Shani Elitzur and Masha Tunik are in good company.

“Albert Einstein actually toured all over the United States in the early 1900s to raise funds in the early going of Technion,” said Diana Iskiwitch, president of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Technion Society. “His vision has more than come to fruition.”

And Elitzur and Tunik are following in Einstein’s footsteps. The women, both 26, arrived in St. Louis on Thursday afternoon as part of a program to help Israel’s oldest university raise awareness of its programs and put a human face on an educational institution that predates the founding of the Jewish State itself.

“Today, it’s Technion that the government goes to for aerospace and defense capabilities,” said Iskiwitch.

And Elitzur is a perfect example of that fact. A graduate student in aerospace engineering, she is a captain in the aeronautical design branch of the Israeli Air Force, where she was selected for her department’s “Excellence in Engineering” program.

“We’re here to represent the Technion and bring it to those who can’t visit Israel and see it for themselves,” said Elitzur, whose thesis pertains to using the reaction between activated aluminum and water to store hydrogen for green energy. “I hope the people that we are meeting will understand how the Technion is important to Israel and to the students and how much we really love it.”

After arriving in New York on Monday, the pair visited Chicago before coming here. Elitzur said she’s deeply enjoyed the interactions with others here. Speaking to small groups or during dinner conversations, she often talks of her family and experiences at the Technion.

In some ways, the two topics are one in the same.

“The Technion has been my second home and my second family,” she said. “I learned so much there both in aerospace engineering and about being a better person.”

Tunik, a self-described “math and computer geek” has also liked everyone she’s met.

“The experience so far has been great,” said the informational systems engineering undergraduate. “People really want to know, really want to help. People are thrilled and it gives me energy.”

Originally a native of Belarus, Tunik made aliyah at age 6. An avid singer and dancer, she’s also served in the Israeli Defense Forces as part of an elite naval commando force working with troubled adolescents. At times working two jobs to support herself, she is a recipient of the Excellence Award from the school’s president.

She credits the Technion for the Jewish State’s rise to leadership in high-technology fields.

“Without the Technion, a lot of things which happen in Israel and the world would not happen,” she said. “The people who help the Technion to exist really help the whole world to grow and be a better place.”

The women are not alone on their two-week adventure to the U.S., which will visit Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and New York City again before they depart for home. Professor Alon Gany, who has been at the Technion since 1979 is accompanying the pair. Holder of the Lena and Ben Fohrman chair in Aeronautical Engineering, he heads the Technion’s Sylvia and David I.A. Fine Rocket Propulsion Center. He’s also Elitzur’s professor.

Gany said that the Technion has played a unique role in the development of all facets of the Jewish State and he’s always happy to help share that fact with others.

“It’s always very moving how much people care for the Technion, for Israel,” said Gany, who is leading students on a Technion trip the U.S. for the fifth time. “We’ve had excellent conversations. It’s always around the subject of the Technion and how it contributes to Israel.”

Iskiwitch’s husband, Michael, is also a board member at the local chapter of the American Technion Society and was among those meeting the two students and their professor for dinner at Plaza Frontenac. He said the university has made a big difference in the lives of people around the world playing a role in everything from medical advancements to cell phone technology.

“Technion is really the MIT of Israel but they do it on about a tenth of the budget,” he said. “They get an amazing amount of work for the dollar.”