The first GTIIT Students Open Day-Research Opportunities has been sucessfully held both online and offline on Feb 2 due to the normalized Covid-19 prevention and control. Around 20 professors and researchers as well as 13 students were invited to share their research experiences and insights. The event was chaired by Prof. Dganit Danino, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Head of Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program, and Prof. Tamara Tilleman, Dean of Innovation in Education and Student Competencies.

"The open day demonstrates GTIIT's research capability and latest research achievements," said Eliezer Shalev, Vice Chancellor of GTIIT, expressing his expectations for the future development of the undergraduates. He pointed out that GTIIT has integrated resources to build a bridge for close relationship between students and teachers. "We hope that students would seize the opportunity to actively participate in project groups, feel the wonders of science, find topics they want to go for their final year project and seek out directions of their future studies."

Afterwards, Prof. Moshe Eizenberg, Dean of Graduate Studies and Head of Materials Science and Engineering Program, introduced the features and entry requirements of Graduate Programs, as well as the daily life of scientific research at GTIIT and the Technion. He encouraged students to continue their studies after graduation, "In the next session, you will learn about the research fields and lab equipment of the teachers and researchers in both campuses. I hope this will help you to find what you are interested in and become one of us."

With warm applause from students, the guest-sharing session began!

Guests including Prof. Yair Ein-Eli, Dean of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion; Assist. Prof. Oz Gazit, Deputy Dean for Graduate Studies, Chemical Engineering Program, Technion; Prof. Alon Grinberg Dana, Chemical Engineering Program, Technion; Prof. Ka Yin Leung, Deputy Head of Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program, GTIIT; Prof. Klaus-Dieter Liss Materials Science and Engineering Program, GTIIT; Assist. Prof. Bin Li Mechanical Engineering (Robotics) Program, GTIIT etc, shared their research stories in aspects of research fields, teams and experiences.

Assist. Prof. Maya Davidovich-Pinhas talked about the research facilities and key research projects of the Technion Lipids and Soft Matter Lab and stressed unremitting efforts in the pursuit of research success. Assist. Prof. Yigal Achmon vividly introduced ways to tackle food waste problem with soil biosolarization through a series of pictures. This method made it possible to realize the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) principle. Prof. Daniel Tan shared how to establish a diversified research group and conduct international cooperation thus to resolve industrial technical problems. He also encourages students to work at GTIIT as research assistants after graduation. "We can work together to do something interesting to build a better world."

Assist. Prof. Qi Yuanshen shared his post-doctoral research experience at the Technion in a humor way. He showed his deep appreciation of the pragmatic and "Chutzpah" spirit of Israelis and called for students to be down-to-earth and face difficulties in life. The PhD student Cao Yuping took his learning experience at GTIIT and the Technion as an example and shared about how to decide the research direction and what he has learned from the research experience. "Keep trying until you find your interest," he said, adding that he felt very lucky to reject the offers from other universities such as HKU. "My supervisors, Prof. Kayin Leung and Prof. Sima Yaron, provided me with a lot of guidance and support in my research and life, which enabled me to make progress rapidly."

GTIIT undergraduate and postgraduate students shared their research findings and future plans on several topics, such as Isolation and Characterization of Edwardsiella tarda from Frog Farms in Shantou, Magnetic Configuration in Non-collinear Anti-ferromagnet/Ferromagnet Bilayers and Multilayers, Interaction of Nitrogen Plasma with Diamond Surfaces Studied by Density Functional Theory and Scanning Probe Microscopy. Zou Yunfan, a student from Biotechnology and Food Engineering talked about how she grew lettuce. She encouraged the students to learn from their tutors and peers while conducting experiments. "I benefited a lot from it," she said, adding that while enjoying the joy of harvesting results, we should also have the courage to face failure.

Academic poster exhibition and lab visits were also organized during the event, which allowed students not only learn about their peers' research achievements, but also get close to the lab equipment. They had face-to-face communication with teachers, experience the charm of science and these would help them to find their research interests.

"The sharing provided me not only a clear understanding of research, but also inspiration for future study and research plan," said Zhang Hongrui, a student from Materials Science and Engineering program. Year 4 student Li Yilin thought that, students can learn from each other through academic sharing from different perspectives, which is also beneficial for cross-disciplinary research cooperation in the future.

Text/Photos: GTIIT News & Public Affairs