Month: February 2014

A Family Affair: Four Siblings Study Together at the Technion

The term “Technion Family” is typically used to describe all of Technion’s researchers, students and  employees, as well alumni and friends in Israel and around the world.  But for the Hiar family from the Druze town of Peki’in in northern Israel, the Technion is truly a “family affair”:  four the family’s five children are studying at the Technion this year, as well as the fiancés of the two oldest siblings.

The oldest brother, 30 year-old Majed, is a fourth year student in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. After completing his service in the Israel Defense Forces, he decided he wanted to start studying. “The field of mechanical engineering always appealed to me. I read studies in this area and it interested me.  I chose to study at the Technion because of its good reputation and since it was the closest institute to my home,” he said. Majed began his studies at the Technion by enrolling in the preparatory program (mechina) run by the Technion Center for Pre-University Education, and later was accepted to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Majed’s younger brother Alaa, 25, followed in his footsteps. He began his studies following his army service in the artillery unit. “I came for a consultation,” remembers Alaa, “and the challenge at Technion excited me. My father really wanted me to study medicine, but I preferred computer science, because I love the field of programming.”

Both brothers, Majed and Alaa, are engaged to marry, and naturally their fiancés – Lubna and Lina, both from Peki’in as well – are also Technion students.  Lubna (23) will complete her degree this year at the Department of Education in Science and Technology, concentrating on teaching biology and environmental studies, and Lina (20) is a second year student in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management, majoring in Production and Service Systems.

“Ever since high-school I’ve wanted to study biology,” relates Lubna. “It’s a field that really interests me and I love it. I started my studies at Haifa University, but Majed persuaded me to come to the Technion. My parents are very supportive and encouraged me to study. I like working with teenagers and I want to be a teacher.” “My father is a CEO of a high-tech company in Ma’alot that manufactures electronic components, says Lina, “The field he is working in always interested me. I’m very happy to be studying at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management because the atmosphere at the faculty is great and the studies are at a very high level and very interesting.”

The third Hier family sibling at the Technion is Majda,20, who, after completing her pre-university preparatory requirements, began studying at the Technion’s Department of Education in Science and Technology. “I want to be a college teacher of electricity and electronics,” she said.

Hier family #4 is the youngest sister  Manar, 18, in her first year in the Faculty of Biology. She aims to get high grades so she can be accepted to the prestigious Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and become a doctor. Her brother Alaa says that he is “confident that she will fulfill her dream and become a doctor.”

Jamal, their father, is very proud of his children. He was wounded during his military service and his life circumstances forced him to give up his dream of higher education. Nonetheless, he and his wife Hedaya instilled in their children the academic dream and encouraged everyone to fulfill their potential. “Studies are in our blood,” says Jamal. “In high school, they chose to study the fields of mathematics, physics, electronics and biology. It’s not easy to financially support four students at the same time, but they are good students, they receive scholarships and they work.”

The fifth brother in the family, Baha (27) had not yet started his academic studies. He is financially supporting his siblings and next year he is planning to start studying, if it will be financially feasible.

While studying, Majed, Alaa and Lubna are mentoring new first year students at the Technion, particularly Druze students, helping them adjust to the demanding academic requirements and life at the Technion. The mentoring project was initiated by the Technion’s Beatrice Weston Unit for the Advancement of Students, and all three family members have nothing but praise and admiration for the work done by the Unit.

“My first semester at the Technion was the hardest,” says Lubna, who is mentoring a group of female Druze students. “The shock at the beginning is very hard, and I’m working with my students on efficient time management, handling exams, and resources you can turn to in need. I also went through a mentoring program when I first came to the Technion and it really helped me.” Lubna is engaged to Majed.

We already mentioned that everything stays in the family, and Lubna is mentoring Majda, her future sister-in-law. “It’s really helpful,” says Majda. “Everyone is anxious in their first year at the Technion, and feels uncomfortable and stressed out. In our meetings with Lubna and the other first year students, you feel a lot of group support.”

“I was very lucky,” says Alaa. “My brother Majed gave me a lot of support in my first year and even helped me with math studies and in adjusting to life at the Technion. He also helped me with time management.  Not everyone has an older brother at the Technion to help them and the assistance we provide these students by mentoring them in their first year is very important and noteworthy.”

Four siblings at the Technion is wonderful – on this they all agree. Each one assists the other in courses they are best at. Sometimes they have meals together, and try to go home to visit together.  Rarely, when they all have some free time, they spend it together, and during stressful exam periods, when one of them goes home to the village, they return with food and other supplies for the others, who remained on campus.

“The Technion is a great place academically and socially,” Alaa concludes. “There are excellent teachers and here it is important for me to note especially the late Professor David Zilag from the Faculty of Mathematics who passed away two years ago. No lecturer at the Technion taught material as he did. He was an excellent teacher, and I think all the students at the Technion should thank him.”

At the end of the year Majed and Lubna will graduate from the Technion and return home to the village. They plan to get married and find jobs – Lubna wants to teach at a school in Peki’in and Majed will look for a position as a mechanical engineer. “We’ll miss them,” said Alaa, “But I guess we shall all go back to the village in the future, and perhaps even one day found a company together. Together we have the necessary professions needed to start a business, but first it’s very important that we all gain experience in our fields of expertise.”

In the photo (from right to left): Lina, Alaa, Manar, Majda, Jamal, Majed and Lubna.

Researchers at the 54^th Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences:

“We must be prepared for the threat of a large asteroid colliding with Earth”

“In light of past collisions between Earth and asteroids, we are aware of the dangers of such a calamity and must prepare for the possibility of such an occurrence accordingly – so that we don’t end up like the dinosaurs.” This is what Professor Daniel Scheeres from the University of Colorado Boulder said, who has had an asteroid named for him, Scheeres 8887, discovered in 1994. He spoke at the Technion, at the 54^th Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences.”

“Asteroids are debris leftover from the formation of the Solar System, so they teach us much about the early existence of the system and its mechanics,” he explained. Asteroids are relatively small bodies – their size ranges in diameter, from a grain of sand, up to 1,000 kilometers. These bodies are constantly changing under the influence of solar radiation and interactions with other stars and bodies. “NASA is investing heavily in missions aimed at exploring asteroids; it is believed that being able to land on an asteroid may be an excellent ‘pilot’ for future landings on Mars,” said Professor Scheeres. He related his involvement in the OSIRIS-REx, the mission, to launch a spacecraft in 2016 scheduled to return in 2023, which will bring back to Earth extensive information on asteroid Bennu and about the mechanics of the formation of the Solar System.

Within the framework of the conference, a student project competition was held. Noam Neeman and Doreen Avsaid, from the Technion’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering were awarded first place in the category of “Research/Experimental Project” for their unique project mentored by Dr. Yossi Elimelech. The pair studied how the hummingbird’s flight capabilities are affected during the molting period, when it sheds and replaces its feathers. The findings of this study may have practical implications in the small aircrafts field. “This was a research project we undertook as part of our undergraduate studies,” related Noam, who holds the title of Israeli champion in 3,000 meter steeplechase for five years in a row, “Working on it demanded more hours of my time than the rest of my degree studies.”

Doreen, his partner in the winning project, said that, “The research project was the hardest task of her degree studies.  During Hanukah we sat days and nights in a darkroom, where we made our observations. We exerted a great amount of effort on this project and it was very exciting to enter this competition and win first place.”

Ms. Armona Brandl, a Technion graduate and Chief DIRCM System Engineer at Elbit Systems, Elop described at the conference the C-MUSIC™ (Commercial Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure) PROGRAM, an anti-missile system developed by Elbit to protect civilian aircrafts from heat seeking ground to air missiles. The program was launched following a shooting at an Arkia plane taking off at the airport in Mombasa, Kenya, on the 28^th of November, 2002. Two shoulder missiles were fired at the aircraft and both missed the target, but this event was a major turning point with regards to the threat civilian aircrafts may be under. “The program was launched in 2009. Our system, based on advanced fiber laser technology, is designed to protect aircrafts at takeoff and landing. Military defense systems against anti-aircraft missiles were available before, but the adjustment to the civilian market is very complicated due to various aspects such as budget, weight, safety and civil aviation regulations.”

The innovative laser system by Elbit Systems is based on the identification of a missile threat and the launching of laser radiation that throws the missile off its course within minutes. The first test flight, held in July 2013, was a success.

“The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering was the first department to open its doors on Technion’s current campus (on Mount Carmel),” related Technion President, Professor Peretz Lavie, who gave the opening remarks on the second day of the conference. “At the time, the press mocked us and asked: ‘What will they fly over the Carmel – kites?’ Today there is no doubt that this was an excellent decision, for out of here came out the people who founded this field in Israel, and who made it into a source of enormous national pride.

The 54^th Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences attracted some 500 engineers, scientists and experts in the field of aerospace from Israel and abroad. The paper committee chair, Professor Daniella Raveh from the Technion’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering related that participants at the conference were exposed to new research findings, the latest technological achievements, and future developments. The conference was organized by the Technion, Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael, Israel Military Industries, Elbit, Israel Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Israel Defense Ministry.

 

Pictures:

1. The winning student project: Flight features of a hummingbird at the shedding stages of its feathers. The image is of an experimental system: the wings of a hummingbird printed using a three-dimensional printer on plastic material revolving in water; one can see the wing tip vortices immediately at the end of the movement.

Photo taken by: Noam Neeman.

2. Professor Daniel Scheeres and Ms. Armona Brandl at the conference.

Photo taken by: Shiatzo Photography Services, Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office.

Jacobs Institute at Cornell Tech Launches the Runway Program, a New Model for Postdoctoral Entrepreneurs

Technion’s Uzi de Haan to lead postdocs in cutting edge research, help launch new ventures with an innovative approach to IP

February 24, 2014

The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute at Cornell Tech announced today that six postdocs are joining the campus for the first Runway Program, an innovative new model for technology entrepreneurs at the PhD level to advance their research and launch new ventures. Prof. Uzi de Haan, a global leader in tech entrepreneurship and the founder of the Technion’s Bronica Entrepreneurship Center in Israel, will lead the one-year program. Cornell and Technion professors will serve as academic mentors for the postdocs, who will also work with a team of legal, industry and venture capital advisors from outside the campus.  If a postdoc has a project ready to be launched as a company, their Jacobs Institute-funded Runway Award serves as an investment in the development of the technology much like an angel investor’s cash investment might.

“The Runway Program takes its name from the fact that, unlike the now popular launchpad-like accelerator programs, which are generally focused on short-term market risk and customer development with proven technologies, new ventures based on deep technology carry different risks and need a longer time frame,” said Prof. de Haan. “Runway suggests a value-building process before taking off and is, therefore, a more appropriate analogue.”

“Uzi de Haan plays a pivotal role in entrepreneurship at the Technion, whose graduates are among the most successful in creating value through innovation. I am thrilled to welcome Uzi to the Jacobs Institute, where the Runway postdocs – and everyone on campus – will benefit from his expertise,” said Adam Shwartz, the new Director of the Jacobs Institute.

“The Jacobs Runway Program is exactly what Cornell Tech is about – tackling real-world problems with technological solutions, and giving researchers the tools and support they need to turn their ideas into realities,” said Daniel Huttenlocher, Dean of Cornell Tech. “We look forward to having the postdocs and Uzi on campus, continuing to build Cornell Tech’s entrepreneurial culture.”

“With the constant growth and evolution of technology, it’s critical that universities and researchers work together in a new way to promote cutting edge research, and transform their ideas into new ventures,” said Prof. de Haan. “The entrepreneurship center at the Technion is a hub of activity with students, faculty and alumni working together – a model that will be a perfect fit for the Jacobs Runway Program.”

De Haan is an international leader in tech entrepreneurship, with expertise in emerging ventures, strategy, and the commercialization of intellectual property at universities. He previously served as founder and CEO of Philips Electronics in Israel, where he built a $350 million company through acquisitions, venture investments and organic growth. In 2003, de Haan returned to the Technion in an academic capacity as a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, with a research and teaching focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. He also serves on the boards of several start-ups.

The inaugural group of six postdocs was selected from applicants around the world based on their academic and professional track records, their proposed enterprise and their entrepreneurial passion. They will work on research and development projects in the fields of healthcare, e-commerce and urban planning, and they will have access to a support team to help advance their work, some of which may launch into start-up companies. They will be working out of Cornell Tech’s temporary campus at the Google building in Chelsea.

The Jacobs Institute is piloting a new Intellectual Property (IP) model for the Runway Program, which positions the Institute as an investor in companies that spin out of the program. Typically, universities engage in substantial negotiations to license technologies developed on campus, but the program will give the company founded by a postdoc an exclusive license to use the technology that they develop in the program, in exchange for a stake in the company comparable to its initial Runway Award.

“We expect the kind of approach to IP being piloted here to become a model at Cornell Tech broadly, and at other academic institutions around the world. It is an example of the powerful collaboration of two leading academic institutions, Cornell and Technion, to envision and create change in technology commercialization,” said Dean Huttenlocher.

Cornell Tech is up and running with world-class faculty and M. Eng and PhD students who are working with the industry and on their own start-ups. The first class of students graduated at the end of 2013.  The Jacobs Institute is currently admitting students for its M.S. degree program in Connective Media, which will launch in the fall of 2014. Students in this two-year program will receive degrees from both Technion and Cornell. Also in 2014, Cornell Tech will launch an MBA program in collaboration with Cornell’s Johnson School. The program will fuse business, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in a fast-paced, hands-on learning environment.

 

About Cornell Tech

Cornell University, with its academic partner the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, was selected by the City of New York in 2011 to build a world-class graduate campus as a way to capitalize on the growth in the science, technology and research fields in New York City and create a more diversified and competitive economy for the future.

Construction is underway on Cornell Tech’s sustainable 12-acre Roosevelt Island campus. The first phase of the campus will open in 2017, including the first academic building, a corporate co-location building that will foster interactions and collaboration between tech companies and Cornell Tech, an innovative sustainable residential building and public open space. The completed campus will include 2 million square feet of academic, residential and corporate research and development space, and will be home to more than 2,000 graduate students and nearly 280 faculty and staff.

 

About The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute

Through its degree programs and other academic initiatives, The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute at Cornell Tech embodies the academic partnership between the Technion and Cornell. At this think-tank, professors from these two globally renowned universities teach side-by-side with industry leaders, creating a new educational model that embraces experimentation to produce agile graduates poised to succeed in a fast-moving economy. The Institute departs from traditional academic departments and is organized into three interdisciplinary hubs selected for their relevance to the New York City economy: Connective Media, Healthier Life, and the Built Environment.

The Jacobs Institute was established in 2013 through an historic gift of $133 million from Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, Founding Chairman and CEO Emeritus of Qualcomm, and his wife Joan Klein Jacobs to Cornell and the Technion.

Technion Students Present: First Ever Mechanical Bird

Autonomous cluster flight of multiple satellites, an electric passenger aircraft, drones and anti-tank missiles are projects that will be presented at the competition to be held at the Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences

A unique student design competition, of projects by undergraduates, will be held this week as part of the Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences. Ten student teams from the Technion entered the competition, along with student teams from Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, and the Afeka Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering. Among the projects to be presented on Wednesday, February 19, is a design project of a mechanical bird, a plan for a 50 passenger aircraft, a design for an anti-tank missile, the SAMSON project – Autonomous cluster flight of multiple satellites, an experimental investigation of flight in hummingbirds, and a computational and experimental investigation of the mechanical harvesting of wind energy on a vibrating structure.

 

BIRDINATOR – Mechanical Bird

The goal of the BIRDINATOR project was to understand the mechanical aspects of a bird’s flight capabilities in nature, and the construction of an artificial bird model as similar to the real bird as possible.

“Most of the final-year projects at Technion’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering are concerned with planning and development of aircrafts or missiles,” recounted Matan Meir, a faculty graduate. “We wanted to work on a different sort of project, one that required ‘out of the box’ thinking. This project, which is mostly a research, was mentored by Professor Gil Iosilevskii, from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. We wanted to understand how these birds manage to fly and how to mechanically recreate this ability. It’s important to emphasize that although there are machines that simulate the flapping of bird’s wings, it’s nothing like the complex movement of the wings by a bird in flight. The motion of a bird’s wing is very complex, much more than simple up and down movements.”

“After numerous observations of birds in nature and films, and an in-depth study of biological articles on the subject, we managed to develop a mechanism that simulates the movement of a bird’s wing making use of all its elements. After we realized how birds do it, we became the first ones to build such a complex mechanism. By Implementing aircraft design tools and mechanical adjustments we designed an artificial bird capable of flapping flight for 10 minutes, a typical rate of three meters a second, at a speed range of 10-20 meters per second in horizontal motion, carrying a load of 20 g and tolerant of wind gusts. The bird has an engine attached to its wings, and most of the maneuvering is carried out by the wings. We fly it like a model airplane. “

“Concerning its design, we rose up to the challenge by developing a 3-D model and preparing drawings for production. We performed simulations with the MATLAB software system, which shows that we successfully simulated the flapping mechanism. We planned a mechanical bird that maintains all of the requirements we set for ourselves.”

MAZELTOV – a drone that Technion presented at the DBF (Design/ Built/ Fly) International Student Competition

A team of ten students from the Technion’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering participated last April in the DBF International Student Competition, held under the auspices of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in Tucson, Arizona.

“We built a drone at a Technion laboratory from scratch, including design and fabrication, under the guidance of Mr. Shlomo Zach, former senior planner in the Israel Aircraft  Industries (IAI),” relates team leader Chai Kramf, a student at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, who will present the project at the conference. “For the competition it was required to build a modern airplane capable of especially short take off (at 30 feet), with an internal and external carrying capacity of munitions, when the total weight of the aircraft should be as light as possible. At the competition you gain points for meeting the requirements and successfully pulling off the missions, and lose points for deviating from the size and weight of the plane.”

“We worked on the project for about a year. After a lot of hard work, numerous blueprints, and some crashes, we successfully built a drone, with a wingspan of two meters and a length of 1.36 m that is capable of carrying rockets the size of 40-30 cm.”

“Hundreds of students from leading universities around the world participated at the competition, spanning over three days. We succeeded on our first attempt, and within two days we completed all of the tasks. We were ranked in 12th place out of 82 teams. It was a very enriching experience, and this was one of the major things I did during my studies at the Technion. The regular studies are drier – and working on this project I gained important practical experience.”

 

The planning of an electrical passenger plane

Another group of Technion students will present a groundbreaking project at the conference, which was mentored by Mr. Shlomo Zach, former senior planner in the IAI: the design of a 50 passenger airplane with an electric engine.

“The planning of an electric aircraft is a significant challenge concerned mainly with energy,” related the leader of the team Oz Saar, who completed his studies at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering last year. “The challenge in designing such an airplane is in developing a battery that can reach a level of density like the aircraft fuel. This is a technology under development, which will most certainly be available by 2020. The development challenge is to produce a battery that can last throughout long flight durations (as long as possible) while being as light as possible. The world is going towards this direction, and electric motors already exist.”

“Our project consists of designing and producing a 3-D model of such an airplane. We may be ahead of our time, but the future will usher in the production of electric aircrafts that will be better for the environment. I am currently working as an engineer for a company that is working on such a development.”

The 54th Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences, held on Wednesday-Thursday, February 19- 20, attracted some 500 engineers, scientists and experts in the field of aerospace from Israel and abroad. During the conference, participants were presented with new research results, the latest technological achievements, and future developments. The conference was organized by the Technion, Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael, Israel Military Industries, Elbit, Israel Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Israel Defense Ministry.

 

In the photos:

MAZELTOV – students who were part of the team that built the drone.

Computer drawings of the mechanical bird.

Photographed by: The Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office

Prof. Hossam Haick of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering – has pioneered a massive open online course (MOOC) on Nanotechnology and Nanosensors

19/02/2014

Thousands of students from Arab countries have registered for the first-ever Arabic language “massive online open course” (MOOC) to be launched on March 2 by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

The ten-week course, offered on the Coursera online education platform, is titled “Nanotechnology and Nanosensors”. It will be taught in English and Arabic, marking the first time ever in the world that a MOOC has been taught in Arabic.

So far, some 4,800 students have signed up for the Arabic-language version of the course, including registrants from Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and the West Bank.

In addition, some 25,800 have signed up for the English-language version, including students from Iran.

The course, which was initiated by Technion President Professor Peretz Lavie, will be led by Prof. Hossam Haick of Technion’s Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute.  Prof. Haick, a Technion alumnus and an Israeli Arab, recently made world news with the creation of nanosensors that could one day be used to create electronic skin that senses touch, heat and humidity.

Technion President Lavie said, “The Technion believes in building bridges around the globe through education and sharing knowledge. This course will provide the opportunity to learn about nanotechnology, and at the same time inspire an appreciation for Israeli science and academic culture.”

“Nanotechnology and Nanosensors” will cover some of the fundamental principles behind nanotechnology and nanomaterials and their vital role in novel sensing properties and applications. Students will gain an understanding of the fabrication, characterization, and manipulation of nanomaterials, nanosensors, and how they can be exploited for new applications.

Class titles include, “Introduction to Nanotechnology, “Introduction to Sensors Science and Technology, “Nanowire-based Sensors, “Carbon Nanotube-based Sensors,” and “Arrays of Nanomaterial-based Sensors.”

Prof. Haick attributed the successful enrollment of over 30,000 students to the appeal of the course’s topic. “Nanotechnology is a futuristic subject, and people are deeply curious about how the future will look.” He is encouraged by the widespread response to the course offering in Arabic, which he says “demonstrates that people in Arab countries and Iran, especially the young generation, are thirsty for knowledge and education that offer a wide spectrum of opportunities for success, for research and development, and to be part of world-wide technological trends.”

Support for the course is being provided by Associate Prof. Miri Barak of Technion’s Department of Education in Science and Technology, who serves as pedagogical advisor, and by Technion’s Center for Promotion of Teaching, headed by Dr. Abigail Barzilai.  Additional support has been provided by doctoral students Abeer Watted, Meital Segev and Nasreen Shehadah.

Read more in today’s New York Times: Breakfast before the MOOC, by Thomas L. Friedman.

 

MEETING GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGES

Experts Meeting – GWRI & ICL Joint workshop

24-25^th February

 

Chemical Science Reports:

Technion researchers discovered rare chemical materials that demonstrate an ability to bond a positively charged metal (+) to a positively charged non-metal (+)

Two years ago, the researchers discovered a new chemical bond, which may have completed the ‘puzzle’ in the basic chemical sciences; both discoveries open doors for the development of new catalysts with special features unknown to date.

Researchers from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion discovered rare chemical materials that demonstrate an ability to bond a positively charged metal (+) to a positively charged non-metal (+); a discovery that has opened doors for the development of new catalysts with special features that had not been previously known.

“The field of catalysis is very broad,” explains Associate Professor Mark Gandelman from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion. “It affects our daily lives on many levels. Using catalytic processes we prepare innovative materials with unique properties; in fact, most of what serves us today results from catalysis, and is at the very heart of our quality of life in food, medicines, automotives, aircrafts and more. The global market for catalysis is estimated at $500 billion.”

Catalysis is based on the activity of a catalyst (a chemical substance that acts as a stimulant and opens up new ways for producing valuable materials that could not have been made without it). Many catalysts are made mainly from the core of metal and the organic material (ligand) surrounding it, which is what actually holds it together. The characteristics of metal (that is, the features of a catalyst) are affected by the organic matter that wraps it.

There is a chemical bond between the metal and organic material. This bond is very significant as it supplies the unique qualities of the metal. Professor Gandelman and researchers at his lab discovered two years ago a new type of bond between the metal and the organic material. This is an unprecedented bond between the ligand based on the positively charged nitrogen and metal. So far, similar bonds were based primarily on carbon, silicon, phosphorous, etc., so in fact, this discovery by Technion researchers completes the ‘missing piece of the puzzle.’ Technion researchers have now shown that substances called nitrenium (founded on positive nitrogen) can form a chemical bond with positively charged metal (+). It is well known that in nature, positively charged substances repel each other (such as in battery chargers). Chemically they also repel each other, but because chemical particles carry nuclei and electrons –they also attract each other.

“We have shown bonding between positively charged metal and positively charged non-metal (ligand),” explains Professor Gandelman. “These are very rare materials; they hold a basic scientific interest and great potential to serve as catalysts for important chemical reactions, such as turning simple inert hydrocarbons to valuable active materials in industry and daily life.”

As a result of this discovery, it may be possible in the future to improve or uncover novel chemical processes that will conserve energy and significantly reduce waste. “There is a high potential for green (sustainable) chemistry,” explains Professor Gandelman. “Chemical waste is a global problem.”

The illustration depicts the bond between positively charged ligand and positively charged metal.

Visual by: Igor Armiach

People sometimes are quick to believe common myths like ‘the dangers of decaffeinated coffee’ and ‘health risks of consuming cow’s milk.’ We have to stop being afraid of science and technology, and understand that it is impossible to satisfy the needs of the human race without processed foods.” An interview with Associate Professor Uri Lesmes.

In 2010, after a position as a postdoctoral research associate and lecturer at the University of Massachusetts, Associate Professor Uri Lesmes returned to the Technion’s Faculty of Biotechnology & Food Engineering, back to the place where he had received all of his first three degrees. “I returned to Israel and to the Technion out of a sense of Zionism and because I missed my family. I also wanted to become a part of an excellent academic institution with first class infrastructure, faculty and students.”

Even in comparison with the US?

Certainly. The students make up the “executive branch” of scientific research, and the Technion has great students – this isn’t just a myth. In general, the Technion is considered world class in global terms, and it isn’t ranked highly for naught. The Technion administration and faculty heads are very aware of the fact that the secret to success lies in the human capital, and this is the reason they invest in it significant resources.

At what differences can you point to between the academic cultures that you observed?

The American view of academic success is the story an individual, which is one that in my mind, leads to obstacles in the creation of partnerships. This way of thinking sours the benefits brought on by joint efforts and cross-fertilization, which are the essential ingredients for the success of multi-disciplinary studies. Fortunately, the Israeli academic culture in general, and at the Technion in particular, is much more supportive of collaboration and cooperation.

And what about within the Faculty?

Within the Faculty, there is an excellent corporate culture with ever tightening industry ties, and in recent years there has been a significant hiring of new young faculty – a sort of a ‘changing of the guard’ with retiring professors being replaced by a younger generation of professors. All of these elements have brought new flavors and innovative practices to the level of studies and professional training increasing graduate appeal to the food and biotechnology companies.
Food companies are not very popular in Israel. In Israel, and the world in general, there is an unfair bias against these companies, and in many cases they are the “immediate suspects.” The common false assumption is that they are greedy, unscrupulous, and purposely deceptive (to the public) when it works in their favor. This generalization is false and often forgotten in public debates. The fact is that these commercial enterprises are supposed to earn well, and if they do not make money they will not continue to produce food and provide us with the western standards of living we have become accustomed to.

They should make money, but why so much?

Modern food processing has become very challenging, complex and expensive. Food companies are required to satisfy the needs of the consumer for safe and high quality products, while satisfying the ever-increasing stringent demands of the authorities and the consumers. At a time where the raw materials constantly vary, companies must produce fixed and unchanging products that meet consumers’ demand. This is all very complex and expensive, which is reflected in salaries that are not especially high.

So because of the salaries, you are not there (in industry)?

No. The salary in the private sector is still much better than that offered in academia, but this is not the only advantage industry has – there is something magical in the intimate work in development and production, in facing challenges on the job and in producing nutritious products that we all consume. As a scientist I miss out on all this, but my decision to be in academia, and at the Technion in particular, sprung forth from a decision to focus on scientific work, to be a scientist.

Please clarify what you mean by ‘to be a scientist’?

In other words, to be ready to step out of my ‘comfort zone’ to face areas that are still dark and unknown with a goal to shed light on them. Every day brings forth new challenges, a new story, and you must always be daring enough to try things that no one has done before you.

And setting yourself up for failure?

Yes and no. It is obvious that many scientific hypotheses are unsuccessful, but it must be understood that failing to prove a hypothesis is not necessarily a scientific failure. This is because these ‘failures’ also advance science, since it almost always reveals something new or at the very least, opens new scientific directions. Understanding failure is often a deep understanding of knowledge that hadn’t previously existed.

And when a full project turns into a flop?

So it’s an awesome flop! If we become upset over it, it’s a sign that we expect nature to act according to our instructions, and this is an unrealistic expectation. Nature doesn’t ask us how to act, so when it refutes our assumptions, we should try to learn something from it, uncover something new, rather than despair.  Each day teaches us something new and this is why scientific research is a great pleasure for me, which also permeates to my personal and family life. The scientific approach is very similar to my philosophy – to own up to things instead of complaining, to do out of a realization that not everything will always work out.”

Associate Professor Uri Lesmes was born in Colombia, and when he was five years old he made an Aliyah to Israel with his family. He grew up in Nazareth Illit. When he graduated from high school he contemplated joining the Academic Atuda service (allowing the completion of an academic degree prior to army service) but at the end he decided to join the army straight away, and served in a combat unit – ‘to contribute significantly.’ Only after he was discharged, in the year 2000, he began his academic studies. As soon as he completed his undergraduate degree in 2004, he started his master’s degree, and continued until awarded his PhD in a direct track under the guidance of Professor Eyal Shimoni. During his graduate studies he developed a method for ‘molecular wrapping’ (nano-encapsulation) of Omega-3 in starch, a method that has led to the filing of a patent application.

Why is it a good thing?

Starch is a natural substance that the body gladly accepts, and with the method we developed, we are actually using it as a Trojan Horse to place Omega-3 into the body and protect this sensitive material until it is released during digestion; it doesn’t travel around the body but rather gets released directly in the small intestine – the ‘package’ breaks down in a natural and controlled manner. This is where the contents are released and become available exactly at the right place. The subsequent research, continued from my dissertation work, proved that this method significantly increases the bioavailability of Omega-3 as well as nutraceutical materials (materials containing extra-nutritional or even medical effects).

How do you test these things?

There is of course tested in experimental models and clinical trials, but between these two extremes are many intermediating ‘stations’ where testing is performed, such as at the unique laboratory I established here when I became a faculty member. In this lab we can perform recreate parts of the gastrointestinal tract – using an artificial model mimicking the digestive process.
These rely on different bio-reactors, simulating the stomach, the small intestine and colon, and help us understand the digestive fate of food and orally consumed formulations, and design appropriate products to suit consumer needs.

Why is this simulation so important?

Because food is complex and challenging. It may be possible, for example, to combine two healthy and safe ingredients that together may have deleterious effects to the consumer. This is why we must consider food in its entirety, as too the digestive process. We have to understand what happens to food ingredients before and during digestion, and the ‘artificial stomach,’ developed by doctoral student Carmit Shani-Levy, is a very significant step in this direction. Carmit also performs validation of the system by comparing the outputs of the simulated digestion with samples of ingredients that were processed by human digestive enzymes. Doctoral student Alice Moscovici found a very high correlation, sometimes reaching 100%, between the outputs of breakdown products of a milk protein in our artificial system and that received from babies or adult volunteers.

Can you distinguish between different age groups?

Certainly. Our alimentary canal undergoes significant changes throughout our lifetime, and the artificial systems in our laboratory are capable of mirroring the differences in the digestive processes among different age groups.

Is it hard to be a food engineer?

It’s not simple. Despite the portrayal of our industry, this is a field that is transforming into something very high-techi, and its way to realization is a long and arduous route in comparison with its corresponding high-technology. For example, if the creation of ‘facebook’ required a garage and a computer, in the field of food and biotechnology you will need experience, proof, technical knowledge, a substantial capital investment, and patience.

Where is this field headed towards?

One of the areas it is moving towards is ‘customized or tailored food’ – very much like personalized medicine. We now know that the digestive tract works differently at different ages, and is also affected by variables such as genetics and gender (women, for example, need to consume fewer calories than men). This is why there is no such thing as a ‘shelf menu’ that suits everyone, and at optimal conditions, each person will be able to get the right nutrition customized to his/her own personal needs at their particular stage in life. There is still a long way to go and many challenges have to be tackeld, but this is the direction.

So the next decade will not be dull for you.

To feel bored will be virtually impossible. This is a very complex field, with many limitations and constraints; for example, the growing demand for use of only natural ingredients with minimal processing. This is also a very dynamic field which is constantly changing, and one of the major changes in the past two decades is the emphasis on health. Food manufacturers now increasingly consider the health of the consumer as part of their decision making, and our job is to help them fabricate healthier products that provide a combination of health, taste and reasonable pricing. This change is evident in the motto accompanying aid efforts to Africa: if in the eighties the motto was ‘People have a right to food,’ today it is ‘People have the right to the right food.’

So in this trend, what is the role of the food engineer?

Food is not a mathematical equation, and therefore requires a lot of creativity, engineering and scientific work. Generally, it requires a balance between two goals: preserving the nutritional value of foods, and destroying (the maximum amount) of ‘bad’ or harmful bacteria and hazardous compounds. This challenge arises in the simplest processes like in cooking eggs – how long to fry an egg so that harmful bacteria will die, while not ‘killing’ the proteins carrying nutritional value or forming hazardous compounds. In the laboratory we deal with more complex processes connected with optimal food processing.

Today food processing is almost a derogatory term.

There is an unfortunate combination of trends and disinformation. One must understand that part of the current trends, such as for example the ‘raw food’ movement, is not a realistic option in a global context. You cannot feed the entire world population with raw food nor can you ignore the fact the man has been evolving to consume cooked food. Moreover, in many cases, cooking and/or  processing improves the nutritional effectiveness of food. Take for example lycopene – a substance that is found in tomato peel that helps in the prevention of heart and vascular diseases. Lycopene is a crystalline material that is difficult to breakdown in its natural state, but when cooked in olive oil, these crystals melt and dissolve and thereby become more readily available to the body. This is why pizza sauce is better for you, in this respect, than raw tomatoes.

Are our misconceptions tied to a fear about science?

We are afraid from things we don’t know or understand, and this must change. If it wasn’t for technology, mankind would not have been able to handle population growth. If 150 years ago almost half of the world’s population was employed in agriculture and food production and distribution networks, today only ~7% of the population work in agriculture while the rest are free to follow other pursuits, which are not less important. People like Bill Gates can pursue science and technology because they can purchase their food at the supermarket. And despite this, people are still fearful of science and progress, and are quick to believe common myths like ‘the dangers of decaffeinated coffee’ and ‘health risks in consuming cow’s milk.’

Myths?

Yes. The processing of decaffeinated coffee at one time made use of organic solvents such as hexane, which is now recognized as hazardous; but today coffee is produced using other processes – for example, extraction at high pressures using water – a simple and safe process. Although cow’s milk is not suitable for the entire population, for most of us it is an excellent source of many healthy substances, and I am not aware of any evidence that proves it is harmful to healthy people. The problem is that people let themselves be swept away by trends without the tools with which to distinguish between the truth and false allegations.

They believe they have the tools (to help them distinguish between the truth and false statements).

They have access to the Internet, which is an infinite reservoir of information where anyone can publish their claims and arguments, and promote themselves in search engines. This is where we come in, the scientists, and one of our tasks is to provide the public with reliable and solidly based information. This is also part of what I volunteer to do through “ResearchGate” foundation and “Bashaar”, which work towards promoting science education within the community and within high school students in Israel. Our challenge is to make science accessible to the public, and my specific challenge as a food engineer is to show that food is an engineering and scientific challenge, and that the commercial production of food is actually a necessity in the modern world.

Maybe we should continue our discussion at McDonalds?

I don’t rule out McDonald’s. What is important is to try to keep consumption reasonable and maintain a balanced diet and lifestyle. Food engineering may provide new solutions, which will constitute a way in dealing with our problematic lifestyle and the imbalances we place in our lives. We eat too much, are active too little, and don’t expose ourselves enough to sunlight. All this must change – but that’s not my field.

In the photo (from right to left): Associate Professor Uri Lesmes.

 

Professors Alon Gany and Moshe Shoham from the Technion were elected to the US National Academy of Engineering
Out of 11 new foreign associates – three Israelis were elected

 

 The US National Academy of Engineering has elected 11 new scientists and industrialists from outside the United States – two of them from the Technion (Professors Alon Gany from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and Professor Moshe Shoham from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) and another from the Weizmann Institute of Science (Professor David Harel).

Professor Emeritus Alon Gany was elected to the prestigious academy for his advances in the development of solid propellants for rockets and scramjets, and Professor Moshe Shoham was selected for his contributions to robotic technology for image-guided surgery (in particular the Mazor robotics guidance system for spine surgery).

The US National Academy of Engineering is the most prestigious in the world. This year, 67 new members were elected, 56 of whom are American citizens. Today there are 2,250 members; there are 214 non-American members in the Academy.

Membership in the Academy is considered the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research and education, engineering innovation, applied engineering research and engineering literature, and in recognition of significant pioneering efforts in the development of new engineering fields and in making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering.

In the photo: Professors Alon Gany (left) and Moshe Shoham (right).

Photographed by: The Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office