Experiencing Israel's Water Innovations

For two years running, Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering Frank Jacobitz led a student trip to Israel over spring break to study Israel’s water innovations. The trip was a mandatory component of a semesterlong elective course titled, Water in California and Israel: Challenges and Solutions.

Below are interviews with four of the students who participated in the trip to Israel. Most of the costs for student travel and lodging were covered by an anonymous donor and matched by the Murray Galinson San Diego-Israel Initiative (MGSDII).

MIRA WILEY ‘21

What were your impressions, if any, of Israel before going on this trip? 

I really didn’t know much about Israel, even though I was part of the Jewish student union in high school. I’m not Jewish, but have always been fascinated with Jewish culture. I had learned a surface-level kind of knowledge about the Israel/Palestine conflict, but again, that was entirely from the Jewish perspective. 

How did your perceptions of Israel change after spending spring break there?

This was my first time traveling off of the continent. The only time I had ever left the U.S. before this trip was to travel to Mexico. I expected people and everything to be really different. But after spending time with the Israeli students, they seemed just like us. I knew that Israel represented some big religious communities, but I didn’t realize how much it was part of everyday life. Seeing the young women on the train reading the Torah was not what I was used to.

Before the trip, I had the impression that Israel was a developing country. I came to realize how ahead of us they are in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to technology, and water technology specifically. And they are a world leader when it comes to entrepreneurism.

Did this trip have any influence on the direction you would like to take for your professional career?

It absolutely did. I learned that I have a passion for water, which I didn’t know until I learned about all

of the issues with water. I conducted research with Dr. Jacobitz over the summer. It was a continuing project that he has overseen, looking at ways of removing e-coli from water sources in Uganda.

Any highlights that stand out? 

There are many! Experiencing the nightlife and interacting with local people was so much fun. Also, it was really interesting seeing all of the military there —— people with high-powered machine guns that they carried around, almost casually. And I thought it was extremely valuable to go to the Yad Vashem museum. It was gutwrenching, but I think it was also so important for us to understand that history and the role it played in creating the nation of Israel.

BRANDON KENNEDY ’20

What were your impressions, if any, of Israel before going on this trip?

I had very little knowledge about what the world looked like outside of the U.S. prior to this trip. I thought that Israel would be really hot, like the desert, and nothing more than dirt roads. I grew up Catholic, so I had heard about Israel my whole life. But I had no idea what to expect.

How did your perceptions of Israel change after spending spring break there?

It was so different from what I thought it would be. So many different types of people and religions, a lot of green everywhere, which was not what I expected at all. I also didn’t expect to see the types of people that I saw. I expected everyone to look like they came from the Middle East. Instead, there were many people who looked like what you would see in any American city. Seeing the sights in the Old City of Jerusalem was very impactful. Seeing all of the historic monuments brought the deep history to life for me.

Did this trip have any influence on the direction you would like to take for your professional career?

Yes, definitely. I was very intrigued by the water management structure in Israel. And learning about similarities and differences in California makes me want to go into water management and help work toward sustainability. I am actually going to pursue an MA in Peace and Justice at USD’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, as a way of trying to pursue this interest. I want to look at the role of water in peace and justice issues.

Any highlights that stand out?

I really like being in nature, so I loved being at the Dead Sea and  Masada and the hidden waterfall

area (Ein Gedi). I loved getting away from the urban center. I felt very much at peace, even though it was close to a border area. Wandering around Jerusalem, seeing all of the little shops and the different kinds of people was so interesting. And the difference between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was so striking.

JOE BECERRA ’21

What were your impressions, if any, of Israel before going on this trip? At first, I was a bit hesitant to go because of the conflict that nations have with Israel, and the differing ideas and religions. But I was really interested in learning more about the purification of water and all of the engineering, which overpowered any concerns I had.

How did your perceptions of Israel change after spending spring break there?

I was blown away. The resilience of the people, how much they have overcome, was incredible. The people were so nice. You could start a conversation with anybody about anything, even about politics and religion.

Did this trip have any influence on the direction you would like to take for your professional career?

I’ve always been inclined toward environmentalism and I’ve always wanted to use my skills for that purpose. But I hadn’t thought about water. Now, after seeing all of the science that goes into water health, I am definitely interested in looking into some sort of career in water.

Any highlights that stand out?

The trip was amazing. The lectures and the labs and the tours were so great. But the main thing that stands out for me was the food — especially the quality of the food. Everything was so fresh. I kept asking people why it was so good. The answer that I got was that everything we were eating was grown right there. It was so impressive to me because the majority of Israel is desert.

VICTORIA (TORI) KLAZURA ’20

What were your impressions, if any, of Israel before going on this trip?

I thought Israel was going to be a very religious place because of all of the things I read about in the Bible. I also was kind of expecting it to be not completely safe. People back home warned me that I should be really careful and to never go anywhere by myself while I was there. I wasn’t expecting it to be so modern. I was expecting the desert or something like the Old City.

How did your perceptions of Israel change after spending spring break there?

I still think that it’s religious, but in a different way than I was expecting. There are so many different religions there and varying levels of intensity in religiosity. It’s also more developed than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t know that Tel Aviv was such a 21st century city. I felt completely safe while I was there.

Did this trip have any influence on the direction you would like to take for your professional career?

Yes and no. I’m pretty firm that I want to pursue something in the biomedical field. But it has opened my eyes to the possibility of maybe pursuing something in waterrelated technology, perhaps within the biomedical field.

Any highlights that stand out?

I absolutely loved the wastewater treatment plant. I loved getting to see all of the processes that we learned about in class and seeing how water is actually treated. It made everything that we were learning in the class make sense. It really helped us to see the big picture when we were treating the wastewater samples. 

I also liked the City of David water tunnels. The City of David was just unreal, looking across to the Mountain of Olives and east Jerusalem. In the tunnels, I wasn’t expecting it to be pitch black and so narrow. At the very end, a word came to mind, “siloam,” which means “sent.” I had read about it in my Gospel of John class and realized that this was where Jesus had sent the blind man to be cured. Again, connecting those dots between what I had read in the Bible and where I was right at that moment was amazing.

— Elisa Lurkis