Author: shlomi ben-oz

MIT President at Technion: Universities Play a Major Role in Making a Better World

Prof. Rafael Reif spoke at Technion’s Honorary Doctorate Conferment Ceremony

“In the United States and in many nations around the world, now is a moment of change. As we navigate uncertainty around the globe, it is useful to remind ourselves and the world that universities can be a powerful, steady force for good. In fact, I believe that this moment offers a remarkable opportunity for research universities to be leaders: leaders in education, leaders in research, and in particular, leaders in solving problems, to make a better world.”

The remarks were made on Monday by MIT President Prof. Rafael Reif, at Technion’s Honorary Doctorate Conferment Ceremony.

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie spoke at the ceremony about the rapidly changing world and  academia’s duty to adapt itself to these changes. “Among other things, we must provide our students with the tools they will need in the changing labor market, adopt the appropriate learning methodologies for the new world, expand a frameworks to encourage interdisciplinary research, and strengthen the triangular relationship between academia, government, and industry. Thanks to leaders like you, honorary doctorate recipients, I have no doubt that we will be able to successfully deal with the fourth industrial revolution which we are in the midst of.”

One of the recipients was Dr. Joseph Ciechanover, and esteemed Israeli diplomat and successful entrepreneur. Ciechanover led negotiations for the peace treaty with Egypt, served as Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, legal adviser to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, chair of the board of El-Al, and is also a businessman. He recently took part in the negotiations that led to reconciliation with Turkey. His brother, Distinguished Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, a 2004 Nobel laureate in Chemistry and faculty member at Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, said at the ceremony: “Words cannot describe what my brother has done for the State of Israel, and I owe him a lot. We lost our parents when I was a boy and my brother Yossi, 14 years my senior, accompanied me everywhere, hand in hand, and brought me to the point where I am today. Without him I would not be standing here before you today.”

MIT President Prof. Rafael Reif, speaking and behalf of the recipients, said, “Technion’s impact on the world is enormous relative to its size, and that is why I chose to spend my sabbatical year in 1988 here – at a university that I admire and with colleagues I deeply respect. My choice also had personal roots: in 1938, my parents fled Eastern Europe shortly before most of their families were exterminated or died of starvation and disease. My parents came to Venezuela with nothing – no language, no money, no friends. They are the ones who taught my brother and me that even if you leave your home, the one thing you will always take with you is education. Education is the tool that allows you to invent your future, and due to this perspective, I chose academia.

The following are Technion’s 2017 Honorary Doctorate Recipients, along with their citations:  

Prof. Bernard Amadei

“In recognition of your pioneering research in geotechnology and your unique contributions to engineering education; with appreciation for your impact on society through the establishment of Engineers Without Borders-USA and co-founding Engineers Without Borders-International; and in gratitude for your support of its implementation at Technion.”

Dr. Joseph Ciechanover

“In recognition of your outstanding contribution to the international standing of the State of Israel; in appreciation of your relentless and multi-faceted achievements as a jurist, economist, and statesman; and in gratitude for your long-standing support of Technion and its students as chairman of the Dr. Yaakov Isler Foundation.”

Prof. David L. Donoho 

“In recognition of your significant contributions to modern mathematical statistics, in particular the field of optimal algorithms for statistical estimation in the presence of noise and efficient techniques for sparse representation and recovery in large data sets; and in gratitude for your friendship and cooperation with Technion and its faculty.”

Prof. Odile Eisenstein

“In tribute to your outstanding scientific achievements and your important fundamental contributions to the fields of organic, organometallic, catalytic, and computational chemistry; in recognition of your outstanding leadership in the international scientific community; and in gratitude for your friendship and support of the scientific community in Israel and Technion in particular.”

Emanuel Zvi Liban

“In recognition of your relentless efforts to promote the Israel aviation industry and numerous innovative engineering solutions; in honor of your pioneering role in the field of jet and piston engines manufacturing, advancing Israel’s economic wellbeing and security; and in gratitude for your involvement in educating new generations of mechanical engineers in the State of Israel.”

Martin Paul Moshal

“In recognition of your significant contributions to education and industry in Israel; in appreciation for your generosity – enabling disadvantaged students to attend Technion through the Moshal Scholarship Program, thereby profoundly changing their lives and the lives of those in their communities; and for your friendship to Technion.”

Joseph Neubauer

“In tribute to your professional achievements in the business world and as the head of a Fortune 100 company; in appreciation for your contribution to many American and Israeli not-for-profit organizations and your belief in the importance of giving back; in recognition of your being a catalyst for excellence and diversity among our students and faculty; and in gratitude for your generous support of Technion and Israel.”

Prof. L. Rafael Reif

“With appreciation for your outstanding leadership, pioneering work in 3D-integrated circuits, vision for education in the digital age, and cultivation of relations between MIT and Israeli universities; and in gratitude for your instrumental contributions to Technion’s academic advancement.”

Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd. (TRDF) and UGC Announce $200M Venture Capital Fund to Support the Establishment of Start-Ups Based on Technion-Created Knowledge

The Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd. (TRDF) and UG Capital Management Ltd. (UGC) announced today, at the closing plenary of the Technion Board of Governors (Board of Trustees) which met on campus, that they intend to establish a new venture capital fund of $200 million. The fund will focus on investments in science and technology companies mainly related to Technion and its alumni. The joint management team with offices in Israel and Hong Kong includes Jonathan Mitchell, CY Lau and Thomas Lau of UG Capital Management Ltd., and Eddy Shalev, Dr. Eyal Kishon and Gary Gannot of Genesis Partners.

UGC is the venture capital arm of UGI (United Gain Investment Ltd). UGI, founded in 2003, is a fund management company with extensive experience in global investments, asset management, and consulting services. UGI offers a wide range of financial services and products to private investors and organizations. Its goal is to provide professional and leading solutions in all investment categories, in order to preserve and increase investors’ assets. UGI is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities Authority (type 4 and type 9) and operates under its supervision.

Prof. Wayne D. Kaplan, Executive Vice President for Research and Director General of the Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd., thanked the team that led the development on behalf of Technion and said, “The Technion has been increasing its commercialization activities in recent years and we have already noted many successes in this field, including more than doubling the number of startup companies set up at the Technion through the new Technion DRIVE Accelerator. However, we must not become complacent. This is why we contacted Jonathan Mitchell from UGI, who connected us to investors from Hong Kong headed by CY Lau. We realized that in addition to partners in the US and Hong Kong, we need an excellent team here in Israel, and so we were joined by the founders of Genesis, Eddy Shalev, Dr. Eyal Kishon and Gary Gannot.

“You could say we’re doing alchemy here,” said Jonathan Mitchell. “We’ve combined a number of components – the Israeli mind, institutional and private investors, and of course Technion and the local staff – and with all this we will contribute to the welfare of the world.”

 

At a festive ceremony attended by Minister of Education Naftali Bennett, the Lauder Dormitory Building was inaugurated today at the Technion

The state-of-the art building was donated to the Technion by World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder and his wife Jo Carole

“The Technion is, and should continue to be, the beacon of the State of Israel,” said Minister of Education Naftali Bennett today at the Technion. The remarks were made at the inauguration ceremony of the Lauder Student Dormitory Building, which was held with the participation of Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie, Ronald Lauder’s representative in Israel Avi Balashnikov, Technion Dean of Students Prof. Benny Natan and Technion Student Union Chairman Omer Amit. The ceremony was held as part of the events of the Technion International Board of Governors.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder and his wife Jo Carole donated $5 million to the Technion for the construction of the dorms – the most beautiful and elaborate dormitories in Israel for undergraduate students.  The complex consists of four 9-storey buildings with 116 apartments and 488 beds. The new dormitories, designed by architects Yael and Yaron Granot, will house 408 single students and 40 couples.

The Lauder Dormitory Building, which was inaugurated this morning, is equipped with advanced technologies and infrastructure and contains 29 apartments with 122 housing solutions (beds) for students.  

Minister of Education Naftali Bennett said at the ceremony that “the Technion’s secret lies in its being an integral part of Israeli society and of the vision of the State of Israel.  You are not hidden away in an ivory tower. On the contrary, you are connected to the Israeli experience and operate out of a commitment to society. You are working to increase the number of ultra-Orthodox and Arab students and students from outlying areas, providing an equal opportunity to all residents of Israel. The new dormitories, built through the donation of the Lauder family, will enable students to invest their time and energy in their demanding studies. On this day, we are planting the seeds of a promising future.”

“We are delighted and grateful to be inaugurating today the Ron and Jo Carole Lauder dormitory building on the Technion campus. This is a great day of celebration for us,” said Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie at the ceremony. “Technion is proud to be the Israeli university with the largest number of dormitory beds in the country, and in fact, the total number of beds in all other universities combined – is smaller than the number at Technion – close to 5000 beds. It is our explicit policy to open the dorms to all students, practicing what we preach in terms of diversity and equal opportunity.

“The Technion plays a major role in closing the socio-economic and cultural divides in the Israeli society. Increasing the number of dormitories where students – Jews and Arabs, Israeli Born and new Immigrants, religious and secular, live side by side, and pay the lowest rent in Israel, is crucial to achieve these goals.

I call upon the government to allocate more land and more financial resources to both colleges and Universities to build dormitories and other needed student services. They should also help the academic institutes to facilitate the regulatory procedures needed for the construction. This may provide at least a partial solution to the pressing housing problem in Israel.”

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav thanked the Lauder family for their investment in the city. He said: “Haifa is a university center where 45,000 students live. The Lauder family’s investment in student dormitories is an important and correct investment for the Technion and for Haifa.”

“The Lauder family visited the Technion about three years ago and fell in love with it,” said Ronald Lauder’s representative in Israel, Avi Balashnikov. “They are proud to be among the distinguished group of Friends of the Technion, an institution to which they attach great importance in the building and development of the State of Israel and the Jewish People. The Lauder Foundation works to promote education and academia in Israel and the donation to the Technion continues this important support for the advancement of higher education in the State of Israel.”

2017 Adelis Brain Research Award Won by Prof. Asya Rolls

On June 12, 2017, the Adelis Award for groundbreaking research by a young scientist was presented to Asst. Prof. Asya Rolls of Technion for her work in the field of brain-regulated immunity.

administrators

The Adelis Foundation was established by the late André Cohen Deloro to support academic excellence in Israel, in particular within the realm of medical and scientific research. In 2015, in line with Deloro’s legacy and in loyalty to his vision, the Foundation decided to inaugurate the Adelis Award for Brain Research and to budget $100,000 annually as a research grant to groundbreaking Israeli research. The purpose of the award is to encourage excellence among young Israeli scientists performing brain research in Israel; to advance understanding of the brain and its functions and of the ailments connected with it; and to achieve international impact.

Brain research holds a top position on the global scale of scientific research priorities.

In this third year of the award, the Adelis Foundation was both pleased and proud to witness such an impressive number of high-quality proposals representing Israeli potential in the field of brain research.

Senior figures from Israel’s scientific community were selected for the award’s panel of judges: Dr. Gal Ifergane, Prof. Moshe Bar, Prof. Illana Gozes, Prof. Eilon Vaadia, Prof. Jackie Schiller, Prof. Rafi Malach, Prof. Noam Ziv, Prof. Emeritus Amos Korczyn, and Prof. Michal Schwartz – all veteran brain researchers who number among Israel’s foremost.

The judging panel had no easy task, given the diversity of submissions and their superior level. The decision was to present the 2017 award to Rolls, a researcher at the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, with Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie and Rébecca Boukhris of the Adelis Foundation doing the honors. The award ceremony took place during the events of Technion’s Board of Governors.

Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute explained: “The committee members were impressed by Rolls’s past achievements and by her research proposal, the two main criteria for selecting the best nominee. Her research focuses on how positive emotions, such as those created by the reward system, help the immune system to fight pathologies. While this concept has been around for a while, it has never been proven experimentally, and the implications of placebo have been a mystery for decades.”

In 2016, Rolls published an outstanding paper in Nature Medicine in which she demonstrated a mechanism that connects the placebo effect to systemic immune activation. In her submission to the Adelis Foundation, Rolls proposed to test how the reward system affects the immune system in fighting tumors – a novel approach to fighting tumors.

Rolls joined the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at Technion in October 2012 after completing her postdoctoral training at Stanford University. She obtained her PhD from the Weizmann Institute, and her MSc from Technion.  

Rolls is an elected member of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)-Kavli network of excellence (2015-2019); she received the Fulbright, Rothschild, and European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) long-term fellowships; the NARSAD Young Investigator Grant; the Krill Prize, awarded by the Wolf Foundation; and most recently the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) International Research Scholar Grant.

“Thoughts and emotions impact physical health,” said Rolls. “This connection is evident in the emergence of disease following stress, or recovery in response to placebo treatment. Nevertheless, this fundamental aspect of physiology remains largely unexplored. Our laboratory aims to uncover the physiological mechanisms that underlie the connection between the brain and the immune system. By understanding the connection, we will be able to harness the brain’s potential to cure.

“Emotions and thoughts are reflected in specific brain activity. We developed a new experimental platform that maps how brain activity affects the immune system, and applied this platform to uncover a potential mechanism of the placebo response. We showed that activation of the brain’s reward system, which is active during positive emotional states, stimulates the immune system and its capacity to fight bacteria. The Adelis Award will allow us to understand whether brain activity can also enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.”

Group photo of ADELIS foundation and guests

Group photo of ADELIS foundation and guests

2016 Harvey Prize Awarded for the Discovery of Gravitational Waves and Development of Optogenetics

The Harvey Prize was awarded to two research groups that revolutionized two fields of science: astrophysics and brain research. The ceremony was held as part of the Technion Board of Governors events. “Both of these groups have contributed significantly to our understanding of the universe,” said Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie. “One achieved a breakthrough in our understanding of the outer universe, and the other at the most internal level – the living cell.”

The Harvey Prize is the most prestigious scientific award conferred by Technion, and has been awarded annually since 1972 in recognition of outstanding contributions to science, technology, medicine, and peace in the Middle East. The prize fund was established by the late Leo M. Harvey (1887-1973), an industrialist and inventor from Los Angeles. Scott Leemaster, Chairman of the American Friends of the Technion, said that the Harvey Prize has become a “Nobel predictor,” since around 20% of its winners are later awarded the Nobel Prize. He noted that the heritage of the Harvey family continues to live on through the prize.

Group 1: Discovery of Gravitational Waves

In the field of science and technology, the prize was awarded to Profs. Emeritus Ronald Drever and Kip Stephen Thorne of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and to Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss of MIT. The three scientists, who led the LIGO experiment, received the prize for the discovery of gravitational waves, which verified a key prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity and opened a new window to the universe.

Gravitational waves are curved “ripples” that move in the four-dimensional space. Monitoring these waves is a huge scientific-engineering challenge because unlike light, which is easy to monitor due to its strong interaction with matter, gravitational waves do not maintain strong interactions and must be monitored in a highly sensitive facility that is not affected by minor earthquakes and nearby vehicle traffic. Moreover, the movement being monitored is smaller than a single atom. Indeed, LIGO is a tremendous and particularly sensitive gravitational wave detector (interferometer), in which laser beams move through a long vacuum sleeve that increases the sensitivity of the system.  

The gravitational waves trapped by the LIGO scientists were created in a fusion of two particularly large black holes. The collision, which took place 1.3 billion years ago, lasted a fraction of a second but created tremendous energy that generated the gravitational waves when they reached Earth, monitored by the system.

Einstein hypothesized the existence of gravitational waves in his theory of general relativity; their existence was verified indirectly in the 1970s, which won scientists Taylor and Hales the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1993. However, direct observation of these waves occurred only in 2015, at the LIGO facility. Even though Einstein retracted his prediction 20 years after his initial discovery in 1916 and denied the existence of gravitational waves, Weiss, Drever, Thorne, and their colleagues have proved that Einstein erred in his denial. Top scientists around the world estimate that this success will lead to the formulation of a “unified theory,” which will explain most of the phenomena in the universe based on the four physical forces: strong nuclear, weak nuclear, electromagnetic, and gravitational.

Profs. Weiss and Thorn, who led the discovery of gravitational waves, noted at Technion’s Harvey ceremony that they represent a group of about 1,000 scientists and engineers from 16 research institutions from around the world. They thanked the experiment directors; the US Congress, whose support was steadfast over the years; and the US National Science Foundation (NSF), which supported the project for 40 years even though, in the words of Prof. Weiss, “It was a big gamble on a technology without certainty that it would succeed, and US taxpayers’ money.”

The third scientist who was awarded the Harvey Prize for the LIGO experiment is Prof. Emeritus Ronald Drever, who passed away in March. His brother Ian, who accepted the prize on his behalf, said that Ronald was a born scientist who invented many things and conducted experiments even as a boy. Toward the end of his life, Drever suffered from dementia but updates on the LIGO experiment and news of the prize were beneficial to his health.

Group 2: Development of Optogenetics

In the field of human health, the prize was awarded to Prof. Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Prof. Peter Hegemann of the Humboldt University of Berlin. They received the prize for the discovery of the opsin molecules involved in sensing light in microorganism cells and their digitalization in the development of optogenetics. This innovative and original approach, which has revolutionized the field of neurobiology, enables the study of the function of nerve cells, and the connection between neural networks and animal behavior.

Optogenetics, one of the hottest areas of brain research today, is a highly accurate method for stimulating the brain and is therefore considered the best method for activating specific cells in order to test their effect on the function of an organism. The method makes it possible to affect brain cells by means of light, without electrodes. Using this approach scientists have succeeded in establishing, erasing, and changing memories, albeit in mice at this stage.

Israeli scientists are the most innovative and productive scientists in Europe today in various fields; following are a few examples. Prof. Lior Gepstein of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine has developed a method for the treatment of arrhythmia by means of optogenetics. Prof. Shay Shoham of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering has developed the first combination of optogenetics and holography as a means of restoring vision among patients with retinal blindness. Asst. Prof. Asya Rolls of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine uses optogenetic means to discover how the brain’s reward system enhances the immune system’s activity. Prof. Itamar Kahn of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine combines optogenetic methods with brain fMRI in order to study the mechanism of neurons and neuronal networks.

Recipient Prof. Deisseroth, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, said, “It is difficult to study the problems that cause people great suffering because psychiatry has many elements which are difficult to measure, and the brain is difficult to understand.

“The development of optogenetics is indeed a tremendous achievement; however, it does not belong solely to two researchers, but to generations of scientists whose work led to the accumulation of the knowledge necessary for the breakthrough. For this reason, receiving the Harvey Prize is a great honor for me, because it recognizes basic science – a practice that is not always sufficiently appreciated. Basic science often leads to dramatic developments in medicine without the scientist knowing at the outset where his research will lead. The lesson to be learned from the development of optogenetics is the importance of public support for basic science.”

Recipient Prof. Hegemann said excitedly that for him as a German the Harvey Prize is more important than other prizes he has won over the years. “One hundred and twenty years ago, Berlin was a world center of science where Einstein worked, and then the greatest disaster of all time occurred, which caused a severe blow to the Jewish people.

Israeli scientists are the most innovative and productive scientists in Europe today

“The recovery of German-Israeli relations is a wonderful phenomenon in my eyes. I visited Israel in 1977 for the first time and was amazed to discover the highly developed scientific ties between Israel and Germany. I think that the depth of the discussion, the culture of discourse, and the Israeli openness enables us, the Germans, to maintain beneficial and fruitful relations with Israeli scientists. Israeli scientists are the most innovative and productive scientists in Europe today, and I regret that I have not stayed here for longer periods of cooperation – but that might still happen.”

Technion President at the opening plenary of the 2017 Board of Governors events:

“Technion is becoming increasingly global and intensifying its presence around the world; the task that we now face is to increase the number of ultra-Orthodox students at Technion”

“Technion is becoming increasingly global,” said Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie at the opening session of the 2017 Technion Board of Governors meeting. “Today, the world of research requires cooperation between fields and universities. In order to maintain Technion’s position at the forefront of scientific research, we must be a part of the globalization of higher education. This has been one of my main tasks since I became President of Technion eight years ago.”

In recent years, Technion has indeed been working on many fronts towards this purpose, and the two flagships are its extensions in New York and China, which will be inaugurated this year: the permanent campus of the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute (JTCI) for applied engineering-scientific research will be inaugurated in the heart of Manhattan in September 2017, and Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), near the city of Shantou in China, will be inaugurated in December 2017. Technion is also strengthening its international reputation through strategic cooperation with leading universities around the world. The International School at Technion, which welcomes students from a variety of countries, has significantly expanded its activities and grown from 39 students in 2009 to 700 in 2016.

Prof. Lavie said that these international projects place Technion at the forefront of global research and constitute an important milestone in its progress towards achieving the Technion vision: “Becoming one of the world’s ten leading scientific-technological research universities in the development of human capital, leadership, and knowledge, which works to advance the State of Israel and humanity.” He also noted the success of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) masterminded by Prof. Hossam Haick of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Technion: an online course  in Arabic and English, which has already brought Technion to around 118,000 men and women from 87 countries, 23 of them in the Middle East.

Prof. Lavie emphasized another important challenge pertaining to the demographic changes in the State of Israel. “Israeli society is changing before our eyes. According to projections, by 2059 the ultra-Orthodox will make up 27% of Israel’s population, and this requires us to increase the number of ultra-Orthodox students in academia in order to help them integrate into the work force. In recent years, Technion has been working to increase the number of Arab students, whose percentage in the student body is now similar to the percentage of Arabs in Israel’s population, and we are now working to increase the number of ultra-Orthodox students at Technion. This is being done through special pre-academic programs and close support during their years of study.”

Technion representatives and friends from around the world arrived for this morning’s meeting of the Board of Governors and will participate in events until  Wednesday. Lawrence (Larry) Jackier, Chairman of the Board of Governors, said, “Technion is at the forefront of the globalization of higher education, enabling the dissemination of its successes in science, technology, and medicine. We must continue this effort to expand Technion’s global exposure and positive impact. This is also the bridge that will enable the younger generation of diaspora Jews to reestablish contact with the State of Israel.”

“Only through the Technion model will we be able to catch up with the Western world in the fields of science and technology”

This statement was made yesterday at the Technion by Mr Hu Chunhua, Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party and one of China’s top leaders.

Mr Hu Chunhua, secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party and one of China’s top leaders, visited the Technion yesterday at the head of a delegation of senior Chinese academics and government officials. The visit is a milestone in the establishment of GTIIT, the Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology, which will be inaugurated this coming December in the city of Shantou. Other senior officials who took part in the visit were Party Secretary of Shantou, Mr Chen Liangxian and China’s Ambassador to Israel, Mr Zhan Yongxin.

“We are pleased and excited to be here at the Technion, after you visited us in Guangdong in December 2015 to lay the foundation stone for GTIIT,” said Secretary Hu Chunhua. “Guangdong is the leading province in China in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), but in the fields of science and technology we have not yet caught up with the Western world. We have no doubt that only by adopting a model like that of the Technion will we be able to succeed, and this is the idea that led to the establishment of GTIIT. We thank Technion President Prof. Lavie and the team leading the establishment of GTIIT, which does everything with dedication and talent.”

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie congratulated Party Secretary Hu Chunhua on his visit to the Technion and said that “The GTIIT Institute, which was only a dream two years ago, will be inaugurated this year. Only China can realize such a large project in such a short time, and we at the Technion feel that we are your true partners. Together with the team leading this important cooperation on behalf of the Technion, we are in the process of recruiting the Institute’s future faculty members, who are chosen according to the Technion’s criteria, so that the level of instruction at the new institute will not fall below that of the Technion.” At the end of his speech, paraphrasing Confucius’s famous saying, the Technion President said, “The Technion is your partner in a journey of a thousand miles, in which we have already taken much more than a single step.”

Deputy Mayor and Acting Mayor of Haifa, Hedva Almog, said: “The establishment of GTIIT is part of a series of cooperations between Israel and Guangdong Province and between Haifa and its twin city, Shantou.” She added that an innovation center will be built near GTIIT to help Israeli companies penetrate the Chinese market and cooperate with local companies.

The Council for Higher Education (CHE) was represented by Prof. Ido Perlman, a faculty member at the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Deputy Chairman of the CHE. He said: “The Council for Higher Education is actively promoting the globalization of Israeli academia on behalf of international cooperation, and the success of the Technion and Guangdong Province in the establishment of GTIIT is a source of pride and a model for other universities in Israel.”

Hi-tech entrepreneur Dr. Yossi Vardi, who graduated from the Technion 50 years ago this month, said that “the secret of the Technion lies in the fact that it does not make do with scientific excellence alone, but also aspires to bridge the existing gap between basic science, technology and entrepreneurship. Thanks to this aspiration, the Technion has been a critical factor in the development of the Israeli hi-tech industry.”

The official ceremony held at the Senate Hall at the Technion was hosted by Prof. Boaz Golani, Technion Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development. At the end of the ceremony, Professors Moris Eisen, Alex Furman, and Eran Friedler presented the environmental studies that they have carried out in China: monitoring of ground-based mineral contamination, innovative membranes for water filtration, and runoff recycling in Guangdong Province. Environmental issues are drawing considerable public attention in China and will be one of the core subjects at the new technology institute under construction in China.

In addition, the Party Secretary toured the campus and visited the Center for Electronic Microscopy at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He received an explanation of the Titan microscope, which enables the observation of substances at the atomic level. Dr. Yaron Kauffmann demonstrated the microscope’s capabilities to the Party Secretary and the Technion President, and described the advanced studies carried out with it.

Assistant Professor Miri Barak of the Technion presents AugmentedWorld: an innovative location-based platform based on the wisdom of the crowd

Assistant Professor Barak, head of the Learning Technologies group at the Technion, is a leading expert in the fields of mobile learning, massive open online courses (MOOC) and cloud applications. In her research studies in collaboration with Prof. Richard Larson and Dr. Elizabeth Murray of MIT, she examines the cognitive and socio-cultural aspects of collaborative distance learning, motivation for learning, innovative thinking, and cognitive flexibility.

According to Assistant Professor Barak, the process of globalization and the accelerated technological development require a rethinking of teaching and learning processes in the 21st century.  

“In the past, only the lecturers had access to new information, but today it’s at the students’ fingertips – on their smartphones, tablets and laptops. Web and cloud technologies connect the students to a pipeline of infinite information and they can share knowledge with people from all over the world. Classroom lectures are perceived as anachronistic by the students, therefore, we must find new ways to promote meaningful learning.”  

In light of the new reality, Assistant Professor Barak is leading the development of AugmentedWorld – an open web platform based on geographic information system technology (GIS) and the wisdom of the crowd. The platform implements innovative design principles for online learning with an open and adaptive system that enables users to create contents and add layers of information through the use of text, images and videos. One important feature of the system is that it is the learners who formulate questions and answer research and multimedia questions in the various fields of science and engineering. Since the system was launched, more than 850 users from Israel, China, and the United States have registered, posting scientific questions, geographic information points and data that contributes to solving scientific questions.

In collaboration with Prof. Richard Larson of MIT, Assistant Professor Barak is promoting the development of a methodology for project-based learning using two complementary technologies: AugmentedWorld and BLOSSOMS. This joint project examines an integrative approach that combines technology-based learning and assessment, inside and outside the classroom. The project, which is funded by the MISTI program, is designed to promote scientific thinking and 21st century skills among learners of all ages from different parts of the world.

“The ramifications of accelerated technological development are widespread and deep,” says Assistant Professor Barak, “and one of them is the ‘generation gap’ between lecturers and college students.” Advanced technologies, which are now a vital resource for students, are very rarely used in the teaching process. Web technologies, satellite-based systems, mobile devices, social media, collaborative writing documents, computer simulations, and more – all of these have yet to fully realize their potential in academic instruction.”

Invitation to the Media

The Harvey Prize 2016: For the Discovery of Gravitational Waves and the Development of Optogenetics

Technion will award the prestigious prize to five world-renowned researchers in the fields of technology, science, and health

On Sunday, June 11, Technion will award the prestigious Harvey Prize to five world-renowned researchers. The prize is awarded annually to men and women who have made a significant contribution to humanity. The prize, named after the late Leo M. Harvey, is considered a Nobel predictor – about 20% of those who have won it were later awarded the Nobel Prize.

In the field of science and technology, the prize will be awarded to Professor Emeritus Rainer Weiss of MIT, and Professors Emeritus Ronald Drever* and Kip Stephen Thorne of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The three scientists, who led the LIGO experiment, will receive the prize for the discovery of gravitational waves, which confirmed a central prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity and opened a new window to the universe.

In the field of human health, the prize will be awarded to Professor Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University and Professor Peter Hegemann of the Humboldt University of Berlin. They will receive the prize for the discovery of the opsin molecules involved in sensing light in microorganism cells and their digitalization in the development of optogenetics. This innovative and original approach has revolutionized the field of neurobiology and enables us to learn about the functioning of nerve cells and the connection between neural networks and animal behavior.

The Harvey Ceremony will take place at the Heller Cinema, Zielony Student Union Building, on Sunday, June 11, at 12:30 pm.

*awarded posthumously

For further details: Technion Spokesperson Doron Shaham – 050-310-9088

Sensing the nanoscale with visible light, and the fundamentals of disordered waves

A general rule in optics is that light is insensitive to features which are much smaller than the optical wavelength. In fact, the whole concept of “index of refraction” arises from the fact that light experiences a medium as a whole, not responding to the individual atoms. However, a new experiment at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology shows that even features that are more than 100 times smaller than the wavelength can still be sensed by light.

Published last Thursday in Science, the work – conducted by Hanan Herzig Sheinfux and Dr. Yaakov Lumer from the group of Distinguished Professor Mordechai (Moti) Segev from the Technion, in collaboration with Dr. Guy Ankonina and Prof. Guy Bartal (Technion), and Prof. Azriel Genack (City University of New York), examines a stack of nanometrically thin layers – each layer is on average 20,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper. The exact thickness of the layers is purposely random. Ordinarily, this nanometric disorder should bear no physical importance: light just experiences the average properties, as if this were a homogeneous medium. But, in this experiment, a 2nm (~6 atoms) thickness increase to one single layer somewhere inside the structure is enough to change the amount of light reflected at a specific angle of incidence. Furthermore, the combined effect of all the random variations in all the layers manifests an important physical phenomenon called Anderson localization, but in a regime where it was believed to have vanishingly small effects.

Wave localization was first discovered in 1958 by Philip W. Anderson, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for it in 1977.  Anderson localization is a notoriously difficult effect to demonstrate in the lab. In particular, when the random features of a sample are much smaller than the wavelength, Anderson localization has practically no effect. Indeed, the random arrangement of the atoms in a material such as glass is not observable with visible light: the glass looks completely homogeneous, even under the best optical microscope. But the localization effect seen in this recent experiment is surprisingly potent.

How is this possible? Imagine being pushed by a mosquito. Normally, mosquitos are too weak to push anything as heavy as a grown person. However, if you happen to be walking on a tightrope, even a relatively small shove can have a large effect – all the other forces are balanced and the effect of the mosquito is still effectively amplified (technically, a mosquito’s shove is so weak, that this amplification would likely be ineffective, but the principle remains). In a crude analogue, while nanometric disorder is very weak, this experiment was conducted near the threshold of total internal reflection – a point of fragile stability, analogous to standing on the tight-rope – and the influence of disorder was effectively amplified.

These findings are a proof-of-concept which may pave the way for major new applications in sensing. This approach may allow the use of optical methods to make measurements of nanometric defects in computer chips and photonic devices. Since such an optical approach is expected to be faster and less expensive than measurements using electrons or X-rays, these results have a significant potential impact for manufacturing technology and basic science.

Click here to the paper in Science

Higher View, an exhibition on the subject of Jerusalem by Prof. Ezri Tarazi from Technion Israel, will soon open in London. The exhibition, which has been displayed at the Tower of David Museum (2015) and the Milan Triennale in Italy (2016), expresses various aspects of Jerusalem’s history, culture and politics through a series of tables.

Prof. Tarazi, born in 1962, heads the Graduate Program in Industrial Design at the Technion Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. He spent many years teaching at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, where he founded the Master’s Program in Industrial Design. In 2005, he founded the d-Vision post-academic program for the Keter Group, and was a member of the Council for Higher Education (CHE) for 10 years.

The Higher View exhibition consists of a series of separate tables, each of which expresses different aspects related to Jerusalem. The table in the picture expresses the geopolitical situation in the divided city of Jerusalem, and the table itself opens into two parts in order to illustrate the “injury” caused by the division of the city.  The sections placed on the table, which actually form the table itself, were collected in the Old City and cut into sections. Another table in the exhibition presents a dystopia in which the archeological excavations in the city become an end in itself, and Jerusalem becomes an empty crater symbolizing a city that has been emptied of all its assets. Another table makes it possible to produce music by placing glasses at street intersections, with each intersection activating a different musical instrument.

The exhibition will open at the Jewish Community Center in London (JW3) on June 5, 2017.

Researchers at the Technion and Weizmann Institute present a new model describing biological adaptation to unforeseen challenges

A study published in the journal Nature Communications presents a new model of how cells and organisms adapt to the environment: improvising new responses in the face of unforeseen challenges.

The authors, researchers from the Technion and Weizmann Institute, based their study on an original gene regulatory network model.

“Biological systems can cope not only with routine events but also with unforeseen ones,” explains Prof. Naama Brenner from the Technion Department of Chemical Engineering. “The capacity to adapt to unexpected challenges and changes indicates that beyond the “toolbox” that it has developed in the course of evolution, the organism is also equipped with the ability to improvise; in other words, the organism is a learning system capable of providing an ad hoc response to new situations.”

Prof. Brenner studied this learning ability at the microscopic level with doctoral student Hallel I. Schreier from the Interdisciplinary Program of Applied Mathematics at the Technion and Prof. Yoav Soen from Weizmann Institute. According to Prof. Brenner, “The basis for our calculations is a network model that describes the organism’s capacity to adapt to the changing environment.”

Biological systems, unlike engineering systems, are the product of evolution and are capable of repairing themselves and evolving. They are not planned in advance but develop on the fly in response to new challenges and changes. According to Prof. Brenner, “the biological cell has a huge number of degrees of freedom with which it improvises, and it is capable of initiating processes of self-organization in response to new and unfamiliar situations.”

Insisting on basic science

Prof. Brenner heads one of the Network Biology Research Laboratories at the Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences & Engineering. “Our goal is to promote interdisciplinary science that explores the various biological systems and phenomena: synapses, neural networks, genetic networks, multi-cellular organism development, populations, evolution, and more. We are living in a fascinating era – life science and research technologies are developing rapidly. In fact these technologies, such as genome sequencing, are more advanced than our ability to understand the information that they provide. Therefore, we have a lot of work to do: to develop theories and conceptual frameworks to understand  the experimental results. It is difficult and challenging to acquire an in-depth understanding beyond statistical correlations that might be of applied value. We, as scientists in academia, have the right and the responsibility to insist on basic science.”

Prof. Brenner completed her BSc at Hebrew University (Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science) and went on to earn her PhD at the Technion Faculty of Physics, under the guidance of Prof. Shmuel Fishman. After her doctorate she decided to switch to the life sciences and did her postdoc out under Professors Bill Bialek and de Ruyter van Steveninck at NEC Laboratories – a private research institute located in Princeton, New Jersey. There she entered the field of Computational Neuroscience. She subsequently worked for three years in InSightec, an Israeli company that has developed a noninvasive surgery technology – tumor removal using a beam of focused ultrasound waves. In 2001, she was invited by the Technion Department of Chemical Engineering to take part in a joint undergraduate program with the Faculty of Biology. “Here I began to study genetic regulatory networks in yeast with Prof. Erez Braun, my former teacher in a biophysics course, who had originally initiated my interest in the biology. This was an amazing time – we made a new discovery every week. My work with Professor Braun, and the experiments on flies conducted by Prof. Soen, revealed the ability of cells and organisms to adapt to the changing environment through improvisation. These experiments provided the inspiration for the current theoretical work on adaptation in regulatory networks.

At the same time, Prof. Brenner participates in a project for studying the evolution of microbial communities using a new technology – growing bacteria in micro-droplets. In this project, the researchers are trying to develop an “evolution machine” that would allow them to monitor in the lab evolutionary processes involving interactions between cells within a droplet and between populations growing in adjacent droplets. This project is carried out in collaboration with three other research groups in Europe and New Zealand, and funded by the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP).

Paper is online!!! – Here is the link

http://rdcu.be/rvBH