Dean of Bar-Ilan’s Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Orit Shefi

The faculty is home to 60 staff members and over a thousand students pursuing bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in various study programs, unique tracks, combined degrees, and additional master's programs that integrate advanced research. The faculty takes pride in training the next generation of engineers who form the backbone of Israeli high-tech.

Research in the faculty is conducted in research groups and innovative laboratories that are leaders in their fields both in Israel and worldwide. Over the years, faculty researchers have received numerous research grants from national and international bodies, including prestigious research grants from the European Union.

Prof. Orit Shefi joined the faculty in 2008. She holds a Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University and completed her post-doctorate at the University of California, San Diego. In addition to the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Shefi is a member of the Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, and the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center. Throughout the years, she has supervised over 30 graduate students who have integrated into academia and industry. She has published over a hundred articles in professional journals and book chapters and has won numerous awards and research grants, including research grants from the Israel Science Foundation, BSF, and the prestigious HFSP grant from the global Human Frontiers organization.

Alongside her research work, Prof. Shefi has held positions on various academic committees at both university and national levels, served as an advisor to graduate students, chaired the Graduate Studies Committee in the Faculty of Engineering, and headed the Bioengineering track.

Prof. Shefi's research group focuses on studying the nervous system, nerve rehabilitation, and tissue engineering. The group develops engineering methods for creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional neural networks, electrical reading and stimulation of cells, and developing new approaches to drug delivery. This is done using innovative methods, data analysis, and artificial intelligence tools. Prof. Shefi's research helps in understanding brain development processes as well as aging processes, and in developing platforms for cell rehabilitation after neural injury.