Maor Seged: A Life-Changing Track

Maor Seged performs his tasks at maximum speed, and no wonder: he is an exceptional athlete – a former Israeli champion in the 400- and 110-meters hurdles. And as he was crossing finish lines, he was mastering the discipline and determination that would define his academic and professional success as a master’s student in systems engineering, a global product support engineer at a major international manufacturing company, a devoted husband, and a father of two.

Born and raised in Beer-Sheva as the eldest of five siblings, Seged’s life was deeply affected by his family’s remarkable story. His parents, Addis and Rachel, came to Israel from Ethiopia in the early1980s after an arduous journey on foot through Sudan – part of a historic migration in which approximately 4,000 members of the Beta Israel community lost their lives, including Seged’s maternal grandmother, who fell seriously ill and passed away at a Sudanese refugee camp. This event would come to shape the family’s drive to take advantage of opportunities. “For me, “he reflects, “the integration of the second generation in the country, especially in academia, is the fulfillment of our parents’ aspiration.”  Another major role in Seged’s trajectory was played by curiosity: “I remember myself as a curious child who always wanted to learn and advance,” he recalls.

He fondly recalls his time his time as a teenager in the Atidim (Futures) excellence program, aimed at making higher education accessible to Ethiopian immigrants. “It exposed me to options that might open up in academia if we worked hard at our studies,” he explains.

His investment paid off: balancing competitive athletics with rigorous studies throughout middle- and high-school, Seged was accepted into a program for outstanding athletes for his military service, followed by a sports scholarship from Western Kentucky University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Upon his return to Israel, he enrolled in the master’s program in systems engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

“I deliberated between different institutions,” Seged concedes, but his strong connection to Beer-Sheva and to BGU – where his wife, Hadassah, was studying medicine – tipped the scales. “We really are a ‘Ben-Gurion’ family,’” he says. Seged recalls being impressed by the demanding academic environment and the values of friendship, mutual help, and community involvement at BGU. He also stresses the wholehearted assistance that students of Ethiopian origin receive at the University, and of course his wife’s support: “I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Seged chose a career in systems engineering after taking an elective course during undergraduate studies.  What captivated him most was the discipline’s unique perspective: “Unlike engineers in disciplines like electrical or mechanical engineering, a systems engineer needs to approach the system as a whole and look at it from a bird’s eye view.”

This holistic approach aligns perfectly with his current position at Applied Materials, where he works with complex, multidisciplinary systems, so that the academic knowledge he acquires at BGU directly enhances his professional contributions, creating a synergy between theory and practice which exemplifies modern engineering education.    

Seged’s ability to juggle graduate studies, full-time work requiring international travel, and parenthood to twins Yiftach and Eliana, is inspiring – an ability he ascribes in part to his athletic past. “Through sports, I internalized values like dedication to goals and achievement,” says Seged. “I learned that you can fall and then pick yourself back up, and mainly I learned to work hard and trust myself.”  Seged’s father is his greatest role model: “He began his life in Israel as an immigrant from a country with an agricultural culture, where education was not valued. Yet, despite the difficult starting point and against all odds, he succeeded and advanced himself, mainly thanks to ambition and a strong inner drive. He built a family, acquired a profession, and built his world – and mine.”