OUR COMMUNITY
28 | AUGUST 4 • 2022
F
ifteen Michigan women
recently enjoyed a
unique multi-facet-
ed educational trip to Israel.
Along with 14 other women
from the U.S. and one from
the United Kingdom, they
participated in the Women of
the American Technion Society
(WATS) Mission in early June.
This was only the second
Technion women’s mission —
the first was held in 2014. That
mission included Detroiters
Cathy Deutchman and Linda
Kovan, who serve on the
national board of the American
Technicon Society. Barbara
Cohn, also a Detroiter, joined
the 2014 mission for several
days while visiting her son who
lives in Israel and participated
in the recent WATS trip.
According to Kovan, WATS
missions are intended to famil-
iarize and educate participants
about Technion’s positive
impact in Israel and beyond,
and to spread that knowledge.
Technion has been a science
and technology powerhouse
for Israel even before it became
a state. Approximately half of
the founders of Israel’s startup
companies and the country’s
engineers are Technion alumni,
according to the university.
The 2022 WATS Mission was
a comprehensive exploration
of Israel — its people, historic
places, religions and culture
with a foundation of Technion’s
scientific and technologic
achievements. Underlying the
itinerary was an emphasis on
meeting high-achieving Israeli
women — from professors to
entrepreneurs to writers.
“We had the opportunity
to meet students and faculty
and learned so much about
Technion and the world,” Cohn
said.
One presentation focused
on the growing diversity of
Technion’s student body and
faculty. “It’s a microcosm of
how the world should get
along,” Deutchman said.
The mission included a
“Technion Touch” every day
with a program featuring peo-
ple, technology and startup
businesses with a Technion
connection.
“We had brilliant students
and professor traveling with
us,” Kovan said. “It was a wom-
en’s entrepreneurial mission
with participants from their
40s to 70s. We learned about
Israel through its literature,
a reporter who covers the
Knesset and professors who
shared their work.”
One program featured
Technion alumna Yael Vizel
— co-founder and CEO of
Zeekit, a technology platform
that enables online shoppers to
virtually try on clothes; it was
recently acquired by Walmart.
“We loved meeting women
from all over and seeing
Technion through their eyes,”
said Andi Wolfe, a Detroiter
and WATS Mission participant.
She appreciated the opportuni-
ty to meet not only Israeli Jews
from different religious back-
grounds but also non-Jewish
Israelis, including women from
Druze and Arab communities.
Kovan, who is interested
in high tech, was impressed
with a Technion speaker she
heard years ago. Subsequently,
she became involved with the
local chapter of the American
Technion Society, eventually
Michigan delegation learns from high-achieving Israeli women.
Women’s Technion Mission
Educates and Inspires
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
LINDA KOVAN AND CATHY DEUTCHMAN, TECHNION
An aerial
view of the
delegation at
the Technion
Visitors Center.