Rati, Lasha, and Irakli are first-year engineering students at the Georgian Technical University (GTU). Rather unusual students, one should add. At 22-23, all three are very much alive. Yet, they never attend classes and are not taking exams. BSc in engineering would be their third educational degree, yet neither one of them has any intention of completing his studies at GTU. And one more interesting detail: their ‘studies’ at GTU are paid for by the Georgian taxpayers because engineering (as well as mathematics and natural sciences) is considered to be a priority subject by the Georgian government.

According to Steve Johnson (a popular American science writer and media theorist, the author of Where Good Ideas Come From), coffee and coffeehouses were a significant contributor to Europe’s scientific and industrial revolution. The first coffeehouses opened in London in 1650 and quickly mushroomed all over Europe. The coffeehouse had two major positive effects.

There are standard economics courses and then there are those taught by Daniel Levy. Professor Levy is a dynamic and engaging teacher who turns the dismal science on its head (while standing on a chair) and transforms the study of economics into a true adventure. This teaching talent was on full display last in early September as Professor Levy lead ISET students through a "Competitive Bazaar Simulation”.

On March 6th, ISET hosted Iago Kachkachishvili, Ph.D. under its Lecture Series of Distinguished Professors conducted in cooperation with Tbilisi State University. Iago Kachkachishvili is a Professor of Sociology, Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Tbilisi State University.

As an active chess player, many of my Georgian acquaintances happen to be old men, and among them are several former Soviet scientists: physicists, mathematicians, statisticians, and engineers. Ever since I am living in Tbilisi, they like to pull my leg regarding my scientific achievements. “With a Ph.D.”, they enjoy saying, “in the Soviet Union you would have been not more than a ‘candidate of science’”.