Stephen was a second-generation Technion supporter. His father was president of the local chapter of the American Technion Society, and would, as Stephen recalled, “drag me around to Technion events.” Both of his parents loved Israel, and Technion held a special place in their hearts.
“As I grew up,” Stephen once said, “I came to understand the crucial role that Technion has played in the survival and success of Israel.” He and his wife Nancy were honored as Technion Guardians, those friends who’ve made the highest commitment to the Technion. Stephen was also honored with an Honorary Doctorate in 2010.
Stephen realized that the world’s future sustainability, economic development, and security depended on answers to the technical and economic challenges faced by the water industry and the development of reliable energy sources. Innovative research and technology were needed. In 2001, Stephen provided major support for the establishment of the Technion’s Grand Water Research Institute (GWRI), and in 2010 for the Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP). These two major gifts were alongside other gifts, which encapsulated the foresight of Stephen and his family in their support for the Technion.
All of us at the Technion greatly enjoyed Stephen’s visits and appreciated his wise counsel. Over the years, it was heartwarming to us that Stephen appreciated the accomplishments of the GWRI and GTEP, and all of the other programs he supported.
In addition to their support for the Technion, Stephen and Nancy were active in numerous philanthropic activities throughout the United States and Israel. Stephen was the co-founder of Grand/Sakwa Properties, a Michigan-based real estate developer.
The ceremony will include the personal testimony of Mr. Itzhak Herzog, who survived the Holocaust as a child in Hungary, and will share with us his personal story. There will be no studies during the time of the ceremony.
The Technion held the final round of the 11th Nadav Shoham Robotraffic competition. Hundreds of high school students from 10 different countries took part this year in a virtual format, and the final stage concluded five consecutive days of competition.
This year, the participating schools received instructions in advance, and each of them showcased their model car in a live, online performance. The main advantage of the virtual format was the number of schools it enabled to participate and their diverse geographical distribution; some schools were participating for the first time in such a competition. In total, this year’s competition included about 50 teams, including 12 from Russia, 6 from China, and teams from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, the USA, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Israel.
The competition had five categories, two of which were shown live during the week. The team that won first place in the Careful Driving Category received a scholarship for a full year’s tuition at the Technion. Additional prizes for the winners of the competition were donated by Nvidia.
Technion Senior Executive Vice President, Professor Oded Rabinovitch, told the students that “robots have become an integral part of our lives in recent years and we all encounter them in school, at work and in our leisure time. Their presence will only increase in the years to come, and the current competition gives you a taste of the diverse and unique world of robotics and an understanding of the importance of the mathematical and scientific fundamentals in solving engineering challenges. If you understand this, you have won, no matter the results of the competition.”
The competition was led by the Head of the Leumi Robotics Center Professor Moshe Shoham, together with the Director of the Center Dr. Evgeny Korchnoy. Over the past year, Technion International also become involved through the International School of Engineering.
“The past year has emphasized the necessity of autonomous robots in protecting medical teams, the brave fighters at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus, but also in many other contexts,” said Prof. Shoham. “We are happy to hold this competition every year, bringing high school students closer to the world of robotics and allowing them to experience some of the enormous potential inherent in this field.”
“Organizing this year’s competition obliged everyone to put in a lot of effort due to time differences and of course because of the pandemic and lockdowns, which made it difficult to prepare in groups,” added Dr. Korchnoy. “We are pleased to note that the proportion of female students in the competition is growing, and we have a few groups of female-only students. “
Robotraffic 2021
The Robotraffic Competition, which was held for the first time in January 2010, is intended to foster interest in science and technology by developing autonomous vehicles able to drive in an urban environment according to traffic laws. In preparation for the competition, the students learned about robotics, driving laws and road safety rules, and acquired “real world” skills, including leadership, initiative, and teamwork. The competition is a joint project of the Leumi Robotics Center at the Technion, World ORT – Kadima Mada, and the World Zionist Organization in collaboration with YTEK, Nvidia and IBS, and supported by Bank Leumi.
Winners of the competitions are as below:
Category A: Careful Driving
“Career Planning Center” Tomsk (Team-2) Russia
“Career Planning Center” Tomsk (Team-1) Russia
ORT Argentina (Team-2)
Category B: Racing
Hlukhiv Centre of Extra Education, Ukraine
ORT Argentina (Team-2)
Kansk College of Technology, Russia
Category C: Reverse Parking
Kansk College of Technology, Russia
ORT Specialized School #41, Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Hlukhiv Centre of Extra Education, Ukraine
Category D: Traffic Safety Initiatives
ORT Kiev NVK-141, Ukraine
Frankel Jewish Academy, Detroit, USA and Hlukhiv Center of Extra Education, Ukraine
ORT Argentina
Category E: Learning car structure with 3D CAD
ORT Specialized School #41, Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Hlukhiv Centre of Extra Education, Ukraine
ORT “Alef” Jewish Gymnasium, Zaporozhye, Ukraine
Award: Striving for Excellence in Robotics Studies
Suzhou No.10 High School of Jiangsu Province, China
Taicang Walton Foreign Language School, China
Mingde Senior High School, China
ORT Tekhiya School 1311, Moscow, Russia
Centro Paula Souza, São Paulo, Brazil
ORT Mexico
Peterson School, Mexico
Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Taipei Private Tsai Hsing High School, Taiwan
Misgav High School, Israel
NVIDIA Prize
“Career Planning Center”, Tomsk (Team1 and Team 2), Russia
On March 22, the Adelis- SAMSON project – an autonomous satellite that will detect high precision earth-based satellites – was launched into space. This is the first simultaneous launch of three Israeli satellites. The project was developed with the support of the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Science, and IAI.
On Monday morning, at 8:07 Israel time, the autonomous satellite group developed at the Technion as part of the “Adelis- SAMSON ” project was launched into space aboard a Glavkosmos Soyuz rocket. The satellites were launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan – the world’s first spaceport, and the first site to send a human into space (April 1961, Yuri Gagarin). The Adelis-Samson project is supported by the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, and the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Aerospace.
Four hours and twenty minutes after the launch, the Adelis-SAMSON satellites entered orbit. Thirty minutes later, they “woke up” and began operating their systems.
Watching the live broadcast from the control center at the Asher Space Research Institute were Technion President, Professor Uri Sivan, Vice President and CEO Professor Boaz Golani, Vice President for Foreign Relations and Resource Development Professor Alon Wolf, Head of the Asher Space Research Institute Professor Yoram Rosen, and the people who have been accompanying the project since its inception, headed by Professor Pini Gurfil of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and the Asher Space Research Institute (ASRI).
“This morning’s launch was accompanied by tremendous excitement”, said Prof. Pini Gurfil. “A basic study over the course of many years, combined with advanced Israeli technology, allows Israel to take an important step forward in the field of micro-satellites. You could compare the innovation of nanosatellites to switching from the computer to the cellphone. The Adelis- SAMSON project demonstrates a new concept in nanosatellites and will enable many operations to be carried out that have been reserved until now for large and expensive satellites. This is a leap in the field of miniature satellites in the capabilities of the Technion and for the entire State of Israel, and one which will make the Technion a global pioneer in the fields of location and communication, with diverse applications including missing persons detection, search and rescue, remote sensing, and environmental monitoring”.
The excitement at the Asher Space Research Institute at the Technion after the successful launch.
The trio of satellites will move in space in an autonomous structure flight, that is, they will move in coordination with each other without the need for guidance from the ground. The band will be used to calculate the location of radiating sources on Earth, a technology that will be applied in locating people, planes, and ships. Each of the three miniature satellites (CubeSats) weighs about 8 kg and is replete with sensors, antennae, computer systems, control systems, navigation devices, and a unique and innovative propulsion system. The satellites will travel at an altitude of 600 km above ground and will detect high-precision signals from Earth. The signals will be transmitted to a special mission control center inside the Asher Space Research Institute. The mission receiver developed by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
“The Adelis- SAMSON project is a wonderful and exciting example of the successful integration of science and technology and the translation of innovative ideas into effective systems that contribute to humanity”, said Prof. Uri Sivan, President of the Technion. “Scientific and technological breakthroughs require multidisciplinary research and close collaboration between academia and industry, and this is what has led the project to this important day. Each time that you look up at the sky, remember that the Technion has succeeded again in reaching space”.
“The current project continues a Technion tradition that began in 1998 with the successful launch of the Gurwin-TechSat II“, added the Technion President. “That satellite operated in space for more than 11 years, a record time for academic activity in space. The launch of Adelis- SAMSON is a dramatic moment that we have been waiting nine years for and will follow closely.
I sincerely thank our partners at the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, the Israel Space Agency and the Israel Aerospace Industries for helping us make this project a reality”.
The unique development of these satellites was made possible by an exceptional collaboration between academia and industry. A special propulsion system, based on krypton gas, will be the first of its kind in the world to operate on a tiny satellite. The digital receiver and the directional control system were developed at IAI’s plant, in collaboration with Technion researchers. In addition to the propulsion system, the satellites will accumulate energy through solar panels that will be deployed from each satellite and will serve as wings that will control, if necessary, the flight of the formation without the use of fuel, using air resistance in the atmosphere. Each of the nanosatellites is fitted with one of the most complex digital receivers ever designed. The system for processing the information on the satellite and the algorithms that will keep the structures flying is among the first of their kind in the world, and support the simultaneous autonomous operation of all three satellites. The navigation system includes two GPS receivers for autonomous navigation. The system through which the three nanosatellites will communicate with each other, as well as with the ground station, will be operated at three different frequencies – a significant challenge that was resolved in the current project. A dedicated frequency will be used to transmit information to Earth through broadband.
Satellite control and propulsion systems are also a technological innovation. To save fuel, the satellites are aided by two natural forces – gravity and atmospheric resistance – and thus propel themselves. In this way, they need a small amount of fuel – less than a gram of fuel per day per satellite. This achievement is the result of ten years of research that preceded the launch.
The monitoring of the satellites and the collection of data that will be transmitted will take place at the Adelis- SAMSON control station, inaugurated at the Technion in 2018. Built with the support of the Adelis Foundation, it contains an array of antennas made by Israeli Orbit company and will communicate continuously with the satellites.
In the words of Mrs. Rebecca Boukhris, Adelis Foundation Trustee: “For many years, space and space technology have been considered the domain of superpowers, and too grand, expensive, and complex for small countries. Israel has demonstrated that this is not the case, and it is vital that it is a member of the elite international space community. The rapid development of the space industry in Israel is essential. This project is unique for the Adelis Foundation in that it symbolizes the spirit, genius, and strength of Israel. In effect, it highlights the technological and scientific brilliance of Israel and positions our country on the world map in the field of aerospace, and all this on a modest budget within the university setting of Technion. The Adelis Foundation considers itself as sowing the seeds of the future and hopes that this project will be the first of many more. We hope that many other small and brilliant projects will take the Adelis-SAMSON mission as an example and develop a new ingenious space mission for the benefit of the State of Israel”.
The field of nano-satellites has recently been booming and the number of launches is increasing every year”, says Avi Blasberger, director of the Israeli Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and Technology. “The cost of developing and launching such satellites, capable of performing a variety of uses, is significantly lower than those of regular satellites. In the near future networks are expected to appear to include thousands of nanosatellites that will cover the Earth and enable high-speed internet communication at a significantly lower cost than is currently available, as well as having many other applications such as the one demonstrated in the SAMSON satellites”.
“We see great importance in our collaboration with the Technion to promote academic research and future technologies in the field of space”, says IAI President & CEO Boaz Levy. “IAI, Israel’s ‘National Space House’, sees high value in its connection to academia on the business and technological levels to advance Israel’s continued innovation and leadership in the field of space. This partnership promotes the development of the entire ecosystem and IAI is proud to join forces in this innovative and groundbreaking project”.
Among the many partners of Technion’s Adelis-SAMSON project are the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Science, and IAI. From the Technion, many researchers from the Asher Space Research Institute participated in the project – Avner Kaidar, Hovik Agalarian , Dr. Vladimir Balabanov, Eviatar Edlerman, Yaron Oz, Maxim Rubanovich, Margarita Shamis, Yulia Kouniavsky, Tzahi Ezra, and Dr. Alex Frid, as well as many students over the years.
The Technion opened for the 2021 spring semester on Sunday, using a model of hybrid teaching – a combination of online and frontal teaching – in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s restrictions and “green” guidelines. After a challenging year of online learning, students are returning to classrooms, campuses, and frontal learning after presenting a vaccine certificate and pre-registering.
2. Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan with students on campus tour
The Technion buildings and faculties were well prepared for the students’ return. The security unit has assigned bouncers, security guards, scouts, and certified COVID-19 inspectors on the contained campus to keep students and faculty members safe and to ensure that green regulations for COVID-19 are maintained. Only students with a vaccine certificate are able to study in classrooms, and class sizes are regulated.
Returning students were greeted by a banner that read, “We Came Back Green,” placed by the Office of the Dean of Students and the Student Union. The celebration also included eye-opening flags, placards, fortune cookies, and cards.
“This is a special day for all of us,” said Technion President, Professor Uri Sivan on a tour of the campus with Senior Vice President Professor Oded Rabinowitz and the Deans of the Technion. “The members of the academic and administrative staff have already gradually returned to campus in the past two weeks, in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidelines. Today, it is the turn of the students, who are the heartbeat of the Technion, to return to the classrooms. This spring semester comes after a long winter, and after the pandemic that lasted a whole year. Now we can finally go back and hear the academic hum in the classrooms, in the labs, in the hallways, and in the offices. With the return of the students, the campus will return to being a vibrant intellectual center.”
Hybrid class. In Dr. Aviv Censor’s class, students learn in class and online at the same time.
“I haven’t taught on campus in over a year and it’s definitely refreshing – a thousand times more comfortable than teaching on Zoom, which is sadly what we’ve become used to,” said Professor Eitan Yaakobi, researcher and lecturer in combinatorics in the Taub Faculty of Computer Science. “For the students here in class today, it’s the first time that they are studying live on campus. We now understand how important it is to have a personal relationship with the students, something I really missed this past year. Good luck to all the teachers, and especially to those learning, the students.”
“I’m really excited to be here, and I think the lecturer is more excited than anyone,” said Liad Pearl, a second-year student in computer engineering. “Suddenly, people are making jokes in class and laughing for real, not in front of a screen.”
“We’re very excited to be back in class,” said first-year biology students in Professor Meital Landau’s biochemistry and enzymology course, “just like on the first day of first grade.”
“Studying at home, on Zoom, was difficult for us,” said students in Dr. Nadav Amdursky’s analytical chemistry course, “both in terms of having technological issues as well as having distractions at home. We’re happy to be back in class.”
Students return to campus.
A year ago, on the eve of opening the spring semester 2020, Israel Council for Higher Education imposed a blanket ban on frontal teaching. Despite the short notice, the Technion managed to open the 2020 spring semester online on the scheduled date of March 18, with hardly any problems. It was the result of a conscious and ongoing effort to introduce digital teaching technologies in the years prior to the pandemic.
The two semesters since March 2020 have taken place online, thanks to the tireless work of Technion Senior Vice President Professor Oded Rabinowitz, Dean of Undergraduate Studies Professor Hossam Haick, and many others. This period has shown that while digital platforms allow for online learning and continued studies, they cannot completely replace frontal teaching. The interaction between students and lecturers is an essential component of campus life, learning, and student development. This is the background for the advancement of hybrid teaching, which combines online teaching with active classroom learning.
The launch of the Technion nanosatellites into orbit took place on Monday, March 22nd, from Kazakhstan. Mazal tov!
Human capital
The Adelis-SAMSON project will be launched into space this weekend after years of planning, development, construction, and improvements. The project was carried out by a committed and dedicated team at the Technion, led by Professor Pini Gurfil of the Asher Space Research Institute. The team members are Avner Keidar, Hovik Agalarian, Dr. Vladimir Balabanov, Eviatar Adlerman, Yaron Oz, Maxim Rubanovich, Margarita Shamis, Yulia Koneivsky, Tzachi Ezra, and Dr. Alex Frid.
Ground Control
Satellite tracking and data collection will take place at Technion’s mission control center, which was inaugurated in 2018. Built with the support of the Adelis Foundation, the center contains an array of Israeli-made antennae manufactured by “Orbit,” which will maintain continuous communication with the satellites. This is a huge challenge because of their proximity to each other.
Technological innovation
Being the first project of its kind, the Adelis-SAMSON project is a technological leap that is underway after years of interdisciplinary research and collaboration between the Technion and industry, including new and original developments. In order for the three satellites to travel in formation and fulfill their missions, each was each installed with sensors, antennae, computer systems, control systems, navigation devices, a unique and innovative propulsion system, and a mission receiver developed by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
Launch
The Adelis-SAMSON satellites will be launched over the weekend from the “Baikonur” Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan – the world’s first spaceport and the first site to launch people into space (April 1961, Yuri Gagarin). The three satellites will be launched along with dozens of satellites from 18 countries, including Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.
The Adelis-SAMSON satellites will enter orbit 4 hours and 20 minutes after the launch. They will “wake up” 30 minutes later, and their systems will start operating. The first communication with the control center at the Technion is expected on Saturday afternoon.
The launch of the Technion nanosatellites into orbit took place on Monday, March 22nd, from Kazakhstan. Mazal tov!
The “Adelis-SAMSON” project, an autonomous group of three nanosatellites built and developed by the Technion – Israel institute of Technology, will be launched into orbit on March 20, 2021. The project is the passion of a research team led by Professor Pini Gurfil of the Asher Space Research Institute (ASRI), and the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, with the support of the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, and the Israel Space Agency in the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The nanosatellite
The satellites will piggyback on a Glavkosmos Soyuz rocket from a site in Kazakhstan, and once in orbit, will be used to calculate the location of people, planes, and ships. The cluster of satellites will fly in formation in space by utilizing autonomous communication and control, without needing guidance from the ground.
The Adelis-SAMSON formation includes three miniature satellites (CubeSats), each weighing about 8 kg (17 ½ lb). Each CubeSat includes sensors, antennae, computer systems, control systems, navigation devices, and a unique and innovative propulsion system. The satellites will travel at an altitude of 550 km (341 mi) above ground and will detect signals from Earth using a mission receiver developed by IAI. The CubeSats will then transmit these signals to a mission control center located at Technion’s Asher Space Research Institute.
“Basic research over the course of many years, combined with advanced Israeli technology, allows Israel to take an important step forward in the field of nanosatellites,” explained Prof. Gurfil.
Representatives of the Adelis Foundation with Prof. Boaz Golany and Prof. Pini Gurfil, 2018
“You could compare the innovation of nanosatellites to switching from the personal computer to the cellphone. The Adelis-Samson project demonstrates a new concept in nanosatellite design and will enable many operations to be carried out that have been reserved until now for large and expensive satellites,” he continued. “This is a leap in the field of miniature satellites, in the capabilities of the Technion, and for the entire State of Israel, and one which will make the Technion a global pioneer in the fields of geolocation and satellite communication, with diverse applications including search and rescue, remote sensing, and environmental monitoring.”
“The Adelis-SAMSON project is a wonderful and exciting example of the successful integration of science and technology and the transformation of innovative ideas into effective systems that contribute to humanity,” said Professor Uri Sivan, President of the Technion. “Scientific and technological breakthroughs require multidisciplinary research and close collaboration between academia and industry, and this is what has led the project to this important day.”
“The current project continues a Technion tradition that began in 1998 with the successful launch of the Gurwin-TechSat II,” added the Technion President. “That satellite operated in space for more than 11 years, a record time for academic activity in space. The launch of Adelis-SAMSON is a dramatic moment that we have been waiting nine years for and will follow closely. I sincerely thank our partners at the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, the Israel Space Agency, and Israel Aerospace Industries for helping us make this project a reality.”
Engineers & researchers from the Asher Space Research Institute at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology with the nanosatellites
In the words of Mrs. Rebecca Boukhris, ADELIS Foundation Trustee: “For many years, space and space technology have been considered the domain of superpowers; and too grand, expensive and complex for small countries. Israel has demonstrated that this is not the case, and it is vital that Israel is a member of the elite international space community. The rapid development of the space industry in Israel is essential. This project is unique for the ADELIS Foundation in that it symbolizes the spirit, genius, and strength of Israel. In effect, it highlights the technological and scientific brilliance of Israel and positions our country on the world map in the field of aerospace, and all this on a modest budget within the university setting of Technion. The Adelis Foundation considers itself as sowing the seeds of the future and hopes that this project will be the first of many more. We hope that many other small and brilliant projects will take the ADELIS-SAMSON mission as an example and develop a new ingenious space mission for the benefit of the State of Israel.”
The field of nano-satellites has been booming recently and the number of launches is increasing every year,” says Avi Blasberger, director of the Israeli Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and Technology. “The cost of developing and launching such satellites, capable of performing a variety of uses, is significantly lower than those of regular satellites. In the near future networks are expected to appear to include thousands of nanosatellites that will cover the Earth and enable high-speed internet communication at a significantly lower cost than is currently available, as well as having many other applications such as the one demonstrated in the Adelis-SAMSON satellites.”
The mission control center at Technion’s Asher Space Research Institute.
“We see great importance in our collaboration with the Technion to promote academic research and future technologies in the field of space,” says IAI President & CEO Boaz Levy. “IAI, Israel’s ‘National Space House’, sees high value in its connection to academia on the business and the technological levels to advance Israel’s continued innovation and leadership in the field of space. This partnership promotes the development of the entire ecosystem and IAI is proud to join forces in this innovative and groundbreaking project.” Israel’s next generation satellites resulted from exceptional collaboration between academia and industry. A special propulsion system, based on krypton gas, will be the first of its kind in the world to operate on a tiny satellite. The digital receiver and the attitude control system were developed by IAI in collaboration with Technion researchers. In addition to the propulsion system, the satellites will accumulate energy through solar panels that will be deployed next to each satellite and will serve as wings that will control, if necessary, the flight of the formation without the use of fuel, using air drag in the atmosphere. Each of the nanosatellites is fitted with a digital receiver, one of the most complex ever to fly on a nanosatellite. The system for processing the information on the satellite and the algorithms that will keep the formation flying will be among the first of their kind in the world, and will support the autonomous operation of several satellites simultaneously. The navigation system will include two GPS receivers that will be used for autonomous navigation. The communication system through which the three nanosatellites will communicate with each other as well as with the ground station will be operated at three different frequencies – a significant challenge that was resolved in the current project. A dedicated frequency will be used to transmit information to Earth through broadband.
There are many partners in Technion’s Adelis-SAMSON project, including the Adelis Foundation, the Goldstein Foundation, the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Science and IAI. From the Technion, researchers from the Asher Space Research Institute included Avner Keidar, Hovik Agalarian, Dr. Vladimir Balabanov, Eviatar Edlerman, Yaron Oz, Maxim Rubanovich, Margarita Shamis, Yulia Koneivsky, Tzachi Ezra and Dr. Alex Fried, as well as many students over the years.
The “Adelis-SAMSON” project’s team with Prof. Pini Gurfil of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering (first from left)
Assistant Professor Arielle Fischer from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering combines movement biomechanics,wearable technology, biological research, and artificial intelligence to accelerate and optimize the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders.
Assist. Prof. Arielle Fischer, who is currently establishing two innovative laboratories in the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, combines accumulated knowledge in a variety of fields to tackle orthopedic and neurological problems employing innovative technologies.
“These areas have been studied for many years, but what is needed to achieve a breakthrough is a multidisciplinary approach that analyzes the interactions between biomechanics, structure, and biology,” said Prof. Fischer.
Assistant Professor Arielle Fischer
Research is in Prof. Fischer’s DNA. Her mother, who was born in Egypt, holds two Ph.D.s, in philosophy and psychology, and her father who was born in the United States earned his Ph.D. in criminal justice. When Arielle was 11, her parents made Aliyah to Israel with their five children from Albany, New York to Yuvalim, a community village in the lower Galilee.
After serving in the Israeli Air Force, Dr. Fischer returned to the U.S., where she attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She chose to go to MIT “because it was an opportunity to study at the world’s leading engineering university.“ In 2009 she returned to Israel and earned her degree in biomedical engineering at the Technion, where almost a decade later in 2020 she came full circle when she returned as a faculty member.
Dr. Fischer earned her Ph.D. in the Technion in Mechanical Engineering, in the Biorobotics and Biomechanics Laboratory. Under the supervision of Professor Alon Wolf, she developed a rehabilitation intervention that allowed patients with musculoskeletal disorders to train correct movement patterns.
“Among other things, we developed a device that allows the patient to practice walking correctly while removing a percentage of their body weight, which has important applications for people with neurological or muscle/skeletal impairments.”
Dr. Fischer was the recipient of the Switzerland Government Excellence Scholarship and conducted collaborative research, as part of her Ph.D., between the Technion and EPFL, the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, where she had the opportunity to work in the development of advanced robotics in the field of orthopedics and rehabilitation.
After earning her doctorate, Dr. Fischer followed the well-trodden path from Israel to the USA. She conducted her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, where she “…worked in the rehabilitation of patients with joint problems, people with meniscus injuries or those after knee replacement surgery or anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.”
During this period, she focused on developing wearable devices for monitoring and stimulation during motion as part of restoring motor-neural skills. “Wearable monitoring provides us with extensive and continuous information about various physiological data,” she said. “And AI tools enable us to analyze this information efficiently and quickly and to extract in-depth conclusions about normal functioning as well as other injuries and disruptions.”
One of her greatest achievements at Stanford was the development of an innovative device that masks pain during the joint rehabilitation process and increases the patient’s mobility to facilitate the performance of an activity. This device, KneeMo®, is a wearable, non-invasive knee device that includes two elastic bands with stimulation models strategically located to elicit the strongest response based on anatomy and nerve locations.
According to Prof. Fischer, “The knee device bands are tightly attached around the lower part of the thigh and the top of the calf to generate static pressure and active vibration. The timing of the vibration is synchronized to the movement of the leg using sensory modules (accelerometer and gyroscope) that detect the movement of the limb and activate the stimulus at a specific point of the walking cycle where we want to increase muscle activity. Our vision is to develop a dedicated device for each joint, which will accelerate and improve rehabilitation processes and restore the ability to move for muscle-skeletal injuries.”
Prof. Fischer’s groundbreaking work at Stanford University earned her a postdoctoral excellence scholarship from VATAT – the Israeli Council for Higher Education. She returned as a faculty member to Israel in 2020 to establish her own lab: The Biomechanics and Wearable Tech Lab, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. In doing so, she became the first undergraduate of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering ever to return as a faculty member. Prof. Fischer’s worldview, characterized by her collaborations and multidisciplinary perspective, also earned her the prestigious Zuckerman Scholarship for Young Researchers.
Here at the Technion, Prof. Fischer is hard at work establishing a laboratory that will operate in three main disciplines:
Research and development in the context of rehabilitation and treatment of orthopedic problems (musculoskeletal disorders), through a combination of wearable devices, muscular stimulation, monitoring of motion and muscle activity, analysis of the biomechanics of movement, and more.
The development of a mobile laboratory that will be able to test people outside the Technion. This mobile laboratory will rely partly on wearable devices. Currently, she is collaborating with Rambam, Reut, and Beit Levinstein Medical Centers. She also works with the Wingate Institute and the IDF with the goal of reducing orthopedic injuries among athletes and soldiers and treating them at an early stage after injury. Prof. Fischer’s research also involves injury prevention.
Examining biomarkers reflecting biological processes. “This is a less developed field, that is, developing a biomarker-based assay for quantifying the dynamic cartilage response to diagnose joint distress through blood tests. It turns out that by comparing tests before and after exertion it is possible to monitor, for example, the breakdown of cartilage, which is a major clinical process in motor deterioration, she explained. “As we refine the technology of these tests, we will be able to identify problems in the initial stages of deterioration in which the treatment is much more effective.”
Prof. Fischer plans to analyze the information from her laboratories and wearable devices, using complex probability models, including artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, a field of research her husband, who is about to complete a doctorate at the Technion, is specializing in.
Professor Fischer explained that “Artificial intelligence allows us to analyze vast amounts of information and draw conclusions from it that cannot be reached in traditional ways. It is clear to me that such technologies will expand our knowledge of musculoskeletal injuries and enable us to develop new ways to prevent and treat such injuries.
“Since orthopedic problems are familiar to everybody, especially to older people, I am happy to be part of the efforts to reduce the burden these problems cause in daily living, and believe that in the coming years we will see numerous breakthroughs that will improve our lives in this area as well.”
With billions of mobile devices worldwide and the relatively low cost of connected medical sensors, recording and transmitting medical data has become easier and faster than ever. Continuous and long-term dynamic physiological data can now be easily obtained. However, this ‘wealth’ of physiological data has seen very limited successes in being harnessed to provide actionable clinical information.
The AIMLab is based at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering and its new “digital space” was inaugurated November 2020
Part of the challenge is due to the high variability in data quality, the lack of standards for data representation (e.g., resolution, sampling frequency, and metadata), and the development, in many studies, of relatively small datasets which fail to capture the vast range of variability across patients and time.
Another part of the challenge is the lack of smart and robust algorithms that can decrypt the information contained in a large number of data points recorded over time, what is known as physiological time series. The development of machine learning algorithms combined with existing and novel wearable biosensors offers an unprecedented opportunity to improve the screening and tracking of an individual’s health, and support the management of patients’ conditions, particularly through remote health monitoring. Remote health monitoring relates to the monitoring of individuals outside the classical hospital environment, typically in their home.
The Technion Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Laboratory (AIMLab.) directed by Assistant Professor Joachim Behar develops innovative pattern recognition algorithms to exploit the information encrypted within large datasets of physiological time series. The AIMLab leverages these new data-drivenalgorithms toward the creation of novel intelligent remote patient monitoring systems.
Within its research scope, AIMLab recently published two innovative research works looking at continuous remote monitoring of heart and lung diseases:
y is a non-invasive method routinely used to monitor blood oxygen saturation levels. Low oxygen levels in the blood mean low oxygen in the tissues, which can ultimately lead to organ failure. Yet, unlike heart rate variability measures, a field that has seen the development of stable standards and advanced toolboxes and software, no such standards and open tools exist for continuous oxygen saturation analysis.
AIMLab offers, for the first time, such as standardization and an open-source toolbox for digital oximetry biomarkers. Using this new resource, the researchers demonstrated the value of such biomarkers for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea – a common sleep-related breathing disorder, causing the upper airways to temporarily close off during sleep. The lab is now also applying this technology to the diagnosis and management of other respiratory diseases including COVID-19.
The figure depicts an example of oximetry time series (blue continuous line) recorded for 500 seconds as well as the detection of events (desaturations) highlighted in red and green on the figure.
In a second study, AIMLab. evaluated, for the first time, the ability to estimate the percentage of time a patient spends in atrial fibrillation over long-term continuous recordings, using a Deep Recurrent Neural Network (DRNN) approach. This serves to better diagnose atrial fibrillation – a highly prevalent arrhythmia. The DRNN significantly outperformed traditional algorithms. Using continuous recordings for a 24-hour window versus one that Is just a few seconds long, which is the current standard method of operation, improved the diagnosis performance of the system by 16%.
an example of ECG Holter device that can be worn for 24 hours or more
The work described in this research is performed within Asst. Prof. Behar’s laboratory by students Armand Chocron (M.Sc. candidate, EE), Shany Biton (MSc candidate, BME), Jeremy Levy (M.Sc. candidate, EE), and Jonathan Sobel (Postdoctoral fellow, BME).
“Electrical engineering is a fascinating profession, don’t let prejudice deter you”.
Dr. Dana Drachsler Cohen, new faculty member of the Andrew and Erena Viterby Faculty of Electrical Engineering, inspires female students in the field to believe in themselves.
Dr. Dana Drachsler Cohen
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering’s website, named after Andrew and Erna Viterbi, features almost sixty active faculty members, only five of whom are women. This is low even when compared to the proportion of women in non-technical faculties in Israeli universities, which in 2016 stood at 32 percent. This gap raises a basic question: why?
In today’s world, research in electrical engineering does not involve carrying generators or lifting large cables, which would also be challenging for many male faculty members. In other words, the gap is not due to skills or abilities. Dr. Dana Drachsler Cohen, a new faculty member, thinks the gap may be due to prejudice.
“It is important to make these subjects – electrical engineering and STEM subjects in general – accessible to students early on in school. I believe that this exposure will lead many students to become more interested in these topics.” To strengthen her claim, she cites an extensive study from 2018, which found that girls’ grades are higher on average than boys’ grades, including in math and science and regardless of age – in both primary and high schools as well as at university.
Dr. Drachsler Cohen, who began her academic career at the age of 15 as an undergraduate at the Open University, arrived at the Technion after a postdoctoral fellowship at ETH – the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. For most of her time there, she was the only woman in the lab.
Dr. Drachsler Cohen’s field of research deals with guaranteeing the correctness and safety of software, primarily in the context of deep learning, computer networks, and blockchain. Simply put, it uses mathematical models to guarantee that computer software will run as expected, even during long development processes. “If Zoom crashes, it is annoying, but there are systems where bugs can lead to fatal malfunctions – for example, medical devices, autonomous cars, or cooling systems for Corona vaccines. Such systems must be very reliable, otherwise, the relevant industries will not adopt them.”
She began her academic career at the Technion at the Taub Faculty of Computer Science, where she completed her undergraduate degree in two years as part of the Rothschild Technion Program for Excellence. She continued on in the same faculty to a direct doctoral program under the supervision of Prof. Eran Yahav. During her doctorate, she won the Zeff and Jacobs Fellowships as well as the Muriel and David Jacknow Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Drachsler Cohen then traveled to Switzerland for a two-year postdoctoral research period, where she won an ETH postdoctoral fellowship. In August 2019, she joined the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Last year, she was awarded the prestigious Alon Scholarship for theRecognition of Outstanding Young Scientists by the Council for Higher Education (MLAG).
Over the years, Dr. Drachsler Cohen has seen many female electrical engineering students and STEM professionals who doubted their abilities, so she set up a special faculty program to encourage them. As part of the program, the students meet successful women in the field, raise issues that they face, receive tips, and create a professional toolbox for themselves.
“I want to tell female students that they need to believe in themselves and engage in what interests them – and that they will succeed. Sometimes you need someone external to dispel the self-doubt, so it is important to make sure there is someone like this around you. If you do not have anyone, feel free to contact me. If you are a student in the faculty and see this post – you are welcome to join our program.”
On the Cutting Edge: The Fastest, Most Complex, and Most Advanced Physical Research
Tasneem Watad, a doctoral student in the Technion Faculty of Physics, uses the complexity of quantum computers as an advantage for research.
Tasneem Watad
Completing a bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics, and working towards a Ph.D. at the Technion is not a task for the faint-hearted, regardless of gender. But imagine this pursuit being undertaken when Hebrew is not your native language, and when (most of the time) you are the only woman in the room. In such a case, it ought to be called a special endurance mission.
That’s why it is surprising to hear that Tasneem Watad, a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Physics, does not remember her undergraduate degree done in the framework of the Rothschild-Technion Program for Excellence being particularly scary or difficult. “Since then, the number of women in the faculty has increased, but the gap is still significant, which is surprising because it is a field suitable for everyone, and men have no advantage.”
Watad’s doctoral research, led by Professor Netanel Lindner, focuses on quantum computing, a hot topic today, and one that will change our perception regarding the capabilities of computers. Quantum computers perform computations in a completely different way from traditional computers. They are based on quantum mechanics, which simulates nature’s behavior on an atomic scale, sub-atomic scale, or at very low temperatures. Unlike traditional computers, the information in quantum computers is encoded in a physical system or a physical particle called a qubit.
Classical computers use binary codes of zero and one to represent information, where the value of one is represented by a higher electrical voltage relative to that of zero. Quantum computing, on the other hand, is based on the mind-bending concept that atomic particles can be in multiple states at the same time. Instead of analyzing one and zero sequentially, quantum computing uses ones, zeros, and “superpositions,” or overlaps of ones and zeros, to look at all the different combinations of data simultaneously. This feature, along with other quantum features, such as entanglement, give these computers the ability to perform calculations and solve certain problems more effectively.
As a result, quantum computing can deal with larger sets of variables while crunching the data exponentially quicker. Scientists believe quantum computing will revolutionize computation and have a significant impact on every field. Specifically, it will make communications more secure, and lead to revolutionary developments in biomedicine, defense, and energy-saving devices.
The desire to keep learning and researching is the main motivation for Watad’s choice in the field. “My parents always encouraged me to do what I love. Of course, there were other voices asking me what I would do with a physics degree. Would I, for instance, teach in high school? But I love physics and despite the general lack of respect for pure science as a profession, it is for me a way to gain meaningful and influential knowledge as well as a lot of potential in career development.” Today, at the age of 25, Watad does not know what the next stage will be for her. As far as she is concerned, though, she will at every stage of her life, “do the best I can and get tools for the next level.”
