Alumni Updates

Ala’a Ali Siam

Ala’a graduated MEET in 2010. He was accepted to MIT and began his studies last month. He is planning to double major in biological engineering and materials science and engineering with a minor in public policy. Ala’a has combined these academic tracks in order to navigate the complex, but essential relationship between biotechnology and law and ethics. Ala’a believes that the combination of life sciences and engineering will be the basis of “new science” for the 21st century, and that this field will make breakthroughs of the same caliber that computer science has made in the late 20th century. Ala’a has also been admitted to work as a research assistant in the prestigious lab of Institute Professor Robert S. Langer. Dr. Langer is the most cited engineer in history and his lab at MIT is the largest biomedical engineering lab in the world… Congratulations on this great accomplishment Ala’a!

Ala’a told us that MEET helped prepare him for college life by encouraging a work hard-play hard mentality, teamwork, well roundedness, a curiosity in and acceptance of other people and a “nothing is impossible” outlook in life. 

Helen Wexler

Helen Wexler, a 2007 MEET graduate, studies architecture at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. This summer Helen participated in the Sea Breeze Arts Festival in Bat Yam. She was selected for one of the 15 spots at the festival reserved for students and recent graduates of art and architecture school and was also the youngest of the 80 artists at the festival. After the festival, Helen took a short break to travel and spent the remainder of her summer interning at an architecture firm in New York City. She is currently living in downtown Jerusalem and back at school. Looking forward, Helen hopes to participate in more art exhibitions and complete more internships in architecture, art and business. She is also planning to be more involved with MEET, especially in helping to build the MEET Alumni Network.

Helen says to her fellow alums, “Best of luck with all of your various endeavors and I hope to see the MEET family together again soon! Hope to see many alums involved in the future!”

Subhi Beidas

Subhi is from the East Jerusalem/Ramallah area and graduated MEET in 2006. After graduating from MEET, Subhi received a full scholarship to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he is majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Subhi returned to MEET in 2010 to serve as full—time summer staff. During this time he was an inspirational role model for Israeli and Palestinian students alike. In 2010, Subhi described his MEET experience this way: “Besides the technical and interpersonal skills I have acquired throughout the program, MEET has influenced both my college major, and what I aspire to become in the future. In addition, I had the opportunity to work at a mentor this summer for current MEET students, and it was great to give back to the program.” In early 2011, Subhi was selected for a highly competitive internship at Goldman Sachs in New York City. Subhi is interested in beginning his own business in Palestine and perhaps eventually entering politics.

Loujine Khoury

Loujine Khoury, a 2007 MEET graduate, is currently a senior at Bethlehem University majoring in Accounting, with a minor in Business Administration. This summer, she completed an internship in accounting and auditing at University of San Diego in California. For Loujine, this internship was a great experience, both personally and professionally. It gave her the opportunity to meet a lot of professionals in the accounting field while enhancing her auditing skills at the same time. Loujine’s plan after graduating university is to find an internship at a local accounting firm in order to further develop her skills and qualifications, and to eventually enroll in a graduate program in business administration.

Yohanan Hruschev

Yohanan, a member of MEET’s inaugural 2004 class, had dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. He excelled at the business curriculum during his time at MEET and following graduation, opened his own juice shop on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem with Mustafa, a Palestinian business partner. Yohanan and Mustafa fully owned and operated the shop before selling it in 2010. Yohanan then joined MEET as the logistics coordinator, where he worked to coordinate MEET’s complex student transportation system and create cost efficiencies. In 2011, Yohanan accepted a fellowship to IDC, where he is a MBA candidate. Yohanan says, “MEET has completely changed the way I see the world and what is possible. I now know so many people that I would have never had the opportunity to know otherwise.”

To All MEET Alumni:

We would love to hear from you! Please drop up a line to tell us about your greatest accomplishment since graduating MEET and to tell us what you are doing this fall. We will include it in subsequent newsletters. Share your news by emailing Moran Chen at moranchen@meet.mit.edu.