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Israeli innovators build new ‘Silicon Valley’

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Israeli innovators build new ‘Silicon Valley’

Some 500 start-ups are created every year in Israel, a country of 7.7 million people, which grew by 4.7 percent last year according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development against an average of 2.8 for its member countries.
Israel’s higher education institutions, particularly the Technion, the prestigious technological university in the northern city of Haifa, must take a large share of the credit for this creativity.
“All the groups have set up subsidiaries here because of the proximity of the talents of the Technion university where there are (people with) excellent CVs,” said Yoel Maarek, president of Yahoo Research Israel, which employs about 50 people.
“I myself have studied at the school of bridge engineering in France but when IBM hired me it was thanks to my degree from the Technion,” he said.
The huge Technion campus comprising 19 schools for 12,000 students trained 70 percent of the country’s current engineers and 80 percent of the executives of Israeli companies listed on Nasdaq.
“Many students… are already snapped up by large foreign companies,” said Ilan Marek, professor of chemistry at the Technion.
“In the early 2000s, we broke down the barriers between the four classical branches of science, allowing the students to move between fields and have a more global vision,” he said.
“The key to the development of a country is to train leaders in science.”


Israeli innovators build new ‘Silicon Valley’

Leave a comment

Israeli innovators build new ‘Silicon Valley’

Some 500 start-ups are created every year in Israel, a country of 7.7 million people, which grew by 4.7 percent last year according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development against an average of 2.8 for its member countries.
Israel’s higher education institutions, particularly the Technion, the prestigious technological university in the northern city of Haifa, must take a large share of the credit for this creativity.
“All the groups have set up subsidiaries here because of the proximity of the talents of the Technion university where there are (people with) excellent CVs,” said Yoel Maarek, president of Yahoo Research Israel, which employs about 50 people.
“I myself have studied at the school of bridge engineering in France but when IBM hired me it was thanks to my degree from the Technion,” he said.
The huge Technion campus comprising 19 schools for 12,000 students trained 70 percent of the country’s current engineers and 80 percent of the executives of Israeli companies listed on Nasdaq.
“Many students… are already snapped up by large foreign companies,” said Ilan Marek, professor of chemistry at the Technion.
“In the early 2000s, we broke down the barriers between the four classical branches of science, allowing the students to move between fields and have a more global vision,” he said.
“The key to the development of a country is to train leaders in science.”


Horev wins Lifetime Achievement Award – JPost – National News

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Horev wins Lifetime Achievement Award – JPost – National News

“Amos Horev has achieved a great deal and has contributed a great deal to his people,”
Israel President Shimon Peres.
Amos Horev. Born in Jerusalem, 1924.
The annual Defense Prize ceremony at Beit Hanassi – which is named in memory of Eliyahu Golomb, the founder and first commander of the Hagana, the pre-state Jewish military forces and a predecessor of the IDF – is usually cloaked in secrecy. It is forbidden to publish the names of the prizewinners for fear that enemies of the state may try to kidnap them, or even worse, kill them.

So although they are the heroes of Israel’s security and existence, their exploits remain unsung and are known only to a few. Sometimes, because they are also active in other fields, their names do become public.

Jerusalem-born soldier-scientist Amos Horev, who was named the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award during Tuesday’s ceremony, is a case in point. Horev, 87, joined the Palmach – the Hagana’s elite fighting force – as a teenager and was a commander at age 19. During the War of Independence, he was instrumental in the creation of the legendary Burma Road that facilitated entry into Jerusalem, which was under siege and cut off from the rest of the country.

Horev had a long and distinguished military career, serving in various senior positions, not the least of which was director of the IDF weapons development department, which he established. In civilian life, he is a former chairman of the board of Rafael Advanced Defense System Ltd. and was the first Israeli-born president of the Technion. He has also been involved in Israel’s nuclear research, and has either headed or been a member of several commissions of inquiry.

President Shimon Peres said of him at the ceremony that from the time of the Burma Road until he became president of the Technion, whether in the defense establishment or in various civilian fields, he has given of his ability and his experience for the benefit of the nation.

“Amos Horev has achieved a great deal and has contributed a great deal to his people,” Peres said.

In paying tribute to the anonymous army that guards Israel, Peres said that in the public consciousness, national security is synonymous with the IDF. The security of Israel, Peres continued, depends not only on the quality of commanders and soldiers in the field, but also on the uncompromising feats of science and technology.

“The best minds are here. The security of the state depends on you,” the president said.

Horev wins Lifetime Achievement Award – JPost – National News

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Horev wins Lifetime Achievement Award – JPost – National News

“Amos Horev has achieved a great deal and has contributed a great deal to his people,”
Israel President Shimon Peres.
Amos Horev. Born in Jerusalem, 1924.
The annual Defense Prize ceremony at Beit Hanassi – which is named in memory of Eliyahu Golomb, the founder and first commander of the Hagana, the pre-state Jewish military forces and a predecessor of the IDF – is usually cloaked in secrecy. It is forbidden to publish the names of the prizewinners for fear that enemies of the state may try to kidnap them, or even worse, kill them.

So although they are the heroes of Israel’s security and existence, their exploits remain unsung and are known only to a few. Sometimes, because they are also active in other fields, their names do become public.

Jerusalem-born soldier-scientist Amos Horev, who was named the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award during Tuesday’s ceremony, is a case in point. Horev, 87, joined the Palmach – the Hagana’s elite fighting force – as a teenager and was a commander at age 19. During the War of Independence, he was instrumental in the creation of the legendary Burma Road that facilitated entry into Jerusalem, which was under siege and cut off from the rest of the country.

Horev had a long and distinguished military career, serving in various senior positions, not the least of which was director of the IDF weapons development department, which he established. In civilian life, he is a former chairman of the board of Rafael Advanced Defense System Ltd. and was the first Israeli-born president of the Technion. He has also been involved in Israel’s nuclear research, and has either headed or been a member of several commissions of inquiry.

President Shimon Peres said of him at the ceremony that from the time of the Burma Road until he became president of the Technion, whether in the defense establishment or in various civilian fields, he has given of his ability and his experience for the benefit of the nation.

“Amos Horev has achieved a great deal and has contributed a great deal to his people,” Peres said.

In paying tribute to the anonymous army that guards Israel, Peres said that in the public consciousness, national security is synonymous with the IDF. The security of Israel, Peres continued, depends not only on the quality of commanders and soldiers in the field, but also on the uncompromising feats of science and technology.

“The best minds are here. The security of the state depends on you,” the president said.

Israeli students stage giant yo-yo competition – HOME – ITN.co.uk

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Students from the Israeli Technion Institute of Technology have downed pens and laptops to take part in a giant yo-yo competition. The annual competition – TechnoBrain – is a contest that presents students with an original engineering mission, inspired by real-life engineering problems. Dr. Bob’s TechnoBrain Competition is sponsored annually by Dr. Robert Shillman in memory of Neev-ya Durban, the Technion student, who initiated the idea. 

The mission: to build a YoYo that would bounce the highest after being dropped from a 100-foot high crane.
Students were forbidden from including a power source that would help the yo-yo climb back up after it was released.

“This year its a yo-yo which is dropped from about 30 meters high and has to jump to the highest point that it can after getting to the bottom. The idea with the yo-yo is to convert the potential energy to angular momentum of the yo-yo,” said Aerospace Engineer Professor Alon Gany

Eyal Cohen and his team won the $3,000 top prize with their small, sleek yo-yo, which resembled the flywheel of a car.

Watch the world’s longest YOYO in action here! Israeli students stage giant yo-yo competition – HOME – ITN.co.uk

Israeli students stage giant yo-yo competition – HOME – ITN.co.uk

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Students from the Israeli Technion Institute of Technology have downed pens and laptops to take part in a giant yo-yo competition. The annual competition – TechnoBrain – is a contest that presents students with an original engineering mission, inspired by real-life engineering problems. Dr. Bob’s TechnoBrain Competition is sponsored annually by Dr. Robert Shillman in memory of Neev-ya Durban, the Technion student, who initiated the idea. 

The mission: to build a YoYo that would bounce the highest after being dropped from a 100-foot high crane.
Students were forbidden from including a power source that would help the yo-yo climb back up after it was released.

“This year its a yo-yo which is dropped from about 30 meters high and has to jump to the highest point that it can after getting to the bottom. The idea with the yo-yo is to convert the potential energy to angular momentum of the yo-yo,” said Aerospace Engineer Professor Alon Gany

Eyal Cohen and his team won the $3,000 top prize with their small, sleek yo-yo, which resembled the flywheel of a car.

Watch the world’s longest YOYO in action here! Israeli students stage giant yo-yo competition – HOME – ITN.co.uk

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“If we give up on the public, in the end, it may give up on us.”


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Dr Ayelet Baram-Tsabari: pioneering the sharing of science

Climate change is a myth. Cellular phones will fry our brains. Vaccinations kill children. Evolution is just a theory.

Without scientists engaged in public dialogue, how can we expect to have informed citizens? 

Man on the moon?

Science and technology, especially at the ‘Eureka’ moment, is fun, fascinating, wondrous, and affects us all. Why is it that so often, we fail to get the message across?

Take a clue from one of Technion’s top communicators: long after the battle of the languages, in which Technion affirmed the right of Hebrew as a language of instruction, scientists are still not able to talk in a language that people can understand.

The public-media-academia dialogue is a proven premise of progress, from the cultivation of scientifically inspired high-school students to the engagement of a technologically proud public. As such, Technion is actively researching, training and developing tools to empower science communication and education.

“We need to actively change the norms,” says Dr. Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, a dynamic new recruit in the Department of Education in Technology and Science. To communicate science is not to degrade it reduce it to “layman’s language”, she argues. It is to accept the responsibility that we, as scientists must communicate science to the general public. This may lead to more trust, more public support, and also to a dialogue that can make science more relevant to what matters more to people.

The Technion is the first place in Israel to open a course for science communication. There are programs to train graduate students and faculty in communicating with the public. “Israel is a great laboratory for the rest of the world,” says Baram-Tsabari, who believes that the starting point should be to listen to what the public is interested in. “It is not a monologue but a dialogue. It’s not Eureka… and keep it. It’s Eureka! – and share it!”

 

Tips of the trade:

1.      Speak a language people can understand. Don’t use jargon.
2.      Use analogies. Explain the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar.
3.      Not monologue but dialogue. People care when it affects their lives. You need to hear what matters to them!
4.      Where possible, use narrative, build a story.
5.      Communicating science is as integral part of doing science. SHARE IT!


Description: Description: Description: TechnionLive - Technion’s e-newsletter Description: Description: Description: Technion Live on FaceBook Description: Description: Description: Technion’s YouTube Channel 

Related News:

The scientific establishment – exemplified by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, but including university professors and lecturers – has abandoned its ivory towers gone out to talk to the people. Coverage of Baram-Tsabari’s international impact in the Jerusalem Post:



Bruce V. Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication, Cornell University, @Technion.


Many leading universities and scientific societies promote “public understanding of science” in their goals and activities. Many scientists wonder why they should bother, since they think the public won’t understand or care about the science anyway. Why should they waste their time? This talk will provide evidence for why those scientists are wrong, why they — and you — should care, and what you can do about it.

Share it!

1 Comment
“If we give up on the public, in the end, it may give up on us.”


(Find us on Twitter!)

Dr Ayelet Baram-Tsabari: pioneering the sharing of science

Climate change is a myth. Cellular phones will fry our brains. Vaccinations kill children. Evolution is just a theory.

Without scientists engaged in public dialogue, how can we expect to have informed citizens? 

Man on the moon?

Science and technology, especially at the ‘Eureka’ moment, is fun, fascinating, wondrous, and affects us all. Why is it that so often, we fail to get the message across?

Take a clue from one of Technion’s top communicators: long after the battle of the languages, in which Technion affirmed the right of Hebrew as a language of instruction, scientists are still not able to talk in a language that people can understand.

The public-media-academia dialogue is a proven premise of progress, from the cultivation of scientifically inspired high-school students to the engagement of a technologically proud public. As such, Technion is actively researching, training and developing tools to empower science communication and education.

“We need to actively change the norms,” says Dr. Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, a dynamic new recruit in the Department of Education in Technology and Science. To communicate science is not to degrade it reduce it to “layman’s language”, she argues. It is to accept the responsibility that we, as scientists must communicate science to the general public. This may lead to more trust, more public support, and also to a dialogue that can make science more relevant to what matters more to people.

The Technion is the first place in Israel to open a course for science communication. There are programs to train graduate students and faculty in communicating with the public. “Israel is a great laboratory for the rest of the world,” says Baram-Tsabari, who believes that the starting point should be to listen to what the public is interested in. “It is not a monologue but a dialogue. It’s not Eureka… and keep it. It’s Eureka! – and share it!”

 

Tips of the trade:

1.      Speak a language people can understand. Don’t use jargon.
2.      Use analogies. Explain the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar.
3.      Not monologue but dialogue. People care when it affects their lives. You need to hear what matters to them!
4.      Where possible, use narrative, build a story.
5.      Communicating science is as integral part of doing science. SHARE IT!


Description: Description: Description: TechnionLive - Technion’s e-newsletter Description: Description: Description: Technion Live on FaceBook Description: Description: Description: Technion’s YouTube Channel 

Related News:

The scientific establishment – exemplified by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, but including university professors and lecturers – has abandoned its ivory towers gone out to talk to the people. Coverage of Baram-Tsabari’s international impact in the Jerusalem Post:



Bruce V. Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication, Cornell University, @Technion.


Many leading universities and scientific societies promote “public understanding of science” in their goals and activities. Many scientists wonder why they should bother, since they think the public won’t understand or care about the science anyway. Why should they waste their time? This talk will provide evidence for why those scientists are wrong, why they — and you — should care, and what you can do about it.