheizaf Rafaeli, and the faculty deans and department heads.

Due to pandemic-related restrictions, the ceremony was divided into four events this year. The first ceremony was for graduates of the School of Industrial Engineering & Management; the second ceremony for graduates of the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, the Department of Visual Communication, the Department of Polymer Materials Engineering (including master’s degree), and the School of Industrial Engineering & Management (including master’s degree); the third ceremony was for graduates of the Department of Interior, Building and Environment Design, the School of Multidisciplinary Art, the Department of Software Engineering, the master’s in design program and the engineering class; and the fourth ceremony was for graduates of the Departments of Chemical Engineering, Fashion Design, Textile Design, Jewelry Design, and Industrial Design.

“It’s exciting to complete such an intensive period. Perhaps even more exciting is leaving the darkness of the lockdowns behind, seeing people, and starting to get back to normal,” said Professor Rafaeli in his speech. “Thank you to our parents, partners, and family members for their patience and support through the long journey we’re celebrating the completion of today. Thank you to the faculty members who supported and supervised, guided, accompanied, taught, and served as role models. Thank you to Shenkar’s department coordinators and supporting staff at the Dean of Students and at HILA - the Student Advancement Center, to the staff at the library, archives, and laboratories, to the computing, supplies, cleaning, and security teams, and the list goes on. Only you can know how important this support was for our students’ learning and personal development.

Prof. Sheizaf Rafaeli (Photography: Achikam Ben Yosef)

Later the deans of the engineering and design faculties took the stage. Though he joined the college just a few months ago, Prof. Yoram Halevi, dean of the engineering faculty, expressed his excitement at attending the ceremony and congratulated the engineering faculty graduates. “As always in engineering, facts and numbers come first,” he began his speech. “The faculty has 299 graduates, 181 of whom are women, which is 60%; and with percentages like this, we might have already reached the ultimate goal of not having to talk about it at all. But I’ll say it here: anyone who completed the difficult journey of studying in this faculty meets the definition of excellence and belongs to a very select group of people; I want that to be the feeling you take with you moving forward. You can give yourselves a round of applause – you have earned it well.

From right: Prof. Yoram Halevi - Dean of the Engineering Faculty, Prof. Yael Moria - Dean of the Faculty of Design, Prof. Sheizaf Rafaeli - President of Shenkar (Photography: Achikam Ben Yosef)

Prof. Yael Moria, dean of the design faculty, congratulated the graduates and wished them luck for the future: “There’s nothing new under the sun, but we do have a lot to improve, heal, and change in our world. I hope that you will always know to ask “why” with great honesty and find answers to the “how”. I hope that the desire to grow and develop will never leave you. You are designers of present and future consciousness, active members of society, agents of change, leaders. Good luck!

Honor Roll: Gabriel Almog, Forman Tal, Shapiro Liron (School of Multidisciplinary Art) / Rosenthal Maya, Kantur Omri, Sharaf Gili, Levi Dor, Roth Raf Noa, Shalosh Kfir Nir, Guinsberg Ofir, Yanovitch Nir, Yari Itai, Ashkenazi Daniel, Carmi Yair, Glenski Mai (School of Industrial Engineering & Management) / Meir Tzvi, Ben Shmuel Lee (Chemical Engineering) / Arbel Bar, Asulin Idan, Azran Idan (Software Engineering) / Dan Yoav, Balbul Tal (Polymer Materials Engineering: M.Sc.) / Arditi Roni (School of Industrial Engineering & Management: M.Sc.) / Dan Eliah, Yizrael Gilad, Molina Ben, Farhomenki Oleana, Ross Guy, Ramati Noam, Uzilay Tomer (Visual Communication) / Shapira Omri (Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering) / Bar Levav Mai, Dagni Tamar (Textile Design) / Mangus Yonatan, Eisenberg Tamar (Industrial Design) / Vlort Keren, Shamir Galsorkar Eliana Sarah, Fox Sophia (Interior, Building and Environment Design)  / Eisenshtein Tamara, Bachar Fey (Jewelry Design) / Stolvov Tomer, Levi Noam, Even Ari Tomer, Tzur Nataly (Fashion Design) / Yarak Netanel, Zohar Lavi, Guetta Etti (Polymer Materials Engineering) / Assaf Ofer, Bitton Mia, Slonim Michal (Master’s in Design for Engineers) / Franco Kobi, Fahima Roni (Master’s in Design).

Photography: Achikam Ben Yosef