Month: September 2014

(Sept. 17, 2014) A contingent of “ReWalkers” led by Technion graduate Dr. Amit Goffer, stopped traffic in New York’s Times Square today as photographers rushed to capture the jubilation surrounding the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of ReWalk Robotics Ltd., the company that makes the ReWalk device. Invented by Dr. Goffer, the Founder and President of ReWalk Robotics, the ReWalk allows paraplegics to stand upright, walk and in some cases climb stairs.

Listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol RWLK, ReWalk Robotics (formerly Argo Medical Technologies) went public Friday, September 12, offering 3 million shares at a price of $12 per share. By the end of the first day of trading, shares soared — more than doubling in price to close at $26.50. The price has continued to rise. As of this morning, when ReWalk CEO Larry Jasinski had the honor of ringing the Opening Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square, ReWalk was anointed the best performing IPO of the year, having gained more than 230% since the offering.

The IPO came just months after ReWalk, headquartered in Yokneam, Israel and Marlborough, MA., received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in June 2014, making it the first and only motorized exoskeleton available for personal use in the U.S. Prior to receiving approval, ReWalk was available in Europe and Israel for personal use, but was limited in the U.S. for use in rehabilitation and veteran’s clinics.

“Each time I meet with the “ReWalkers” (those who use the device), the same thing happens. I get tears in my eyes,” said Dr. Goffer, who is a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair. “The IPO is a great event. It’s very exciting, but the acknowledgment I get from the people using the device, saying how it’s changed their lives, being hugged by their families … makes me more than happy.”

Speaking outside of the exchange after the Bell Ringing ceremony, CEO Jasinski said that about one third of the core ReWalk employees are Technion graduates. When asked what they bring to the table, he motioned to the dozen ReWalkers milling about Times Square and said: “now they can walk.” He also noted that all of ReWalk’s R&D is based in Israel and the devices are fabricated in Israel as well.

ReWalk captured global media attention in the spring of 2012 when it was used to participate in the London Marathon, and again the following year when it was used to participate in a portion of the Tel Aviv Marathon. The device earned a coveted spot on Time magazine’s “The 25 Best Inventions of the Year” for 2013.

On the heels of ReWalk’s tremendous success, Dr. Goffer and a fellow Technion alumnus Oren Tamari have recently launched start-up RehaMed Technologies to develop an innovative standing wheelchair called UPnRIDE.

Resembling a Segway or electric scooter, UPnRIDE is unlike other standing wheelchairs in that it allows users full mobility in both sitting and standing positions, and on any outdoor urban surface. Proprietary know-how gives UPnRIDE stability due to automatic balance, and releases safety arms to prevent falls. Users will be able to move independently between standing and sitting positions without needing assistance to rearrange the body.

Its Segway-like appearance is meant to remove the stigma often associated with being disabled. “When you see a person in a wheelchair you notice immediately that he is disabled. With the UPnRIDE, you won’t know if he is disabled or just enjoying a Segway-like ride,” says Dr. Goffer, who was left a quadriplegic after a tractor accident in 1997.  While he is not able to use the ReWalk, he will be able to use UPnRIDE.  “I can’t wait to use it myself,” says Dr. Goffer.

Dream it. Do it. Technion’s New Year’s greetings to the world for Rosh Hashanah.

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is a global community.

In this video, students and President Prof. Peretz Lavie send you Shana Tova New Year greetings in 14 different languages.

Technion is the place where dreams come true.

In order of appearance:

Eric Yudin in English – Computer Science
Johanna Wallin in Swedish – Civil & Environmental Engineering
Tali Tazazo in Amharic – Electrical Engineering
Eshhar Tal in Hebrew – Civil & Environmental Engineering
Efrat Vitchevsky in Russian – Medicine
Micael Zollmann in Afrikaans – Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ahmad Omari in Arabic – Energy Program
Michal Brodeschi in Portuguese – Architecture & Town Planning
Rashmi Kothari in Hindi – Chemistry
Wen-Hui Hung in Chinese – Industrial Engineering & Management
Fred Xie in Chinese – Civil & Environmental Engineering
Hanqi He in Chinese – Civil & Environmental Engineering
Davide Schaumann in Italian – Architecture & Town Planning
Irene Alvarez-Sostres in Spanish – Architecture & Town Planning
Deborah Cohen in French – Electrical Engineering
Dr. “Bob” Shillman in English – A Man and a Cat Called Yitz
Prof. Peretz Lavie in English – Technion President
Valentin Garbe in German – Electrical Engineering

Water makes up 80% of our body mass and covers over two-thirds of the surface of the earth, but most of us still know very little about it. Do we know what the potential of Israel’s natural water sources is? How is seawater desalinated and how much desalination currently takes place in Israel? What are Israel’s water agreements with her neighbors? What does our drinking water contain? How are waves formed in the ocean and how do waves impact surfers and structures at sea and on the coast? How do submarines work?

Answers to these and many other science and technology questions were shared at the 2014 Researchers’ Night at Technion on September 18.

Each year, the Technion invites the public to participate in Researchers’ Night – a celebration of science and research for the whole family, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the European Union. Researchers’ Night also takes place in some 300 cities throughout Europe and Israel.

The 2014 Researchers’ Night at the Technion included various scientific exhibits and activities appropriate for all ages. Participants were able to taste seawater before and after desalination, build and sail a paper boat, closely examine how an underwater robot works, learn how submarines work, learn how to identify and handle water pollution, and enjoy a myriad of lectures, demonstrations and activities for the whole family. Activities were also provided for younger family members.

Researchers’ Night at the Technion is intended for children, youth and adults ages 9 to 99. Anyone who is curious about water science and technology is invited to participate and learn.

Technion’s Mad Dash

Technion’s Formula Student Team Competing in the 2014 Formula SAE Championship in Italy Awarded Special Prize

The Technion delegation to the International Formula Student Race returned to Israel last week after winning a special prize, awarded to them by the chief designer of the Fiat Group (Alpha Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari), for the best design and for showing the greatest improvement since the previous competition. In the overall rankings, the team came in 28^th place out of 44.

The leaders of the team, which consists of some 40 students from different Technion faculties, are Doris Pitilon and Ahmad Omri.

Doris, who was born in the US and grew up in Holon, completed her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering this summer within the Academic Reserves/Atuda framework (a program which enables youngsters who are intended to join the army as soldiers, to study academic studies prior to their military service); she will shortly be called up to the IDF’s Ordnance Corps.

Ahmad, who grew up in Germany and in Sandala Village near Afula, completed his undergraduate degree at the Technion through the NAM (an acronym in Hebrew for Outstanding Arab Youth) Program and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Members on the student formula team emphasized the tremendous contribution of Prof. Reuven Katz’s, Head of the Center for Manufacturing Systems and Robotics at the Faculty of Mechnical Engineering, who helped them with the fundraising efforts of the project, supplied them with a lab to work in, and incorporated this program into the annual course under his guidance: “New Product Design.”

The Group’s activity was funded in part by the Grand Technion Energy Studies Program (GTEP).

“The minute I heard about this project I wanted to be a part of it,” said Michael Kootzenko, a student from the Faculty of Aerospace, who was in charge of the car’s exterior surface; Kootzenko also drove the car in the competition. “Constructing the car for me was the fulfillment of a childhood dream. We built a car that was much stronger than what was required, and I’m extremely proud of the outcome.”

“I was attracted to this project because I wanted to do something practical during my studies,” adds Doris Pitilon, “And constructing the car is mechanical engineering at its best. It has been the main thing on my mind over these past two years, and what I gained in terms of management and engineering I would never have learned anywhere else. The competition itself was an amazing experience. Teams came from all over the world to compete. We all camped out together near the racetrack, and the atmosphere was truly great.”

The competition included a review of engineering aspects (“the immobile part of the competition”), followed by the various examinations evaluating acceleration, speed and performance. “We learned from our mistakes last year and came to this year’s competition well prepared with a stronger and faster car. We excelled in the acceleration heat (75m in 4.3 seconds), and also in the endurance heat.”

The Technion race car had four drivers from the team: Doris, Michael, Gilad Agam and David Amarilio. Over the past year, the drivers trained at “Dan Karting” in Haifa, where they were provided with access to a simulator and training free of charge. Other donors included Kanfit Ltd., which supplied the carbon composite materials for the car’s body, and “Plasko” that transported the car to and from Italy. Presently, the team is working on formulating the 2015 student formula team, which will represent the Technion in next year’s competition.

See how the team prepares for the championship race:

 

The SAE International has been organizing international events and competitions for engineering students for over thirty years. Its most prestigious competition is the Formula Student SAE Championship, in which students are required to design and manufacture a race car.

2014 Researchers’ Night: a series of events for the whole family at the Technion on September 18, from 4pm to 10pm. This year’s theme is water sciences. Entry is free.

Water makes up 80% of our body mass and covers over two-thirds of the surface of the earth, but most of us still know very little about it. Do we know what the potential of Israel’s natural water sources is? How is seawater desalinated and how much desalination currently takes place in Israel? What are Israel’s water agreements with her neighbors? What does our drinking water contain? How are waves formed in the ocean and how do waves impact surfers and structures at sea and on the coast? How do submarines work?

Answers to these and many other science and technology questions can be found at the 2014 Researchers’ Night, which will take place at the Technion on September 18, from 4pm to 10pm. The theme this year will be water sciences.

The Technion invites the public to participate in Researchers’ Night – a celebration of science and research for the whole family, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and the European Union. Researchers’ Night will take place in some 300 cities throughout Europe and Israel.

The 2014 Researchers’ Night event will take place at the Technion and include various scientific exhibits and activities appropriate for all ages. Participants will be able to taste seawater before and after desalination, build and sail a paper boat, closely examine how an underwater robot works, learn how submarines work, learn how to identify and handle water pollution, and enjoy a myriad of lectures, demonstrations and activities for the whole family. Activities will also be provided for younger family members.

Researchers’ Night at the Technion is intended for children, youth and adults ages 9 to 99. Anyone who is curious about water science and technology is invited to participate and learn. Maybe you’ll discover your future here, and maybe you’ll simply satisfy your curiosity – either way, you won’t want to miss it! Whatever your age, you are invited to attend this science festival at the Technion, one of the world’s leading science and engineering institutions.

Two years after winning the gold medal: A team of Technion students once again enters the international iGEM Competition, with a novel technology capable of identifying toxins in food

A device developed by 11 students from the Technion and one student from the Wizo Haifa Academy of Design and Education will compete in the upcoming International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. Two years ago a group of Technion students entered the competition for the first time and won the European gold medal. The medal was awarded to the team for the development of the “Trojan Phage” technique for drug delivery via viruses.

The 2014 iGEM competition, to be held in October at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), aims to encourage students to independently advance a whole research project in the area of synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines knowledge from various disciplines in science and engineering, to develop genetically engineered systems that respond to their environment. About 250 teams from universities all over the world will take part in iGEM. Contenders are required to present their projects in its entirety – including concept development, economic model, proof of concept, and so on.

The system proposed by the Haifa-based group, “Safie”, is a bio-chemical mechanism that detects toxins or allergens in food, water and more. The device identifies the presence of toxins, mercury, gluten, nuts, and other contaminants even at low concentrations. The system uses genetically engineered E. coli bacteria to illuminate a green light that signals concentrations of toxins or allergens in the food or beverage tested. “The idea is to provide individuals a way to check for substances in their foods on their own,” explains Rebecca Feldman, an undergraduate student from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion, who heads up this team. “The device itself will resemble a kind of stick carrying the group of bacteria appropriate to the specified material, and we propose to engineer the bacteria so that even if one of them identifies the harmful material it will illuminate them all.”

Feldman, who heads up the student team, was born in the US and raised in England; she first came to Israel for a visit at 17 as part of a youth delegation. “I immediately realized that I want to live here (in Israel), and after two years I came back permanently,” she related. She volunteer for military service and served for two years in the Technological Division of the IDF, where she met many engineers and Technion graduates – including her future husband – and at the end of her military service she began to study at the Technion. She is  currently completing her BSc in Biotechnology and Food Engineering and preparing for the iGEM competition (which is also part of her final project at the Technion).

She first heard of the competition in 2012, when the Technion delegation returned with a gold medal. Feldman was very excited about the winning and asked to become a part of the next delegation scheduled for 2014. “In early 2013 we began to learn about the competition, browse through past teams’ work, and think about ideas. Over the previous summer we went through a practical course in synthetic biology, and in January we started working in the laboratory, under the direction of Assistant Professor Roee Amit at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, alongside other faculty researchers.”

Till now the group raised partial funding for the project from various entities, including biotechnology companies, and opened a crowdfunding account (http://www.headstart.co.il/project.aspx?id=10603) to help pay for the flight and accommodation expenses while abroad. “We even solicited donations from family and friends,” added Feldman, “but we are still short about $12,000.”

In parallel with their preparations for the competition, members of the group are working on a project entitled “Synthetic Biology in 3-Languages.” This project, conducted in Hebrew, English and Arabic, is designed to provide common ground for conversation and collaboration work between Arabs and Jews through the world of synthetic biology and science. Within the framework of the project, team members conduct enrichment lectures and hands-on laboratory sessions, and act as visiting mentors at national science events. “Our emphasis is on encouraging mixed groups of Jewish and Arab youth, through the belief that science transcends boundaries of religion, culture and tradition.”