The Keter Center for Innovation at Shenkar College

The Keter Center for Innovation in Engineering and Design in Memory of Josef Sagol at Shenkar College was established as a spacious two-floor rooftop complex overlooking the main campus.

Since its inauguration last summer we have initiated, hosted and sponsored hundreds of activities.

We have welcomed meetings, conferences (and unconferences) and networking events with inspiring thought leaders from Israel and abroad. Invited guests hailed from the world of design, technology, art, journalism, philosophy, academia, high tech and venture capital. We talked about issues as varied as the future of professions, cryptocurrency, creativity, and education technologies.

The Center has encouraged lecturers of Shenkar to teach their students in a completely different environment, using the rooftop and breakout ‘aquariums’, rather than standard “three wall + blackboard” classes. Seven courses are now taking place in the Center, with more planned.

The Center has an entrepreneurial spirit. We rent offices to active start-ups. Our open space environment  welcomes visitors from the local and international high tech community who come here to work on projects and mentor students on issues related to intellectual property, career choices and personal development.

The Center serves as home to the DOTS club, and the student authority. These students have initiated their own projects (including the highly successful internship program in cooperation with “The Next Step” which has become an official academic course). Each week the Center hosts 80 women as part of its ongoing involvement with SheCodes, another DOTS club initiative. The Center has also hosted student exchange programs, including NYU and the highly successful TAVTECH mission, in which 80 students from ivy league universities spend a month studying here.

The Center successfully applied and received a licence from TED to hold the first ever TEDx event Shenkar College.

The Center is home to Shenkar’s “Art in the Community” initiative sponsored by the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation.

The Center hosts a variety of clubs, including morning breakfast cafe (students meet twice a week to speak in English over breakfast), writers’ club, jazz club, etc.

The Center is part of the Rosen building, which houses state-of-the-art classrooms, the Sustainability Center, and the Fashion Archives.

The Coming Year – Main Objectives

To increase the number of courses that take place at the Center (both regular academic courses and special ones). This will be a joint initiative with DOTS and the student authority. The lessons will optimally have aspects related to creativity, innovation, interdisciplinarity, presentation skills, etc.

To serve as a center for teacher inspiration, building on the recent rooftop meeting on “How to speak like a TED speaker”.

To brand the entire Rosen building as an Shenkar innovation metacenter.

To continue to host and develop student exchange programs (with DOTS and the Student Authority) and other activities initiated by the students themselves.

To further inculcate the TEDx experience here at Shenkar.