Nadav Costa, Engineering

Nadav Costa grew up in the small, southern town of Dimona, where job prospects and opportunities for advancement are limited. His father worked in a factory and his mother stayed home to take care of Nadav and his four siblings. “Money was always tight. We had enough to get by but nothing beyond that,” explained Nadav. “This taught me to be resourceful. I learned how to think out of the box and approach problems creatively.”

Nadav excelled in high school and was later recruited into a combat engineering unit. After his army service, Nadav wanted to study but did not have enough money to attend a top university. To save up for his first degree, he worked for a year at a Dead Sea potash plant, taking on long and difficult night shifts. “It was hard labor, physically exhausting, but I knew it would all be worth it in the end.” Eventually, Nadav earned enough money and enrolled in Ben Gurion University’s Department of Physics.

“It was humbling to go from being the top student in Dimona to suddenly competing with kids from Tel Aviv and other wealthier cities,” professed Nadav. While at first he struggled academically, he soon gained confidence: “Eventually, students started approaching me with questions about the coursework. I realized that I had a knack for teaching.”

Wanting to continue his studies at a top-notch department, he applied to Tel Aviv University for his master’s degree in theoretical physics. He received a partial scholarship and worked as a tutor and lab instructor. “This period of my life was truly transformative. I learned I could achieve anything that I set my mind to. I lived modestly and could not afford luxuries, but that did not matter to me. I knew that getting a good education was the most important thing. I truly believe that my struggles have made me who I am today.”

Today, Nadav is a Buchmann PhD Fellow at TAU’s Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. He is developing sophisticated algorithms that play a key role in satellite communication and radar systems and have potential applications for Israel's national security. According to his supervisor, Prof. Amir Boag, “Nadav’s academic abilities are truly impressive. He has already made significant contributions to research, and I am convinced that more groundbreaking discoveries are to come.”   

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