Technion and TU Berlin to hold a special symposium on the topic of green photonics
The symposium will mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany
On March 30th and 31st, 2015, the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) and the Technion will hold a joint two-day symposium on the topic of ‘Green Photonics’. The conference, which will be held at TU Berlin, will focus on problems arising from the dramatic increase in Internet use and the inability to provide the electrical energy required to support it. A significant part of the conference will be devoted to innovative technologies based on advanced use of photons, and as such pay tribute to the ‘International Year of Light’ declared by the UN, upon which the year 2015 will be dedicated to technologies based on light.
Leading researchers and developers from industrial and government laboratories worldwide will present the latest technologies related to electronic and optoelectronic computing and data communications (towards a ‘green’ web) as well as energy harvesting methods. In the morning session of March 30th, a special ceremony will be held to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany, with participation by key government members of both countries; many decades of collaboration between Technion and TU Berlin (the former TH Charlottenburg) will also be remembered and praised.
At the end of the symposium, both leading technical universities will present an outlook on the joint efforts they are making in the development of novel technologies and applications to serve society in the 21st century. As part of this cooperation, young researchers will be fostered and financially supported.
The 2015 Green Photonics Symposium is organized by the President of TU Berlin, represented by the Center of NanoPhotonics, together with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, represented by the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI) and the German Technion Society.
Technion President Professor Peretz Lavie, to serve as the Chairperson of the Association of University Heads, Israel. President Lavie replaces the outgoing Chairperson, Hebrew University of Jerusalem President, Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson
Prof. Lavie: “Scientific research at universities is a key growth engine for furthering development and strengthening the strategic status of the country. Our position among the world’s top research universities has been achieved through hard work in severely underfunded conditions. The task of the Committee of University Heads is to ensure that the Government of Israel will work towards enabling the continued functioning of universities at the highest levels.”
Prof. Ben-Sasson: “Quality of research, which is the core activity of the universities, will facilitate the future development of the State of Israel. It is therefore the obligation of the Government of Israel to place the issue of higher education as a top priority.”
Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie
The presidents of Israel’s research universities have appointed Prof. Peretz Lavie, President of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, as chairperson of the Association of University Heads of Israel. Peretz replaces the outgoing chairperson, Prof. Menachem Ben-Sasson, the President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who served for a two and a half year term.
VERA – the Hebrew acronym for The Association of University Heads, Israel, is a voluntary body founded by the heads of Israel’s research universities. The objective of the association is to promote and improve the management of aspects of common interest to all the universities and present their common interest in the most efficient manner to decision-making bodies in the field of higher education. All this in order to promote, improve and develop scientific research and standards of academic teaching for the good of the state of Israel and its citizen.
Prof. Menachem Ben-Sasson: “Over the past two years, the Association of University Heads of Israel faced tasks and challenges both at home and abroad that threatened to damage the future and the status of higher education and research in Israel. Among the challenges were attempts to impose academic boycotts on Israeli university researchers; this alongside trends at home opposing participation in budgeting programs and scientific cooperation with the European Union. This in addition to attempts by political bodies to interfere and place political pressure on Israeli academia and its operational conduct. Academic institutions operate based on criteria of academic excellence and a desire for scientific achievement approaching international standards, and the role of Government and society in Israel must allow them to continue to conduct themselves in the way that has led us to excellence.”
“The incoming chairperson will face important responsibilities. My colleagues and I are grateful to Prof. Lavie for agreeing to carry the burden of leadership of the Association of University Heads, and wish him great success in his new role. I would like to thank David Bareket, Head of the Director General Forum and VP and Director-General of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, for being an outstanding partner and my right-hand in managing the Association, and Prof. Aron Shai, Rector of Tel Aviv University and Chairperson of the Forum of Rectors.”
Prof. Peretz Lavie: “Scientific research at universities is a key growth engine for furthering development and strengthening the strategic status of the country. Our position among the world’s top research universities has been achieved through hard work in severely underfunded conditions. The task of the Association of University Heads is to ensure that the Government of Israel will work towards enabling the continued functioning of universities at the highest levels.”
“Another key issue on the agenda is the subject of academic freedom at universities. This freedom is a fundamental principle and the sine qua non for free inquiry, which has helped foster the high academic levels reached by Israeli universities. Ensuring it will be possible only if we continue to implement zero interference by political bodies attempting to violate these freedoms and impose a political agenda that is not conducted on the basis of academic and scientific standards of excellence.”
For further details: Gil Lainer – 058-688-2208, Doron Shaham – 050-310-9088
New Israeli stamp and two Nobel laureates at The Israel Chemical Society Annual Meeting
Prof. Michael Levitt, 2013 Nobel Prize laureate for chemistry: “My never-ending love for chemistry is due to a TV series”
The 80th annual meeting of The Israel Chemical Society (ICS) was held last week in Tel aviv. The meeting was attended by a delegation of senior researchers from Stanford University, including two Nobel laureates for chemistry: Prof. Michael Levitt, who was awarded the prize in 2013 (for developing computerized models for understanding the structure and properties of complex chemical systems), and Prof. William Moerner, who received the prize in 2014 (for developments in fluorescence microscopy). This year’s meeting was organized by the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion, and ICS President, Prof. Ehud Keinan, is a member of this faculty.
Stamp dedicated to International Year of the Light. Credit. Israel Philatelic Service
The meeting opened with the introduction of a new stamp, dedicated to the International Year of Light declared by the UN, and to the three 2013 Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry – Arieh Warshel, Martin Karplus and Michael Levitt, who was the keynote speaker at the opening plenary session. U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, commented that “the Israeli success story is based on science, and the ICS played a major role in building that success even before the establishment of the state. And even though the Israeli and U.S. governments help to oil the wheels, the main force behind the science cooperation between the two countries is based primarily on the activities of the ICS and its American counterpart, which work to promote excellence in academia, by creating an environment that promotes innovation and by being willing to take risks and raise new ideas.” Throughout the first day, the ICS awarded many prizes, including the prestigious 2014 Tenne Family Prize in memory of Lea Tenne for Nanoscale Sciences, awarded to Prof. Efrat Lifshitz, a senior member of the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, for “development and application of advanced methodologies for the study of the properties of nano-scale materials. These interdisciplinary achievements have significantly impacted the field of semiconductor nanostructures and gained worldwide attention.” Roman Waxenberg, a student of Prof. Lifshitz, won the Excellent Graduate Student Prize.
Prof. Michael Levitt, right, receiving the members of the Israel Chemistry Society from society president, Prof. Ehud Keinan. Photo credit: Elad Menuhin, ICS
Michael Levitt: Crediting a TV series
In his opening address, Michael Levitt related that his passion for chemistry was ignited when he watched “Thread of Life” starring Prof. John Kendrew, a BBC series broadcast in black-and-white in the early 1960s. “When I grew up, I chose to study physics, because to me it seemed simpler than chemistry – ‘just a few equations’ – but in the end I found my way to chemistry and medical applications.”
Levitt earned his M.A. and conducted post-doctoral research with Prof. Shneior Lifson at Weizmann Institute, “which is largely responsible for our winning the Nobel Prize.” During his stay in Israel Levitt fell in love with an Israeli and married her, and his first doctoral student (Miri Hirshberg) was also Israeli. “I’m very excited to be here,” said Levitt, “and would like to take this opportunity to thank the Nobel Prize committee for choosing us – not for the fact that they selected us, but rather for the courage to recognize the importance of the method – a calculation method that contributed significantly to biology and medicine. Ultimately, the big winner is our field of research.
“My career developed during a period of immense changes in science, which was driven by technology. It is hard to imagine the immensity of the change that has occurred in the world of computers within a few decades. In 1967 we were working on a computer with 1 megabyte of memory, which cost $1 million and took up an entire room; today you can buy a small laptop with 10 gigabytes of memory for a few thousand dollars. If similar changes had taken place in the automotive field, we would be able to buy a Volvo for $3 that would carry 50,000 passengers, travel at a million kilometers an hour, and park in a shoebox.”
At the end of his address, Levitt advised the young scientists in the room be daring (“take risks, but not stupid ones”), to follow their passion and be original, consistent, good and generous.
For further details: Gil Lainer – 058-6882208, Doron Shaham – 050-3109088.
Green, cheap, efficient photocatalyst for stable visible water splitting: a revolution in hydrogen production for fuel applications?
Prof. Yeshayahu (Shay) Lifshitz
A novel photocatalyst made of carbon and nitrogen proves to be highly efficient in solar water splitting enabling cheap and stable generation of hydrogen.
Production of H2 and O2 from overall water splitting using solar energy is a promising means of renewable energy storage. In the past 40 years, a host of inorganic and organic systems have been developed as photocatalysts for water splitting driven by visible light. These photocatalysts however still suffer from very low solar to hydrogen energy conversion efficiency and/or poor stability (their performance deteriorates within a few hours). The poor performance of these catalysts hindered the utilization of the simple process of photocatalysis for practical hydrogen production.
Lee, Lifshitz, Kang and co-workers (from Soochow University in Jiangsu, China and Technion, Haifa, Israel) have now developed a new photocatalyst: a carbon nanodot-carbon nitride nanocomposite. This new catalyst has long-term stability (its catalytic activity remains the same within more than 200 days) and is made of C and N – cheap, earth-abundant and non-polluting elements. The photocatalyst’s impressive performance for solar water splitting is realized through two stages as schematically described in the attached figure: (1) Carbon nitride is splitting water to peroxide and hydrogen, (2) Carbon nanodots are decomposing peroxide to water and oxygen. The carbon nanodots also increase the light absorbance of the solar spectrum in its most intense wavelength (orange light). The solar to hydrogen energy conversion efficiency of the new catalyst is 2%, more than ten times larger than previously reported values. Following the techno-economical analysis of the US department of energy (DOE) a catalyst with a 2% efficiency facilitates hydrogen production cost of about 6$/Kg, not much larger than the maximum target cost of DOE (4$/Kg).
Prof. Lifshitz holds 3 academic degrees in Physics: B.Sc. (Hebrew Univ.), M.Sc. (Tel-Aviv Univ.), Ph.D. (Weizmann Inst.). He was a senior researcher at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center where he was the founding head of the Space Qualification Section, responsible for qualification tests of materials and electronic devices used in Israeli satellites. He is internationally known as the originator of the “subplantation model” which is the basis of modern deposition technology and was the first to explain the nucleation of diamond in sub-atmospheric laboratory processes. Currently he is the Alfred and Marion Bar chair professor at the department of Materials Science and Engineering at Technion. Since 2014 he is also a Chair professor at Soochow University, China, where the present research was performed. Prof. Lifshitz was listed as one of the world’s top 100 materials scientists of the 2000-2010 decade by “Thomson Reuters” and the education appendix of Times Magazine. The current Science paper of Prof. Lifshitz adds up to several other Science and Nature papers he co-authored.
Source:
Liu et al, “Metal-free efficient photocatalyst for stable visible water splitting via a two-electron pathway”, Science, 347(6225), 970, 27 September 2015.
Ten Technion Faculty Members Receive the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education
The Faculty of Physics receives the Outstanding Faculty Award
The Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education was awarded to ten Technion faculty members and to the Faculty of Physics at an awards ceremony held on February 17, 2015. The awards ceremony was attended by the Yanai family, who endowed the prize, award recipients and their families, and Technion lecturers and students. This is the fourth year in a row that the prestigious prize has been awarded: “In appreciation of faculty members, who set an example through their endless contributions to teaching and learning and for their efforts to improve student involvement and sense of belonging to the Technion.”
The ten recipients are:
Assoc. Prof. Reuven Bar-Yehuda,
Assoc. Prof. Mark Gandelman,
Prof. Eddy Mayer-Wolf,
Assoc. Prof. Eran Yahav,
Prof. Guedi Capeluto,
Asst. Prof. Yizhar Or,
Prof. Dan Givoli,
Asst. Prof. Yiska Goldfeld,
Prof. Ester Segal,
Prof. Miles Rubin.
Moshe Yanai
Additionally, the prize for Outstanding Faculty this year was awarded to the Faculty of Physics in recognition of the faculty’s championing of teaching excellence and academic services to all Technion students. “The award is in appreciation of the continuous contributions by academic, administrative and technical staff and for their efforts in leveraging and promoting the quality and excellence of academic education within the Faculty and at Technion, out of a desire to improve and foster a better learning and social environment at the university,” stated The Awards Committee.
“When you factor in all the information, it has been shown without a doubt, that the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Education has contributed to and greatly enhanced the process of improving the quality of education at the Technion. The 140 new faculty that joined the institute in the last few years have become a part of a new Technion – a Technion where excellence in teaching holds a place of honor, alongside its world-class reputation for cutting-edge research.” said Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie. “In today’s Technion, recipients of the Yanai Prize are role models. The honor of being a “Yanai Prizewinner” is today synonymous with a seal of approval for teaching excellence.”
The President was referring to the ongoing implementation of recommendations from the “Cohen Committee” to ease the academic workload: “All of the Committee’s recommendations were intended to lighten the pressure on our students without compromising academic excellence, which is our guiding principle. The 2014-15 Fall semester was the first semester of the new shortened format of 13 weeks. Shortening the term from 14 to 13 weeks was one of the Committee’s central recommendations. Together with this recommendation, we will continue to implement other major changes suggested by the Committee, such as upholding the highest standards for exam fairness, preventing overlap between tests and studies, and publicizing exam scores at the appointed time. These recommendations are designed to both enhance the quality of education and improve the quality of life for students at the Technion,” said the President.
Prof. Peretz Lavie with his wife Lina with Moshe and Rachel Yanai
The Senior Executive VP of the Technion, Prof. Moshe Sidi, noted that: “In teaching and education as in research, the Technion has made it a top priority to strive to be the best and the most professional. The common denominator for excellence in research and teaching is human capital and the leadership of our researchers and faculty. Innovative learning tools and conditions, as well as other technological aids are merely the means to an end in the hands of excellent educators. Excellence is a human quality, not subject tools. Ten such highly qualified teachers today receive the Institute’s most prestigious honor for excellence in teaching.”
“Nearly every student I’ve spoken with has told me of a favorite class or lecturer they look forward to each week – a lecturer with a great ability to break out of the everyday mundane routine,” said Eyal Genis, Chairperson of the Student’s Association’s Academic Committee who was party to the selection process of the award winners. “Lecturers that can animate and breathe life into the content they are presenting, as opposed to merely reading through the motions of their prepared lectures; lecturers that make connections between the learning material and what can be expected in industry or research in future jobs; lecturers with a healthy sense of humor; lecturers that motivate students to take on an active role in their classes; lecturers that through their favorable attitude to their students are rewarded with their attention – these are the lecturers receiving awards today.”
Moshe Yanai is a global pioneer in the field of information storage Through his generous contribution and the establishment of the Yanai Prize, he sought to express his gratitude for the life skills he gained at Technion during his studies some 40 years ago. As his memories of life as a Technion student includes periods of difficulty, he decided to contribute 12 million dollars to award lecturers who have demonstrated teaching excellence, a gift that also greatly benefits Technion students. The prize, which awards 100 thousand Shekels to each recipient, will be given over a period of ten years.
In Moshe Yanai’s closing remarks he thanked the Technion for enabling him to give back to the academic community in a way that is both noteworthy and beneficial. “To sign the check is the easy part,” he said. “There is a consensus in the academic world about the importance of getting published in scientific journals. If you invest in publishing papers you are rewarded with personal recognition. Education, however, lacks a Nobel Prize, although the contributions to society are equally important. To me this is a worthy goal.”
NYU-Israel Institute of Technology to Forge Groundbreaking Partnership in Cancer Research
Funded by Major Gift from Philanthropists Laura and Isaac Perlmutter.
(New York, NY and Haifa, Israel, February 18, 2015)
In a groundbreaking step forward to advance global collaboration in the fight against cancer, two of the world’s pre eminent academic and research institutions — NYU Langone Medical Center and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology — formally announced a $9 million gift from philanthropists Laura and Isaac Perlmutter that will fund two major, joint research endeavours with potentially far-reaching impact in advancing cancer research. The joint program is positioned to attract additional, world-class support from institutions and individuals who are dedicated to eradicating cancer through focused and efficient research.
Pictured at the conference are (l. to r.): Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, senior vice president and vice dean for science at NYU Langone and chief science officer at NYU School of Medicine; Aaron Ciechanover, MD, D.Sc., the 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry and Distinguished Research Professor and head of the David and Janet Polak Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center at the Technion Faculty of Medicine; and Eliezer Shalev, MD, Dean of the Technion Faculty of Medicine
The first $3 million of the grant will finance six cancer-focused research projects that will be conducted by teams spearheaded by co-investigators from both NYU Langone and the Technion. The remaining $6 million will be used to establish a state-of-the-art research facility on Technion’s campus in Israel that will support these and other research projects– and which will have a principal focus on the emerging field of cancer metabolomics.
NYU Langone is a world-renowned leader in the investigation and treatment of cancer. The Technion is one of Israel’s leading academic and research centers and a top-ranked science and technology global research university.
“NYU Langone and the Technion have a shared, longstanding commitment to advancing cancer research,” said Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, senior vice president and vice dean for science at NYU Langone, chief science officer at NYU School of Medicine, and a principal architect of the NYU Langone-Technion partnership. “We are now at a great moment in our institutions’ illustrious histories, a point from which we can jointly leverage the talent and creativity of our researchers toward accelerating breakthroughs. The foresight and the generosity of the Perlmutters, particularly at this time of financial challenge in funding for basic research, will have tremendous impact.”
“Bringing together the unique expertise of researchers from both NYU and the Technion will hopefully enable us to overcome some of the most difficult challenges in treating cancer patients,” said Technion Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover, MD, D.Sc., the 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, and Distinguished Research Professor and head of the David and Janet Polak Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center at the Technion Faculty of Medicine.
Internationally Renowned Researchers to Lead the Charge
Distinguished Prof. Aaron Ciechanover
The latest gift from the Perlmutters coincides with two new appointments at NYU Langone and the Technion that will be integral to the partnership. Renowned cancer biologist Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, an expert in the field of cell signal transduction, recently joined the NYU Langone faculty as director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center, and Eyal Gottlieb, PhD, a world leader in cancer metabolism, has been recruited to lead the new research facility at the Technion funded by the Perlmutter gift – and spearhead joint efforts in cancer metabolomics.
Dr. Neel will work closely with Prof. Ciechanover to lead the collaborative cancer research effort between the two institutions.
In addition, Dr. Neel will oversee at NYU Langone the building of world-class translational programs in immunotherapy, cancer genetics/targeted therapies and epigenetics, imaging, as well as expanded programs in clinical care, community outreach and supportive oncology. Prior to joining NYU Langone, Dr. Neel served as Director of the Ontario Cancer Institute at Princess Margaret Cancer Center, a position he held since 2007.
Dr. Gottlieb currently serves as Director of the Cancer Metabolism Research Unit at the Cancer Research UK, Beatson Institute in Glasgow, Scotland. His work principally focuses on cancer metabolism and metabolomics, combining analytical chemistry with basic cancer research to explore metabolic adaptations and vulnerabilities of cancer and with it, new potential clinical approaches for cancer treatment.
Champions in the Fight Against Cancer
The gift to foster the NYU Langone-Technion partnership continues the efforts of the Perlmutters to champion projects in the fight against cancer. In January 2014, they made an extraordinary gift in excess of $50 million to advance cancer research and treatment at NYU Langone. As part of that gift, NYU Langone renamed the NYU Cancer Institute – a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center – the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone. The Perlmutters both serve as members of the Board of Trustees at NYU Langone.
The latest gift also recognizes the Perlmutters’ commitment to wed Israel’s strengths as a global leader in research and technological innovation with other institutions and endeavors. They note that Israeli institutions like the Technion spearhead many of the world’s top advances in medicine, science and technology with a proven record in the development of effective cancer treatments – and that it was important to them to further these efforts through partnerships like the newly established one with NYU Langone.
“Ike and I have long sought for ways to link the state of the art scientific and research advances being made in Israel with our deep commitment to NYU Langone Medical Center,” said Ms. Perlmutter in announcing the new gift. “The partnership between the Technion and NYU Langone allows us to launch a focused cancer research and treatment approach. We are confident that this collaborative effort, which avoids duplication of research initiatives and creates efficiencies among marquee donors and researchers, will lead to dramatic results in the fight against this terrible disease.”
Cancer Metabolomics – A Roadmap to Breakthroughs in Diagnosis and Treatment
Cancer metabolomics will be the principal focus of the research lab that will be established at the Technion with the Perlmutter gift. Metabolomics is the comprehensive study of chemical processes in cells such as the breaking down of sugars and fats. These processes are both affected by, and can influence, a variety of human diseases including cancer. Because of the significant differences in the chemical processes that occur in cancer cells in comparison to normal healthy cells, metabolomics is becoming ever more important in cancer research. Developing a comprehensive understanding of these chemical processes through metabolomics is critical both for the early detection and diagnosis of cancer as well as for developing innovative treatments.
Novel imaging approaches, early detection blood tests and new targeted drugs to fight cancer would all be facilitated with a deep and comprehensive understanding of cancer metabolomics. These types of studies integrate biology, chemistry, mathematics and computer science, making it an ideal focal point for collaboration between a science and medical institution like NYU Langone and a technological and academic powerhouse like the Technion.
First Phase of Project Launched
Collaborative efforts between NYU Langone and the Technion are already underway. Under the auspices of the initial $3 million grant, a request for proposals (RFP) for cancer-focused projects was recently disseminated among key researchers at both NYU Langone and Technion. A major stipulation in the RFP is that all submitted projects have co-principal investigators representing both institutions. The RFP request follows a highly successful two-day joint workshop, held in New York City in fall 2014, at which many researchers from both NYU Langone and Technion presented updates on their work and learned of ways in which they could collaborate.
Approximately six research projects will be selected with each receiving a two-year, $500,000 grant –$250,000 to fund research at each site. Funding for selected projects will commence in late spring 2015.
About Technion-Israel Institute for Technology
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is a major source of the innovation and brainpower that drives the Israeli economy, and a key to Israel’s renowned as the world’s “Start-Up Nation.” Its three Nobel Prize winners exemplify academic excellence. Technion people, ideas and inventions make immeasurable contributions to the world including life-saving medicine, sustainable energy, computer science, water conservation and nanotechnology. The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute is a vital component of Cornell Tech, and a model for graduate applied science education that is expected to transform New York City’s economy.
American Technion Society (ATS) donors provide critical support for the Technion—more than $2 billion since its inception in 1940. Based in New York City, the ATS and its network of chapters across the U.S. provide funds for scholarships, fellowships, faculty recruitment and chairs, research, buildings, laboratories, classrooms and dormitories, and more.
About NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated academic medical center, is one of the nation’s premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research, and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals—Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; Rusk Rehabilitation; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, the Medical Center’s dedicated inpatient orthopaedic hospital; and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children’s health services across the Medical Center—plus the NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The Medical Center’s tri-fold mission to serve, teach, and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education, and research. For more information, go to www.NYULMC.org, and interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
The principal collaborative groundwork for the new research partnership between NYU Langone Medical Center and The Technion-Israel Institute for Technology began at a two-day joint workshop, held in New York City in fall 2014, at which researchers from both institutions presented updates on their work and learned of ways in which they could work together.
10 Faculty Members and One Technion Faculty to Receive the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education
The Award Ceremony will take place at the Technion on Tuesday, February 17 at 18:00.
The Yanai Prize for Academic Excellence will be awarded this week to ten outstanding Technion faculty members. This will be the fourth year in a row that this prestigious prize will be given for significant contribution to the advancement of higher learning. The Yanai Prize for Academic Excellence is awarded:
“In appreciation of faculty members, who set an example through their endless contributions to teaching and learning and for their efforts to improve student involvement and sense of belonging to the Technion.”
The winners of this year’s Yanai Prize for Academic Excellence are:
Moshe Yanai, a global pioneer in the field of information storage, in making his contribution, sought to give back to the Technion in gratitude for the life skills that he gained during his studies at the institute 40 years ago. Since he recalls the years of study at the university with hardship and periods of difficulty, he decided together with Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie, to contribute 12 million dollars to award lecturers who have demonstrated teaching excellence, a gift that also greatly benefits Technion students. The prize, which awards 100 thousand Shekels to each recipient, will be given over a period of ten years.
Technion scientists solve structural challenge that has intrigued chemists for decades.
Asst. Prof. Alex Szpilman from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion has developed a new class of radicals with stable structure.
An illustration of a stable α-hydrogen nitroxyl radical – the stable radical developed by Asst. Prof. Alex Szpilman from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion
In a recent report, in the prestigious journal Nature Communications (published February 6th 2015), researchers under the guidance of Assistant Professor Alex M. Szpilman and Dr. Mark Iron of the Weizmann Institute of Science, have reported a solution to a decade-long conundrum: the preparation of stable α-hydrogen nitroxide radicals. These radicals have the potential to be used as both catalysts for chemical reactions and detectors for potentially harmful radicals in biological systems.
Radicals are formed in many chemical processes in nature, for example during metabolism in living cells. In spite of their bad reputation, which arises from their role in human disease, they have an important role in the immune system as “warheads” for killing infecting bacteria. Radicals also play a role in cell signalling.
Free radicals are molecules or atoms that have at least one unpaired electron. Usually electrons prefer to pair up, for example when forming a bond between atoms. When an electron is unpaired, the resulting radical is usually unstable. Indeed, radicals rapidly react with each other in order to pair up their electrons and form a bond between them. Radicals are often formed in our bodies with unwanted side effects and can cause damage to our cells, including to DNA. One of our key defense mechanisms is made up of radical scavengers such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E.
Although most radicals are extremely unstable and reactive, and consequently have a very short life span, there are exceptions. The first stable radical, triphenylmethyl radical, was discovered by chance in 1900 by Moses Gomberg at the University of Michigan. This historical event led to the development of other stable radicals. In 1960, the first nitroxide radical, TEMPO, was shown to be an exceptionally stable and useful radical. TEMPO and other nitroxide radicals have since been introduced to numerous applications including in the plastic and pharmaceutical industry as well as in medicine, agriculture and biochemistry (for example in measuring distances within DNA).
Unfortunately, known nitroxide radicals have several disadvantages such as difficult preparation and high cost. Since stability is often achieved by placing large atoms near the radical center, these radicals are simply too unreactive for many applications.
The design concept of “stable α-hydrogen nitroxide radicals” developed by the research team could bring about a revolution in the way we prepare and use radicals. Not only does it allow the preparation of stable radicals that are less encumbered due to the small hydrogen atom, and hence more reactive for chemical processes, but they are also likely to be useful for numerous other future applications. To quote the paper in Nature Communications “Multiple applications in catalysis, biology and medicine may be foreseen.”
The new nitroxide radicals have already been shown to be efficient catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols. These applications are illustrated both in the Nature paper and in another paper from the Szpilman group in the journal ChemCatChem.
Szpilman and his colleagues have demonstrated the generality of their ideas by preparing two different families of stable radicals. In both cases the synthesis of the radicals is easy, short, flexible, and starts from inexpensive readily available chemicals. The new radicals are more efficient catalysts for alcohol oxidation than the venerable TEMPO. The radical catalyst can be recycled and used over and over again which offers a significant advantage from the environmental perspective. Additionally, the only by-product of the reaction is water.
“Because the synthesis is so flexible we are now able to prepare tailor made radicals for different applications. For example, water soluble radicals for biological studies or more efficient catalysts for oxidation or polymerization (in plastic production) and other industrially important uses. The possibilities are endless. From the scientific point of view, we have the possibility of studying radical processes in biological systems. The understanding of these potentially harmful processes may eventually lead to the development of ways to treat or prevent disease.”
Alex M. Szpilman is a native of Denmark. He first came to Israel as a volunteer at Kibbutz Hamadia when he was 18. Upon completing his M.Sc. degree at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) he returned to Israel for doctoral studies at the Weizmann Institute of Science. After postdoctoral studies at the ETH Zurich he started his independent career at the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Tehcnion in 2009.
During his studies Szpilman worked on the total synthesis of natural products and the understanding of their biological activity, which is an applied branch of organic chemistry. Upon joining the Technion he decided to return to the study of fundamental chemistry. “It is my strategic approach to science to first research chemical discoveries of fundamental importance and then develop them further for use in synthesis and other applications,” he explains. “Chemistry is a wonderful and exciting field. A lot of creativity is needed in order to come up with new ways of making chemical bonds or new molecules. There is something incredibly rewarding in writing down an idea on a piece of paper and then making it come alive in the laboratory.”
Nanomedicine: Can cancer tumors control the release of therapeutics?
Silicon carriers for the local delivery of anticancer drugs degrade differently when they reach the diseased environment, which can effect clinical outcomes. A joint study conducted at Technion, MIT and Harvard is shedding light on this degradation process, opening the way for improved tumor treatments.
The image illustrates porous silicon (PSi) particles used as a platform for the delivery of anticancer drugs (highlighted in green on the diagram) and its release at the targeted breast cancer tumors. The degradation of the PSi at the tumor microenvironment was investigated using novel imaging methods. The researchers tracked the decomposition of the material on the diseased tissue and uncovered its degradation mechanism, which triggers the release of the drugs trapped within the porous medium
The prestigious journal Nature Communications reveals that silicon nanomaterials for the localized delivery of chemotherapeutics behave differently in malignant tumors in comparison to healthy tissues. The joint study was conducted at the Technion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Harvard Medical School.
“We have shown for the first time that biomaterials in general, and nanostructured porous silicon in particular, behave differently when they are injected (or implanted) at the tumor microenvironment.” says Prof. Ester Segal, who heads the Technion team that led the study. “Over the last few years, we successfully engineered silicon to be used as a carrier of anticancer drugs that releases its contents in a controlled manner, and now we are focusing on the degradation mechanism of the silicon at the diseased tissue.”
Nanostructured Porous Silicon is the common name for a family of silicon-based materials containing nano-scale holes. This material is today seen as a promising drug delivery vehicle, mainly due to its unique characteristics: a large surface area (geared for drug unloading), biocompatbility, and bio-degradability in a safe and non-toxic manner. In recent years, Prof. Segal and her doctoral student Adi Tzur-Balter developed ‘containers’ (carriers) for the delivery of anticancer drugs. Through careful design of the silicon containers, in terms of their pore diameter and surface chemistry, the group achieved optimal features for effective drug delivery.
The important findings of the study, which investigates the behaviour of the silicon ‘containers in breast cancer tumors, are associated with the accelerated degradation of the silicon material in the diseased area. The research showed that reactive oxygen scecies upregulated in the cancerous environment (in vivo), induce oxidation of the silicon, causing a rapid degradation of the ‘containers’ as compared with (in vitro) lab experiments. As a result, this article sheds light on the process of nanostructured silicon degradation at the tumor microenvironment, and allows for early and smart design intervention of the silicon structure to facilitate controlled release of the drug at the targeted site. Importantly, the ability to determine and predict material fate in vivo under specific environments is the next step in biomaterial design that could lead to fast and successful clinical translation.
Prof. Esther Segel
About Prof. Ester Segal
Prof. Segal completed all three of her degrees at the Technion’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering. In 2007, upon completion of her postdoctorate at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), she joined the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion. She currently heads the Multifunctional Nanomaterials Laboratory. In 2014, she won both the Henri Taub Prize for Excellence in Academic Research and the Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education.
Technion Promotes Science and Technology Innovations in Education, in China
A delegation of Technion professors and lecturers has recently returned from a conference on innovation and creative action in education held in Shenzhen, China. About 700 science teachers and school principals from Guangdong Province attended the conference, which was on the topic of science and technology innovations in education.
Prof. Orit Hazan, the Head of the Technion’s Department of Education in Science and Technology, gave the opening lecture at the conference on the topic of “Innovation in Science and Technology Education in Israel.” In her lecture she emphasized the need to encourage different processes and change to promote innovation in general as well as how cooperation between education, academia, industry and the public sector can promote innovation in science and technology education.
In addition, lecturers and graduate students from the Technion’s Department of Education in Science and Technology led workshops for school principals in a number of topics: mathematics, physics, chemistry and computer science.
The seminars were held as part of the activities of Technion International in China, in cooperation with the Education Department of Guangdong Province and the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau.
“The city of Shenzhen is a twin-city of Haifa,” said Prof. Paul Feigin the Vice President for Strategic Projects at the Technion, who was one of the organizers of the conference. “The purpose of the conference was to promote the Technion and its scientific achievements to science teachers teaching in the city’s schools, so that they would recommend the institute to their students.”
While chemotherapy is often a life-saving treatment for cancerous tumors, choosing the right chemo for each patient remains an unmet clinical challenge. Furthermore, current chemotherapies cause harsh side effects and damage healthy organs alongside the tumors.
Drug delivery systems in use today surprisingly dispatch only 10% or less of a drug dose to the tumor, with the remaining 90% distributed elsewhere in the body. “It’s better than untargeted systems, but it’s far from ideal,” says Prof. Schroeder.
Schroeder and his team are developing nanosized “factories” that manufacture protein-based cancer drugs inside the body upon reaching the tumor site. Mimicking the protein-manufacturing strategy found in nature, the factories contain ribosomes, amino acids and enzymes—the building blocks needed to synthesize the desired protein-based drug.
At 150 nanometers or smaller—1/1,000 the diameter of a strand of hair, these factories are injected into the patient and circulate in the blood until finding the tumor. Since many tumors have leaky blood vessels with pores that are several hundred nanometers wide, these factories are small enough to penetrate.
Other researchers have developed systems that release drugs inside the tumor, but Prof. Schroeder and his team are the first to manufacture drugs inside the tumor. “This is the first proof of concept that you can actually synthesize new compounds from inert starting materials inside the body,” says Schroeder.
His system promises to allow physicians to tailor drugs specifically for each patient, and will allow the patient to receive a more concentrated dose of the drug only where it is necessary, thus escaping the harsh side effects.
After earning his PhD at Ben Gurion University and postdoctoral studies at MIT with Prof. Robert Langer, Schroeder returned to Israel. Courted by several universities, he received a Horev Fellowship through the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation Leaders In Science and Technology Faculty Recruitment Program, and accepted a position at the Technion in 2012.
Prof. Schroeder is widely published and has received more than 20 awards including TevaTech Graduate Student Award in Chemistry and Biology, Intel PhD-Student Award for Research in Nanotechnology, the Wolf Foundation PhD-Student Award, the prestigious Polymer Advanced Technologies 2013 Young Scientific Talents Award, and the Allon Fellowship.
Perhaps one of greatest securities is in the trust that the water we drink is safe. This human need for clean drinking water is global, and with good reason. The presence of nitrates in drinking water has been found to have a direct connection with infant mortality and fatal disease.
Nitrate is the most common chemical contaminant found in ground water. Excessive concentration of Nitrate is linked to the fatal blue baby syndrome, cancer and other illnesses. In California and other places in the world, about 10% of the wells produce water that exceeds the regulatory Nitrate limit.
Safe, environmentally friendly ways to clean up drinking water from harmful nitrates are high on the global agenda. A recent study conducted by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, states that. “Nitrate contamination of potable water sources is becoming one of the most important water quality concerns in California and across the United States.”
New technologies to make the cleaning of contaminated water economically viable and effective are urgently needed.
Responding to the clear need to clean out the nitrates from our water resources, a dynamic new company based on front-line Technion innovation, is aiming to bring a revolutionary water purification system to market. The new technology is cited as both effective, economic, and environmentally friendly.
Called WellToDo, the startup is already operating a pilot system to demonstrate its effectiveness on a pilot well in Israel. We spoke to WellToDo CEO Hovav Gilan about the process of technology transfer, and the next moves the young company will be taking into the market-place.
Gilad Hovav; CEO of WellToDo
Q: What is Nitrate and why do we not want it in our water?
Hovav Gilan:
Nitrate is the most common ground water pollutant in the world. It is estimated the 10% of global ground water is contaminated at levels higher than the maximum allowed drinking limit. Drinking water with high concentration of Nitrate is a major health risk. It can lead to diseases such as cancer, birth defects, miscarriages and can even be fatal to infants through a condition called blue baby syndrome where the Nitrate prevents red blood cells from transporting oxygen to the cells.
Nitrate is also a common pollutant in industrial waste water of many industries such as mining, oil and gas, power generation and food and beverage.
Q: What would be the WellToDo advantage over its competition?
Hovav Gilan:
Available treatment technologies rely on removing contaminants from the main water stream and concentrating it into a small volume of water called a concentrate stream. These methods are problematic since it does not eliminate the contamination rather it just moves it some place else. This concentrate stream still needs to be disposed and treated which adds costs and complicates matters. In many cases there is no possibility to treat this concentrate stream and this prevents the entire water treatment operation.
The WellToDo process is advantageous since it converts contaminants into nonpolluting compounds. We do not move the contamination some place else, We eliminate it all together. The way we do this is by reacting the contaminants with materials that convert it to harmless compounds. In the case of Nitrate we use Hydrogen to convert the Nitrate to Nitrogen gas and water. This conversion reaction is possible due to a proprietary catalyst that we have developed.
Q: At what stage is WellToDo right now?
Hovav Gilan:
The company was established 2.5 years ago when we licensed the patent from the Technion. Today we have proved the technology in pilot sites in contaminated wells in Israel and are in the final stages of negotiations to install a full scale commercial system with a big water utility in Israel.
Q: What will happen with the company if its mission is fulfilled? How will it impact the world?
Hovav Gilan:
Our technology is an enabler to treating water otherwise untreatable. In many places in the world drinking water is not treated due to lack of available treatment technologies. In many places in the world industries do not treat its industrial waste streams thus causing a major damage to the environment.
Implementing our technology will enable safe drinking water to communities around the world and will ensure industries will not damage the environment. Basically we will make the world a cleaner and safer place.
Q: Can you say something about the process of commercialization through the incubator model?
Hovav Gilan:
The incubator model of the Office of the Chief Scientist is an excellent tool to assist inventors and entrepreneurs in commercializing their inventions. Bringing a new technology to market and converting it to a sellable product can be a risky and audacious task that requires vast resources and time. In the incubator model, some of the risk is assumed by the government which gives “peace of mind” and allows the engineers and scientists to mature the technology and make it market ready.
Q: Can you tell a bit about the service given by T³ in its connection with the project and/or bridging the scientists with entrepreneurs?
Hovav Gilan:
T³ has been very helpful in connecting us to the relevant researchers in the Technion and in helping us evaluate various technologies. We came to T³ with a clear goal to license a winning technology in order to build a CleanTech company. T³ introduced us to a short list of possible technologies which was already screened by T³. This was a great help since it made the selection process shorter and easier. After we had focused our efforts on the chosen technology, T³ added value by helping with benchmarking the technology and conducting the commercialization process.
The vast network of contacts maintained by T³ is also an important asset and a big help in the commercialization process.
Q: How would you describe Technion as a world center of innovation?
Hovav Gilan:
I graduated from the Technion almost 20 years ago and I have strong feelings for this prestigious institute. Managing a company that is based on a Technion developed technology shows me that the Technion is not just an academic institute: the research done by the Technion staff has real life and day to day applications. This shows that the Technion is not just an innovative institute – it is practical and contributing to improving the world.
