In peacetime, aside from his research, Professor Aviv Censor has a large following in Israel for his ultra-helpful videos explaining complex math problems for high schoolers.
Since October 7th, he’s helped Israelis down South navigate the complex logistical and other challenges after the horrific attack.
Likewise active in the Achim LeNeshek (Brothers-in-Arms) organization protesting judicial reform, Aviv took a drastic pivot just 2 days after the attacks on Gaza Envelope kibbutzes.
He took his family and moved in with friends temporarily in Le Havin, 10 minutes north of Beer Sheva, so he could help in the massive Home Front effort.
The local Achim LeNeshek headquarters were quickly converted into a logistical coordination center and Aviv and other volunteers got quickly to work.
The aftermath of the attack, aside from being beyond devastating and totally unprecedented, required a lot of help with even simple things, like armed convoys to evacuate families, bringing medicines and equipment to just-arrived army units, baby food to families who needed it.
There is a strong need to pick vegetables and fruits to prevent them going to waste.
Cows and other domestic animals need to be evacuated or cared for in difficult conditions (army equipment noise, among others).
Vets and cattle ranchers and farm volunteers need transport and other help.
Lots of other non-military needs arise each day.
Just today, he went to sit shiva with various families, to provide comfort to mourners.
The volunteer effort is a truly massive one in the South, just as in the North and Center, a testament to the resilient and helpful spirit of Israel.
The Technion community is immensely proud and supportive of Aviv and our many other volunteers, as well as reservists and soldiers on active duty.
We pray for their safety and for better times very soon.
On the morning of October 7th, Neta Portal and Santiago Perez woke up in their small apartment in Kfar Aza to the sound of warning sirens. They locked themselves in their safe room but were injured by the bullets that penetrated the door. When Santiago realized that the terrorists had thrown a grenade at the safe room door, he pushed Neta out of the window and followed her. While escaping from the apartment, they faced more gunfire from terrorists but managed to evade it and hide under one of the nearby buildings in the kibbutz. Santiago was hit in the back by a bullet, and Neta suffered seven gunshot wounds to her legs.
Both Neta and Santiago survived, injured but hidden, until they were rescued by Neta’s father, Deputy Chief Superintendent Shimon Portal. During her rehabilitation period at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, Neta received a unique orthotic device tailored especially for her. The device will help her to walk while her severely injured ankle is unable to bear weight. The device was developed at the Technion and tailored to Neta based on a three-dimensional scan of her leg. The personalized device was built thanks to a long-standing collaboration between Dr. Dana Solav from the Technion’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Amir Haim from the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center. Both were doctoral students at the Technion under the guidance of Prof. Alon Wolf, currently dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and have maintained a fruitful professional relationship ever since.
From left to right: Dr. Dana Solav, Neta Portal and Dr. Amir Haim
According to Dr. Solav, the purpose of the device is to enable the recovery of mobility while practicing natural and symmetrical walking under the requirement that the ankle is entirely or partially offloaded. The device effectively transfers weight to the healthy part of the leg above the injured part, allowing walking without causing pain. Moreover, it features an adjustment mechanism that facilitates a gradual and measured increase of weight-bearing of the affected part, according to the level permitted by the clinical condition.
Dr. Solav added that while walking with the device, the knee and hip joints can move and function normally, which helps prevent muscle atrophy and bone density reduction, especially in long-term rehabilitation processes. The three-dimensional scan eliminates the need for a plaster cast, and the computational design process facilitates the fabrication process, which combines a lightweight aluminum frame and 3D-printed parts.
Dr. Solav stated that in peacetime, injuries like Neta’s are uncommon. Unfortunately, in recent months, she has encountered other cases of soldiers with similar injuries. Sometimes, the injuries lead to amputation, but in many cases, doctors try to save the foot and ankle with complex surgeries, and the orthosis can improve the effectiveness of long-term rehabilitation after surgery. Additionally, they believe the orthosis can assist many diabetes patients who cannot walk due to pressure ulcers on the soles of their feet.
Dr. Solav’s research team, which consists of students and engineers, continues to develop and improve the orthosis while exploring its impact on walking. Simultaneously, the team is planning clinical trials in collaboration with Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, and hoping to see many people improve their walking rehabilitation by using the innovative orthosis in the near future.
Dr. Dana Solav, a faculty member in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion, completed her MSc and PhD under the guidance of Prof. Alon Wolf and Prof. Miles Rubin, and returned to the Technion as a faculty member after completing a post-doctorate at MIT. Her laboratory focuses on biomechanical interfaces, developing medical devices that connect to the body, such as prosthetics and braces, using 3D scans, medical imaging, and computer simulations.
Dr. Amir Haim is the director of the Biomechanical Rehabilitation Unit, the chairman of the Research Authority and a senior physician in the Department of Orthopedic Rehabilitation at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center. He is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and an outstanding graduate of the combined MD/PhD track at the Technion – a track where participants complete a degree in medicine and a doctorate in philosophy.
“No one prepares you for the moment when you will be a refugee in your own country.”
Hila Hatsav, a “Sderot refugee,” as she calls herself, was supposed to enter the Technion dormitories on October 10th, before beginning her studies in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.
On October 7th, following the heavy rocket barrages on Sderot and the infiltration of armed terrorist squads into the city, she hurried to evacuate without having time to pack even a small bag – not even a pillow and a sheet. “No one prepares you,” she says, “for the moment when you become a refugee in your own country.”
On October 10th Hila received a phone call from Malka Rosenfeld, head of the Technion Student Union (TSA), who told her: Just come, we’ll take care of everything for you. “And really, I came to the guest house at the Technion to an apartment that had been arranged for me. They provided me with clothes, toiletries, food—whatever I was missing. Even a computer that allows me to study these days. And no less important – I met an amazing team here, from a student who volunteered to introduce me to the Technion in the early days to the president of the Technion who met me and asked to hear my story.”
Hila doesn’t know when she’ll be able to return to her home in Sderot, but she feels safe and loved here at the Technion. “I experienced solidarity, camaraderie, and community that you can’t experience anywhere else in the world. I am so happy that I came here and chose to study here. It was my dream to study here even before I knew what good people there were at the Technion.”
Since the beginning of the war, the Technion has begun absorbing evacuated residents from the south and north. Currently, about 60 people are hosted on campus in student dormitories and at the Forchheimer guest house at the Technion.
