Month: April 2019

Technion Professor Receives STEM Grant from Johnson & Johnson

In a ceremony held in New Jersey last week, Professor Naama Geva-Zatorsky, of the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, has been named a winner of the Johnson & Johnson Women in STEM²D (WiSTEM²D) Scholars Award. She is the first researcher from outside the United States to be selected for the honor, and one of just six winners selected this year from more than 400 qualified applications.

Prof. Geva-Zatorsky was selected for her research about how the billions of bacteria teeming in our intestines interact with the body’s immune system. These bacteria were previously invisible to researchers, but Geva-Zatorsky has developed a tool that labels them with fluorescent markers. Now that she can see them in action in their natural environment, she’s one step closer to discovering the signaling process between the bacteria and immune systems.

“I am interested in understanding the mechanisms,” said Prof. Geva-Zatorsky. “How do the microbes regulate certain immune cells, and which molecules are important for this interaction?” Once she and her team discover the answers, they may be able to develop more precise treatments for chronic conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, targeted to people’s individual gut bacteria.

Launched in June 2017, the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM²D Scholars Award aims to fuel development of female STEM²D leaders and feed the STEM²D talent pipeline by awarding and sponsoring women at critical points in their careers, in each of the STEM²D disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing, and Design.

“Through this Award and other programs, Johnson & Johnson is hoping to increase the participation of women in STEM²D fields worldwide,” said Cat Oyler, Vice President, Global Public Health, Tuberculosis, Johnson & Johnson and WiSTEM²D University Sponsor. “We want to nourish the development of women leaders building a larger pool of highly-trained, female researchers so that they can lead STEM²D breakthroughs in the future.”

Ruach Tova: Israel’s First Interprofessional Student-run Community Health Center

The Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion has established a social-community health center, the first of its kind in Israel, to be run by students

The Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology has established “Ruach Tova” (Hebrew for “Good Spirit”), an interprofessional student-run community health center in the City of Haifa. The center offers services free of charge, catering to a local urban population that has difficulty obtaining medical treatment, whether due to lack of means or special status, including at-risk, homeless, and LGBTQ youth.

The first educational-social initiative of its kind in Israel, the center connects medical students at the Technion to the urban fabric and to the population it will serve in the future.

The center is operated by medical students from the Technion under the close supervision of volunteer doctors and in collaboration with various health professions: nurses, social workers, and various caregivers. Student participation is anchored in the curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine and other faculties involved.

With a wonderful team, the center is headed by Faculty of Medicine Professor Ruti Margalit, a physician with extensive experience in community medicine who knows the model and has led influential academic and medical initiatives in the United States, India and Africa.

“Health is a basic human right. We  are working to make it accessible to all,” said Prof. Margalit. “When a person is provided with basic needs – food, shelter, health, personal security – she is able to look beyond, be productive, and contribute to the surrounding community and its development. Participating students experience empowerment, enrichment, and first hand leadership opportunity as they take part in the development and management of this significant project.”

“Such centers have been operating for the past decade in the United States, Canada, and Europe but in Israel this is the first center of its kind, and we hope to give it a unique Israeli character and help establish similar centers around the country,” she continued. “Hundreds of doctors, nurses, social workers, artists, and of course medical and other students joined the project.”

The “Ruach Tova” Center is located in the Hadar neighborhood of Haifa, a city known for its openness and co-existence. The center operates in coordination with the City of Haifa, HMOs, local health and welfare offices, hospitals, non-profit organizations, and other entities operating in the field.

As part of the interprofessional work that characterizes it, Ruach Tova will be redesigned and renovated by students from the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, in the framework of a community involvement course led by architects Dafna Fisher-Gewirtzman, Dan Price and Michal Bleicher.

‘The Technion is the best ticket to realize your dreams’

Some 200 outstanding students from the Ethiopian community visited the Technion as part of the “Excellence” event

Some 200 high school students from the Ethiopian community visited the Technion last week as part of the “Excellence” event. The happening was designed to expose students to the possibilities of being accepted to and studying at the Technion, and the new horizons this can open for them. The event was held in cooperation with the Leaders of the Future Association and the Ethiopian National Project in Israel (ENP).

Jonathan David, founder of Leaders of the Future, which works to realize the full potential of youth from the Ethiopian community in Israel, said: “I am here because I want to invest in you and promote students from the Ethiopian community, and I expect you to come to the Technion and invest in your studies.”

Roni Akale, director-general of ENP, presented the achievements of the Ethiopian community in Israel, which in “30 years has minimized a 2,500-year gap.” He told the students that, “for some of you, this day will be remembered as the day that changed your life, because it is the day that connected dreams and their realization. It doesn’t matter if you want to be entrepreneurs or cancer researchers or anything else – the statistics prove that the Technion is the best ticket to realize your dreams. We cannot progress through complaints. We must believe in ourselves, work hard and remember that the only barrier to success is within us. I hope that in the future you will represent not only the Ethiopian community but rather the entire State of Israel.”

Prof. Noam Soker, head of the Technion Mechina, or preparatory academy, told the students that, “the Technion deals with the training of scientists and engineers, but no less important, in promoting research that expands human knowledge and benefits people. Most of the research is conducted by graduate students, but in the undergraduate degree students also have the opportunity to engage in research.”

He added that youth who do not have a matriculation certificate, or whose certificate is insufficient, can still pass a preparatory program at the Technion that prepares them for studies at the institution.  “The Technion has always promoted the integration of all sectors of Israeli society, especially in the context of higher education in science and technology. We are happy to have the opportunity to host Ethiopian youth in the hope that many of you will come to the Technion.”

Sarah Nagosa, who is completing her Ph.D. at the Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, talked about her path to the Technion and her years on campus. Nagosa immigrated from Ethiopia to Israel at the age of three and grew up in Kiryat Malachi. She heard about the Technion for the first time at the age of 17, when American donors Joel and Joan Kushan visited a program she was involved with – the Youth Council Kiryat Malachi. After completing her bachelor’s degree in biology at the Technion, she worked for two years with Pluristem, which develops stem-cell based treatments. From there, she returned to the Technion for a master’s degree, which turned into a fast track for a doctorate under the direction of Prof. Ruby Shalom Feuerstein.

She told the students about the difficulties, failing her organic chemistry test, and the encouragement she received from her family and from the Technion itself. “The Technion is tough academically but gentle in every other way. They never let me compromise academically, but they always helped me in every other aspect, and here I learned that if you work hard, you succeed,” she said.

At the end of the event, a panel of students was held with the participation of Keren Yitzhak, Itamar Ordani, Shai Avig, Aviel Itzhak and Yamserts Dasta.

Keren Yitzhak, 25, is about to graduate from the Computer Science Department and in parallel to her studies works at Mellanox. She said that at the time of her discharge from the IDF, she attended a conference at the Technion. “Five years ago, I came just like you, to the Churchill Hall at the Technion and I heard a lecture about the preparatory academy at the Technion. They told us that there were scholarships for living expenses, studies, and for the dormitories, but I did not believe it and asked if they would really help me with all this. When I was released, I immediately began to study in the preparatory program, and for me, it is very exciting to sit here, this time on stage, and tell you how worth it is to study at the Technion.”

Aviel Yitzhak, 22 from Ashdod, received an offer to enroll in the preparatory program at the Technion within the framework of the Atidim program. He said arrived with mediocre grades [from high school] but graduated from the preparatory program with honors and was accepted to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering where he currently studies. “The road was hard, and on my first exam, I received such a low score that I was sure this was not the place for me. But I was encouraged and received help, and eventually, I saw that when you invest, you succeed.”

Shay Agiv, 22, grew up in Yavne; he also arrived at the Technion unprepared but completed the preparatory program with honors. “First, I thought that only the sons and daughters of engineers, doctors, and scientists came to the Technion, but when I arrived, I saw other Ethiopians here. It’s true that we come from difficult homes, with parents who do not even know Hebrew, but with time you learn to study hard and this process at the Technion also makes you a more serious and better person.”

Itamar Ordani, who studies in the Computer Science faculty, said that in the neighborhood where he grew up there are not a lot of students. “When I return to my neighborhood, everyone says, ‘the student has come home.’ They are proud of me and are also proud that I am trying to show other youth that they can also come study here.”

Yamserts Dasta, who is completing her degree in information systems in the Faculty of Computer Science and the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, successfully passed the Technion preparatory program and from there continued to pursue her undergraduate degree. “In my family and in my environment, there are no engineers, so that I had to learn many things on my own. Now I am nearing the end of my studies and I hope to find work in this field – something that will be interesting and satisfying.”

 

European Research Council Advanced Grants Won by Technion Professors Ashraf Brik and Amit Meller

Profs. Ashraf Brik and Amit Meller of Technion-Israel Institute for Technology in Haifa have won prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants from the European Union’s Framework Research Program Horizon 2020.

The grants for breakthrough innovation in research are in the Advanced Grant category — a maximum grant of € 2.5 million each, awarded to leading researchers with unprecedented research achievements over the past decade.

Prof. Ashraf Brik of the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry will receive his grant for the development of innovative technology for the synthesis, delivery, and activation of synthetic proteins in the living cell. He completed his MSc and Ph.D. degrees at Technion. After an impressive career at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, he joined Technion’s Chemistry Faculty.

Prof. Brik has won numerous awards including the Humboldt Prize (Germany), the Yoshimasa Hirata Award (Japan), the Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award, the Eli Hurvitz Prize (Israel) and the Israel Chemical Society Prize for Outstanding Young Scientist. He was recently elected a member of the Israel Young Academy.

Prof. Brik has developed innovative methods for creating (synthesizing) artificial proteins with desirable characteristics. These proteins are used in structural, biochemical, biophysical and functional analyses.

Prof. Amit Meller of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering received his gran

t for the development of an innovative system for mapping the proteome – the complex repertoire of proteins in the cell – at the level of the single protein molecule. Prof. Meller joined the Technion following an illustrious academic career at Harvard and Boston Universities. He is a member of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI) and the Lokey Center for Life Sciences and Engineering at Technion. Prof. Meller received and directed a multi-year grant from the Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-Core) in the field of living-cells physics. He has won numerous awards including the Diane Sherman Prize for Medical Innovations and the Mérieux Grant for the Advancement of Medical Research.

Prof. Meller is among the first developers of single DNA molecule sequencing technology using nanopores – a technology relevant to a range of essential medical applications. The grant is expected to promote its use for mapping all proteins in the cell.

ERC grants are awarded under Horizon 2020 – the EU Framework Research Program, which supports outstanding research activities, especially interdisciplinary research, and allocates grants in three categories – the ERC Starting Grant, the ERC Consolidator Grant, and the ERC Advanced Grant.

ERC representative Carlos Moedas said the grant was given to researchers, “for their pioneering work, which has the potential to change our daily lives and provide solutions to some of the important challenges we face.”  

 

FIRST Israel Robotics Competition 2019

Destination: Deep Space

Students from Hadarim High School (Ha-Dream) in Hod Hasharon, Amit Yeshiva in Modiin (TRIGON) and from the American International School at Even Yehuda (Falcons) won first place at FIRST, Israel’s largest Robotics Competition which took place on April 4^th at the Menora Mivtahim indoor arena. Together with Yeruham’s Yteam who received FIRST’s prestigious Chairman’s Award in recognition of their exemplary leadership in STEM, and Yafia who won the Rookie All Stars Prize, the five groups will travel to Detroit to participate in the FIRST International Robotics Competition for high school students, to take place on April 24-27. In addition, six outstanding participants received scholarships from the Technion.

Destination: Deep Space was the title of this year’s competition, and the students were given a ‘one-type mission’, to build a robot that can intake and eject cargos and hatches, climb to third level platforms, construct a cascade elevator that accesses the different heights of the rocket. All this within an intense 6-week time span that included planning, design, programming and construction. Over the course of the three-day competition, tens of FIRST teams, comprised of motivated high-school students, competed at Menora’s indoor arena. The place was a hub of activity filled with an energetic and vibrant atmosphere as the teams assembled their robots and prepped them for the big competition.

FIRST is a USA-based non-for-profit organization established in 1989 by inventor, entrepreneur and STEM advocate, Dean Kamen. His goal is to inspire youth and instill in them motivation and curiosity and encourage them to pursue all that FIRST stands for: Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie is the Chairman of First Global.

FIRST Israel was founded 15 years ago by Lieutenant General Avihu Ben Nun, former commander in chief of the Israeli Air Force. Ben Nun, who serves as the Chairman of FIRST Israel recounted how he had met with Dean Kamen back in 2005 and was presented with an opportunity to establish a FIRST branch in Israel. “After a brief discussion with my close friend Benny Kedar, we decided to take on the challenge.” Understanding the heavy load that establishing such an initiative entailed, they sought out Technion as their strategic partner. Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie welcomed the initiative and gave the program full patronage. “Since that early time, the program has grown rapidly and today our goal is to have 20,000 students by the year 2020,” said Kedar.

The FIRST project has made considerable headway in many regional councils across Israel. “It’s really very similar to a youth movement, many students are drawn to FIRST because of its exciting and innovative nature,” said HaKfar Hayarok youth representative Shira Linik. “FIRST has promoted STEM studies at our school and there are currently over 250 students who study science and technology. We have named our robotics program, The Bunker (secret hideout). It has become our second home, and we often stay there until late, getting ready for upcoming competitions, continued Shira.

Mentor of Kfar-Yona’s team, Rami Mireli said, “FIRST attracts many students. The competition lasts 3 days, the project itself needs to be prepared in 6 weeks but in fact the students work on their projects all year round. It is a huge endeavor and the students’ tremendous dedication makes it all possible.”

‘Coopertition’ has become FIRST’s motto. “The combination of cooperation and competition is what FIRST is about,” said Prof. Emeritus Menahem Kaftory of the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at Technion. We see in these students a prime asset to the State of Israel, and we emphasize that winning is not the ultimate goal. We teach in a way that fosters cooperation, creative thinking and joint collaboration.”

Prof. Emeritus Kaftory brought the FIRST project to Technion at the same time as Avihu Ben-Nun. With the help of Eyal Hershko, who was recruited for this purpose and with the generous contribution of Josh Weston, the two groups joined forces and established the organization.

“At FIRST competitions, sometimes the students compete and sometimes they are on the same team,” explained Prof. Alon Wolf of Technion’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. “All skill levels are welcomed and needed, technical or non-technical.”

Points are allocated not only for technical competency but also for a range of other criteria. Social outreach is a key component and each team has a member whose responsibility is to initiate projects within the community.

Ben Nun emphasized FIRST’s core attributes: the first, a five-year work plan carried out by leading experts at MIT. The second, FIRST Israel’s group of 1,500 volunteers who devote their time and efforts to this cause and third, letting the students take the lead. The mentors present the questions but the students are required to provide the answers and not vice versa. “This is how they attain the task of creating a robotic device which can carry out complex tasks within a limited six-week time span. It is an empowering and meaningful experience,” said Ben Nun.

FIRST holds four annual competitions arranged according to age groups; FIRST Lego League Jr. for kindergarten until 4^th grade, FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competition. As of 2013, the competition has officially become a Technion-named project. Over 200 municipalities from all over Israel are actively involved in FIRST’s programs which promote creativity and provide children of all ages with a set of key skills for their future careers.

The positive impact of FIRST Robotics Competition on its participants is gratifying. Many former FIRST program graduates remain actively involved in the program and take time off from their work willingly to support, mentor and assist the students in any way they can. “We are a FIRST FAMILY,” said proud parents Dan and Tami Bilberg, who arrive every year to support their daughter in the Robotics Competition and to take an active part as mentors and judges. “We were drawn into the program without realizing that there is no exit. Once you join FIRST, you’re in for life,” said Tami.

Photography credit: FIRST Israel

Three researchers, from the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology and Weizmann Institute of Science, will each be awarded $100,000, one of the largest unrestricted prizes ever created for early-career researchers in Israel 

HAIFA, ISRAEL (April 8, 2019) – Associate Professor Moran Bercovici, of the Technion Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, is one of three Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Israel Laureates for 2019. The honor, bestowed by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, New York Academy of Sciences, and Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (IASH), was announced in Jerusalem on Sunday, April 7. Also awarded were Drs. Michal Rivlin and Erez Berg of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

The Blavatnik Awards recognize outstanding, innovative early-career scientists and engineers for both their extraordinary achievements and promise for future discoveries. The prizes are awarded to promising scientists and engineers aged 42 and younger for breakthrough research in the disciplines of chemistry, life sciences, and physical sciences and engineering.

In 2019, 33 nominations were received from seven universities Israeli universities. Members of the Awards’ Scientific Advisory Council, including IASH President Professor Nili Cohen; Co-chair and Nobel Prize Laureate Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover; and President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Academy of Sciences Mr. Ellis Rubinstein were also invited to submit nominations. A distinguished jury of leading senior scientists and engineers from throughout the country selected the laureates.

Prof. Bercovici (36) was selected for his innovative research in microfluidics, contributing to fundamental understanding of the chemical and physical behavior of fluids at extremely small scales, as well as to the invention of cutting-edge technologies in this field. His highly multidisciplinary research, which couples fluid mechanics, electric fields, heat transfer, chemical reactions, and biology, has the potential to not only miniaturize existing large-scale processes but also to create new capabilities that are not possible at large scale. For example, Dr. Bercovici and his team at Technion have developed a series of lab-on-a-chip technologies that significantly shorten the time and improve the sensitivity of traditional molecular analysis techniques, enabling rapid and early disease diagnostics and offering new research tools to scientists. Innovations coming from his lab also have potential use in many other fields, including soft actuators, adaptive optics, single cell analysis, and microscale 3D printing.

The Laureates will join more than 250 of their peers as fellow members of the Blavatnik Science Scholars community. They will also be invited to attend the annual Blavatnik Science Symposium each summer in New York City, where members come together to collaborate on cross-disciplinary research and share new ideas.

 

Technion on Display at AIPAC Policy Conference

Even among keynote speeches by Israeli and American leaders, countless presentations, and demonstrations of groundbreaking Israeli innovations on parade at last week’s AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., it’s the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology that will be remembered by many of the 20,000 people in attendance.

The most visual representation of the Technion was the LABSCAPES exhibition displayed in the AIPAC Village for the duration of the conference. Created and curated by Anat Har-Gil, an artistically gifted member of the Technion’s Computing and Information Systems Department, the exhibition featured unforgettable images taken with microscopes used in the fields of chemistry, physics, life sciences, engineering, and medicine that at first glance evoke thoughts of spectacular natural vistas. In reality, the images show the majesty of crystals, bacteria, human cells, and other entities invisible to the naked eye are revealed through the power of the modern microscope.

Also wowing the AIPAC crowds was Technion alumna Orly Rapaport (B.Sc. Computer Science) presented her startup, “myFavorEats” for consideration to a “Shark Tank”-like panel. According to Rapaport, the company’s founder and CEO, myFavorEats uses Artificial Intelligence to mimic a Chef’s intuitive thinking and a nutritionist’s wisdom, enabling users to instantly personalize their recipes to their dietary needs and adapt them to their digital kitchen appliances. myFavorEats is part of the Technion Drive Accelerator.

Gilad Hizkiyahu (B.Sc., Aerospace Engineering), who is the Co-CEO at Singer Instruments and Control Ltd., gave a fascinating presentation about how defense innovation is not just keeping Israel safe; it is also being utilized for applications in medical technologies that benefit the world.

Finally, in a private reception with Technion supporters, another graduate of the Technion, Eliad Peretz (B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering) shared about his position was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow. Currently a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University and a researcher for new space missions, he leads the development of materials and technologies that will enable the creation of more advanced detectors used for space exploration.

Robots and High-School Pupils Participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition

Some 12,000 elementary and high-school pupils aged six to 18 will join dozens of robots from April 2 to 4, 2019 for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition.

The event, organized by Israel FIRST (the acronym for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”) and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology will be held in the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv.

FIRST Israel, which became an official Technion project in 2013, aims at preparing and fostering promising youngsters to be the leaders and entrepreneurs of the future. This is done through innovative robotics programs providing scientific, engineering and technological inspiration to pupils, who are guided by engineers and experts from academia, industry and the military.

More than 200 groups are involved in encouraging teams of pupils from kindergarten to 12th grade to excel in programs that combine excitement and creativity and nurture life skills.

The competition will be held in Tel Aviv on Tuesday through Thursday this week with the theme “Destination: Deep Space.”

As part of the competition, the pupils were asked to build robots that could load spaceships and climb stairs, all in six intensive weeks of planning, drafting, building and programming.

The winning Israeli teams will compete in the FIRST World Robotics Championship in Detroit, Michigan in the US in April. Last year, 17 Israeli teams qualified for the world championship, and the Hadarim High School from Hod Hasharon was part of the winning group. To date, 34 teams have represented Israel in the world championships.

FIRST is an international, non-profit organization founded in the US 27 years ago by the inventor of the Segway, Dean Kamen – a serial entrepreneur and advocate of science and technology who holds more than 440 patents in the US and other countries. The organization was established to inspire young people, promote motivation and curiosity and encourage them to pursue engineering, science and technology.

FIRST was founded in Israel 15 years ago by Major-General Avihu Ben-Nun, in cooperation with the Technion. This activity is dependent on the involvement of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who participate in the FIRST world community. Every year, each local branch organizes four different technology competitions for kindergarten children and pupils in elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools in many countries, including Israel.

On Thursday at 13:45 p.m. on the last day of the event, the finals will be held, and the closing ceremony will follow at 18:00 p.m.

For more information: Technion spokesperson Doron Shaham, 050-310-9088