GradTrain helps people from all over the world successfully apply and move to study at universities abroad. On GradTrain, members get predictions of their chances to get into US schools and connect with mentors who studied abroad for 1:1 video chat meetings. Our members gain access to special offers from our partners (universities, test prep companies, housing providers) based on their unique needs and stage in the transition process. Since 2014, GradTrain has served users from over 100 countries and has helped students get accepted to top schools in the United States with full scholarships.
The Team
GradTrain started when five people from five different countries (The United States, Israel, France, Switzerland, and Norway) met in the United States while studying abroad. We all faced similar challenges while moving to study abroad and decided to create a technological solution that will help the future generations of international students through their journey. We have all been successfully enrolled in various graduate programs at leading universities worldwide, and cover the fields Computer Science, Law, Engineering, Organizational Behavior / Business, Public Health, and Sociology. We are passionate about helping aspiring international students fulfill their personal and professional goals. We are here to help you!
Operational Team
Jacob Bacon (M.A.). Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Entrepreneur and Organizational Change Management expert. Served as special advisor to the Assistant Secretary General and Chief Information Technology Officer of the United Nations. Jacob holds a Master’s degree in Labor Studies from Tel Aviv University in Israel. He has led large technology implementation and organizational transformation projects in global organizations, including Fortune 100 companies, and has a vast experience leading teams in technology projects from the idea phase to successful implementation.
Lital Helman (S.J.D.). Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Legal academician and Israeli-accredited lawyer, specializes in Intellectual Property Law and Cyber Law. Prior to her legal education, Lital taught C++ programming courses at “Hacker Software,” Israel. Lital pursued her Master’s and Doctorate degrees at the University of Pennsylvania Law School as a Fulbright scholar, and her post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University Law School. Lital’s articles have been published in the USA and internationally, and she has served as an expert advisor on international Intellectual Property litigation.
Roy Ben-Sasson. Chief Technology Officer
Worked as a senior developer and team leader at Israel’s number 1 bank. Joined the GradTrain team to lead the effort of building our technological platform. Expert in software development and information security. Proficient in numerous programming languages with over 20 years of experience in software development and design.
Advisory
Josué Sznitman (Dr. Sc.)
Assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion); founder and director of the Technion Biofluids Laboratory; co-founder of the Technion Portable Biomedicine Laboratory. Previously, he has held research and teaching positions at the University of Pennsylvania and at Princeton University. Josué holds degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Josué serves as a current member of the MIT Education Council and holds US patent no. 6,663,177.
Sharon Rodner (PhD)
Expert in Social Science research, surveys and analytics. Sharon is a lecturer at the School of Public Health at the University of Haifa and the Assistant Director of the International Leadership in Global Health Systems Program. Sharon received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Manchester in the UK, and her Master’s and PhD in Sociology from Stockholm University in Sweden. Sharon completed her postdoctoral research at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
