Editor's Note: UD Deputy Provost Havidán Rodríguez was part of a state of Delaware delegation to Israel, which explored opportunities for mutual benefit. Following is his report on the visit.

3:42 p.m., Jan. 25, 2010----Under the leadership of Delaware's Secretary of State Jeffrey W. Bullock, a delegation representing state government, private industry, the legal system (including law firms) and higher education -- Delaware State University (DSU) and the University of Delaware) -- visited Israel in early January. Deputy Provost Havidán Rodríguez and Ajay Prasad, professor of mechanical engineering, were also part of this delegation, which had the opportunity of meeting with representatives from an extensive number of start-up and technology transfer companies focusing on state-of-the-art research initiatives, especially in the health sciences and biotechnology.

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Regarding the trip to Israel, Secretary Bullock indicated, “As we seek to strengthen and develop Delaware's economy, we need to look both domestically and internationally for opportunities. During the recent trip to Israel, our delegation focused on the possible synergies between a variety of institutions in Delaware and Israel. Law firms are often the logical entry point for our marketing efforts, as they are very influential in the business decisions their clients make. But we also met with a number of other groups in higher education and the research and development sector. In all of these meetings, we stressed Delaware's strengths and the possibilities for mutual benefit.”

Members of the delegation also met with representatives from the Weizmann Institute of Science, one of the world's leading multidisciplinary research centers located in Rehovot; Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa); and Yissum, the technology transfer organization for Hebrew University of Jerusalem. These institutions not only represent some of the very best institutions of higher education in Israel, but also in the world.

According to information included in Technion's Web site, with an enrollment of about 9,300 undergraduate and 3,200 graduate students, Technion “graduates comprise the majority of Israeli-educated scientists and engineers, constituting over 70 percent of the country's founders and managers of high-tech industries... 80 percent of Israeli NASDAQ companies are led by Technion graduates... and 74 percent of managers in Israel's electronic industries hold Technion degrees.” Among other factors, this has contributed to Israel's international leadership and success in the development of high-tech start-up and technology transfer companies.

One of the delegation members and the coordinator for this trip, David Máthé, deputy director for international trade in the Department of State, indicated that “these trips provide the opportunity for Delaware companies to investigate international markets firsthand, meet potential business partners and explore business opportunities.” Máthé added that the state of Delaware is “very pleased to partner with the University of Delaware in this endeavor. Cutting edge research at UD intersects very nicely with similar initiatives that are being developed in Israeli universities, such as Technion and Hebrew University. As we have done in other countries around the world, we are very pleased to work with UD in expanding the state's international relationships.”

Bob Dayton, president of the Delaware BioScience Association, also joined the Delaware delegation to Israel. He remarked that “the state of Delaware's invitation to collaborate with leaders of life science companies and research institutions was warmly received during its trip to Israel.” Dayton also indicated that “the world class life science industry and research leaders we met during this short visit to Israel were genuinely interested in how industry and academia in the state of Delaware might work together today and into the future. Based on my previous private and public sector experiences, I predict that new connections made during this trip to Israel have a strong chance of being mutually beneficial and significant in the future."

The University of Delaware has had a number of research collaborations with Technion and other institutions in Israel. As a result of this trip to Israel, a meeting has been arranged between UD and DSU to discuss UD-DSU partnerships as they relate to Israel, but more broadly to international collaborations. Deputy Provost Rodríguez will also host a meeting at UD with some faculty who are actually engaged in or who have interests in developing collaborative projects with institutions of higher education in Israel.

Article by Havidán Rodríguez