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People High-Flyer

Neta Blum has leveraged her studies at the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering into a fascinating career, becoming one of the highest-
ranking women in the IDF’s leading R&D directorate by the age of 30.
When she is off duty, she works on her PhD in aerospace engineering,
and even finds time to encourage girls to go into STEM.

 Maayan Meir

hen Neta Blum entered the class- plied, got in, and on my first day, discovered I was
the only woman there. In the year above mine,
W room on her first day in the high- there were no women at all.”
ly-regarded "Brakim" program—a
joint initiative of the Technion That didn’t deter you?
and the IDF—she quickly realized “It wasn’t a factor, as far as I was concerned. I
she was going to stand out, no matter what she knew I was there to do what I loved.”
did. The reason was simple: Blum was the only Brakim, Blum explains, is a demanding pro-
woman in the program. gram by any measure. “The schedule is packed,
“I’ve always been interested in science and and the standard is very high. For example, our
technology,” says Blum, who, at 30, is one of the physics classes weren’t the kind they normally
highest-ranking women in the Israeli Ministry of teach to mechanical engineering students. We
Defense's Directorate of Defense Research & De- were studying physics at the Faculty of Physics.
velopment (known by the acronym MAFAT). “In In the summer, instead of going on holiday like
high school, I chose advanced classes in physics, other students, we had to go through basic train-
chemistry, mathematics and mechatronics. My ing and other military courses. Completing the
physics teacher was the one who told me about IDF’s officers’ training was a prerequisite for stay-
Brakim, a four-year program in which students ing in the program. If you didn’t pass the course,
complete both BSc and MSc degrees in mechani- you were out, because Brakim is a program that
cal engineering, including a research thesis. I ap- shapes leaders, not just tech professionals.”

26 | MEgazine | Faculty of Mechanical Engineering