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Sami Shamoon College of Engineering was selected from over 60 colleges and universities in Israel to be granted the Green Campus Award by Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Dr. Adi Wolfson, a member of Shamoon’s Green Processes Center in Beer Sheva, explained that the Green Campus Award judging committee looked at numerous markers to determine the prize, including courses offered, on-going projects for the campus and the surrounding community, and the commitment of students, professors and administration staff to environmental issues.

The Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection will formally present the award to Shamoon College this November at a national environmental conference.

The Ministry has also tapped Shamoon to be the model Green Campus, sending a presentation about Shamoon’s environmental activities to every campus in Israel.

According to Wolfson, Shamoon is the only Israeli college to offer courses in Green Engineering, which cover sustainability, green energy, green buildings and green architecture. Wolfson commented, “Our hope is that, along with the knowledge the students gain, will come a feeling of obligation to deal with environmental issues, both as students and in their future professional lives.”

With campuses in Beer Sheva and Ashdod, Shamoon College has extensive outreach initiatives to train parents, primary school students and teachers, and army officers about the importance of protecting the environment. The local towns benefit as well — non-Shamoon students can take a Shamoon course called “Chemistry and the Environment”, and college students lead environmental activities for the community and for grade schools in Beer Sheva and local Bedouin villages.

In addition to being the model Green Campus, Shamoon College of Engineering plays a unique role in Israel’s development. Shamoon recruits, produces and retains the brain trust in Israel’s southern region, which helps spur the area’s economic growth.

Recognizing Shamoon’s uncompromised academic excellence, Israel’s Council for Higher Education selected Shamoon to be the first and only college to open a second campus, in the port city of Ashdod.

Eighty percent of Shamoon students hail from Israel’s south, fulfilling the government mandate to make higher education more accessible to people living on the periphery. “We reach out to young adults who lack the typical opportunities,” Prof. Jehuda Haddad, Shamoon College President said. “We give them a vision - that of becoming professional engineers - to make better lives for themselves, and for all who live in Israel’s south. Then we give them a chance to realize that vision.”

Shamoon’s graduates are helping fill the shortage of engineers in Israel, especially in the southern region. Approximately 77% of Shamoon graduates stay in south Israel, employed at companies such as Intel, Amdocs, El-Op, Dead Sea Works (DSW), and Bromine Compounds.

The College’s architecture embodies its philosophy of innovation, aspiration and outreach. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Haim Dotan, the famous “spaceship” building stands on the main street of Aleph, Beer Sheva’s oldest neighborhood. “This juxtaposition is symbolic of Shamoon College providing a bridge from the hardships of the past to the promise of the future,” commented Joshua Karlin, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Sami Shamoon College of Engineering.

For more information, contact Dahlia Greer, 310-339-1060, dahlia@annabellestevens.com or Annabelle Stevens, 310-435-6996, annabelle@annabellestevens.com.