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Technion Book of Faces

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A Technion Book of Faces

In 2012, Technion celebrates 100 years since the laying of its 1st cornerstone.

This century has seen many miracles – the miraculous birth of Israel as a nation; the awesome transformation of our world into a global village where technology and science bring the keys to the future of health, communication, the environment, energy, security and global communion.

From 1912, until today, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, has been part of this miracle.

Within every nation, there are citizens that have lived the story of its suffering and its success. Behind every scientific and high-tech innovation there is a scientist with a story. Within the mind of each scientist there are sparks of curiosity and inspiration – the inspiration behind the Start-up Nation.

Here are just some of the living stories of innovation, human integrity and achievement from Technion ~ Israel Institute of Technology.

Technion founding father Prof. Albert Einstein at Technion.

The Brainstormer

“What is important are the many e-mails I receive from grateful patients helped by Rasagiline.” Prof. Moussa Youdim


It was his father’s struggle with deep depression over business troubles in 1957 that changed the course of Prof. Moussa Youdim’s life, from studying medicine to going into pharmacology. He sought a more refined, and merciful understanding of brain chemistry that would help bring treatment and relief to millions.
Prof. Youdim is today internationally renowned for his brain research and drug development in depressive illness and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. He has established the importance of monoamine oxidase and brain iron metabolism for brain function that can lead to cognitive impairments and neurodegenerative diseases.


Where internet began.

“They unequivocally bear the stamp of the present century.” BBVA Foundation President, Francisco Gonzále, at the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, 2009.

The Lempel-Ziv algorithm – the mathematical formula for compressing vast amounts of information – is the thought power that enabled the high-tech communications revolution of our generation.
From the birth of the internet, through to the global broadcasting of live images from Mars, we are indebted to the science behind compression and decompression made possible by the legendary Technion algorithm in 1983.
Tiberius-born Prof. Jacob Ziv and Poland-born Prof. Abraham Lempel changed the direction of mankind by bringing the best compression ratio ever. This became the standard utility in unix systems, the gif image format, tiff, pdf and adobe acrobat software.
Generations of Technion graduates mentored by the two pioneering professors, adopted not only the knowledge, but also the spirit of innovation, empowering the high-tech revolution, in Israel and across the globe.


Light Man 2020

“Technion is the place I chose to do this research.” Distinguished Prof. Moti Segev

What is light? How is it composed? How to unravel the secrets of a soliton – a single wave packet of light? What wonders of technology and science can be achieved when we master its power?
Distinguished Prof.Mordechai (Moti) Segev was raised in Haifa to a poor immigrant family of shoemakers. But little Moti had a secret – the secret of what happens when you excel beyond all frontiers.
Years later – as the first Israeli to be offered a tenured position in Princeton in 1998 – Segev chose to return to Technion and to create there a focus of optics research alluring excellent students and faculty from across the world. Some proofs of his global success include  the world’s first observation of 2D lattice solitons, and the first experimental demonstration of Anderson localization in a disordered periodic system.

A Matter of Class

“If you believe in your research then fight for it. Fight for the truth.” Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman.

Since 1912, matter – the miracle of everything in our world – was defined by scientists with a strict paradigm: crystals are ordered and periodic  – with no exception. That was before Israeli-born Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman reached for the electron microsope in 1982 – the year humanity’s perception of matter was changed forever.
Shechtman broke all the rules when he revealed a new class of matter – “Shechtmanite” – crystals with 5-fold rotation symmetry. “I was alone. I was ridiculed by my colleagues and my peers,” tells Shechtman, who stood by his revolutionary research into quasi-periodic crystals despite the disgrace it brought him among international scientists.
The new strength of material made available through quasi-periodic crystals has today converted the world,  opening a range of applications in super-strong steel – especially where it contacts the human body, such as in surgical equipment.


Multi-tasking Stem Cells

“Everyone knows about the Technion…” Prof. Shulamit Levenberg

One of seven sisters in a religious family, no-one could foresee that Prof. Shulamit Levenberg would change the course of global science. Yet, when she revealed a breakthrough process to create living human tissue in the lab – she opened a new dimension of promise in medical research – that could eventually culminate in a medical ability to cultivate and replace damaged organs in the body.

Prof. Levenberg conducts interdisciplinary research in the subjects of tissue engineering from human embryonic stem cells using biodegradable polymers. She is recognized as a world leader in the field. Her research proved that it is possible to create complex muscle tissue including blood vessels (as well as beating heart muscle) in a laboratory. She has been named among the world’s top 50 science leaders by the prestigious magazine Scientific American.


The Imagineer

“Technion is a holistic experience.” Technion Alum Shai Agassi

Proud Technion alum Shai Agassi wants to put you behind the wheel of an electric car — but he doesn’t want you to sacrifice convenience (or cash) to do it.
When horrific climate-change scenarios elicit little but endless chatter from governments and entrenched special interests, the difference between talk and action represent an embarrassing gulf. Meet exemplary Technion alum Shai Agassi, who has stepped fearlessly into that gap. His approach to solving the puzzle of electric automobiles could spark nothing short of an automotive revolution.
Agassi stunned the software industry in 2007 by resigning from SAP to focus on his vision for breaking the world’s fossil-fuel habit, through his global start-up Project Better Place. Recently he signed up to make San Francisco the EV capital of the US – with a revolutionary switchable battery electric taxi program.


The Kiss of Life

“Mentorship is as important as science.” Nobel Laureate Avram Hershko


Ubiquitin: so called, because it is a protein present in all living cells. No-one knew why it was there, and no-one dared to wonder: it was just boring – “ubiquitous”.
But no living secrets are untouched by Technion scientists. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Distinguished Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover unveiled the mysteries of  the ubiquitin system, revealing the masterkeys of human health. The ubiquitous protein ubiquitin, they showed, is the key factor in deciding when and how a cell should regenerate. Imbalance in ubiquitin reveals itself in some of the world’s most incurable afflictions – such as cancer and neuro-degenerative disorders.
By 2004, the Technion research was already revolutionizing medical understanding and opening the way to innovative cures and treatments. No wonder that, in that year, the two Technion Professors became Israel’s first Nobel Laureates in science.

Sniffing Out Cancer

“I am where I feel that I contribute the most.” Dr. Hossam Haick


When Dr. Hossam Haick was studying for his doctorate, a friend of his was diagnosed with leukemia. “It was very painful for me. I saw his suffering. That was the first time I began to think about diagnosing cancer by means of oxygenating substances that are excreted in a photocatalytic procedure (accelerated by light ) and come into contact with cancer cells. Nazareth-born Haick has since amazed the world with an ingenious system for detecting cancer via breath tests.
Haick’s patented “electronic nose” promises to detect several types of cancer in their early stages. His goal is to detect cancer early enough  to give the human body a better chance of beating the disease.


9/11 Never again

“At critical moments in an emergency, there is no time.” Security expert Prof. Avi Kirschenbaum.

A decate later and the trauma is fresh. And the global threat is still there. Post 9/11, everyone wants to know they are safe on a plane.  
High-tech security innovation has always been quietly high on the scientific agenda of Israel’s top institute of technology, but recently world headlines showed another aspect of Technion expertise – people management in a crisis.
“At critical moments in an emergency, there is no time to consult a supervisor or read the manual,” says Prof. Avi Kirschenbaum, whose decades of expertise in home-front security recently won his team a $5 million grant by the European Union to ensure airport against hostile threats. “In order to prevent disasters and deal with them properly, we have to ensure that all the teams, and not just security teams, will be trained and highly motivated.”


Upwardly Motile

“For interdisciplinary science, Technion is an excellent place.”  Prof. Kinneret Keren

Named one of the 100 top young innovators by MIT’s Technology Review Magazine, Dr. Kinneret Keren is researching nature’s genius in self-assembly. On one hand this can be used  in the creation of nano-scale electronics; on the other, it brings a  wealth of understanding to  medical science – understanding  a cell’s motility – or how it  moves through space and time can provide the master-keys for healing such diseases as cancer or heart disease.
Keren integrates physics and cell biology in her research, moving between real and artificial cells. “The biophysical aspects of cell biology have been neglected in many areas,” she explains: “Basic cellular processes are highly relevant to understanding normal processes and diseases, for example, understanding how and why cells move faster brings a chance to better understand how cancer spreads.”

Think Global
Think Technion

“Israel can win the battle for survival only by developing expert knowledge in technology.”
Prof. Albert Einstein (President of the first Technion Society)

“Technion has a great contribution to make to Israel’s future prosperity, and Israel’s prosperity cannot but be of great benefit to other countries, as well.”
Winston Churchill (The late Prime Minister of Great Britain)

“You – the people of the Technion – have led the way in technology, science and engineering.”
Yitzhak Rabin (The late Prime Minister of Israel)

“The Technion has been a beacon of learning in our region.”
The late King Hussein of Jordan

And no-one should ignore the most amazing part of Technion….

THE STUDENTS!

Technion & Intel’s ‘Sandy Bridge’ Chip Revolution.

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“The Haifa development center would not exist without the excellent human capital provided by Technion.”


“Sandy Bridge is revolutionary – it is the biggest step change in Intel . . . it will be a cornerstone of computer revolution…”


Sandy Bridge, formerly Gesher, (Insiders clue: “Gesher” is Hebrew for “Bridge”) is the codename for the processor microarchitecture developed by Intel as the successor to Nehalem. Based on the 32 nm process, development began in 2005 at Intel’s Israel Development Center (IDC) in Haifa.

Processors based on this architecture are marketed as the second generation of Core i processors and were announced on January 3, 2011. Mainstream processors became available on January 9, 2011.

Intel’s revolutionary ‘Sandy Bridge’ microprocessor recently generated great excitement in the digital world following its release at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January in Las Vegas, reports Israel21C. The new chip is also a source of pride for Israeli engineers as it was developed at Intel’s R&D facility in Haifa, by Technion graduates.
 .
“Sandy Bridge is revolutionary – it is the biggest step change in Intel . . . it will be a cornerstone of computer revolution,” said Shmuel “Mooly” Eden, vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group at Intel. “The new Second Generation Intel Core processors represent the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any other previous generation.”

Speaking to reporters in Las Vegas, Eden, who is one of the leaders of Intel’s Israeli operation, said that ‘Sandy Bridge’ is 69 percent faster than older Intel chips. Intel chief executive officer Paul Otellini told reporters that the new processor is the first 32 nanometer-based chip in the industry. The microprocessor also features 3-D graphics and media engine capabilities. Otellini said that translates to higher performance, reduced power consumption for better battery life, and lower manufacturing costs.

Intel was established in Santa Clara, California, in 1968 by semiconductor pioneers Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce. In 1971, they released the microprocessor that would change the world. Intel set up its Israel center in 1974 – the multinational’s first outside the United States. Established by Technion graduate Dov Frohman, the center pioneered VLSI in Israel. Very-large-scale integration is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistor-based circuits into a single chip.

Yossi Schenkler, General Manager, Intel Israel Design Center, who holds two degrees from the Technion’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering, sees Technion as “Home.” He stated that the Haifa location was chosen due to the Technion, and that Technion is the primary source for Intel’s success here. “We are the leading center in microprocessor design in the world,” says Schenkler. “The Haifa development center would not exist without the excellent human capital provided by Technion. Here in Haifa, with Technion recruits, we have designed the most complex chip available.”

Prof. Uri Weiser spent 18-plus years at Intel, reaching the prestigious rank of Intel Fellow. Back at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering where he is now a Visiting Scientist, he discussed the symbiotic relationship between Technion and Intel. Technion trains engineers for Intel worldwide, and Intel creates a research environment at Technion, as well as providing grants, labs and directions for research into new technologies.

(l-r) Technion alumnus Yossi Schenkler, General
Manager, Intel Israel Design Center, presents then
Technion President, Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig, with
the Intel Emblem


http://www.israel21c.org/201101068703/briefs/israeli-made-intel-sandy-bridge-chip-all-the-hype
http://www.focus.technion.ac.il/Feb10/innovationStory3.htm

World-Class Hydrology: Jacob Bear Honored by American Geophysical Union

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Jacob Bear Receives 2010 Robert E. Horton Medal

Jacob Bear was awarded the 2010 Robert E. Horton Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 15 December 2010 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “outstanding contributions to hydrology.”

“Jacob lists a lifetime of unique accomplishments, and his influence on the field is unparalleled”

Citation

It is a pleasure and an honor to introduce Jacob Bear, professor emeritus at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, as the 2010 Robert E. Horton medalist. Jacob has had a prime influence on the hydrological sciences and on virtually every scientist who has studied hydrogeology during the past 40 years.
Jacob lists a lifetime of unique accomplishments, and his influence on the field is unparalleled. Jacob has made pioneering, diverse contributions to basic and applied scientific aspects of groundwater hydrology. He began his career in the 1960s acutely concerned by the paucity of tools for quantitative modeling and by the huge gaps in fundamental understanding of the physics of flow and transport in porous media. Jacob has devoted his career to remedying this situation by working to combine basic physical principles, mathematical analysis, and practical applications to produce a coherent and systematic methodology for formulating and quantifying problems in subsurface hydrology. The impact of Jacob’s work has so significantly influenced the field, in so many ways, that it is difficult to enumerate them.
Jacob has had an immeasurable impact through his books, which remain key reference sources to this day. His first book, Physical Principles of Water Percolation and Seepage, in 1968 with S. Irmay and D. Zaslavsky, introduced a comprehensive approach based on mathematical modeling and included among many subjects both saturated and unsaturated (multiphase) flow and solute transport in porous media. This was the beginning of Jacob’s implementation of his concept of “transport phenomena in porous media” as opposed to “movement of water in aquifers.” Indeed, in 1967 and 1969 Jacob organized two international symposia that brought together scientists from many disciplines—hydrologists, soil physicists, reservoir engineers—who had not been communicating previously. As an outgrowth, Jacob’s later books, particularly the 1972 Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media (which has since been reissued by Dover and has more than 8000 citations), have had a huge impact on the field, and virtually every student and researcher in hydrogeology has studied from Dynamics or referred to it on some occasion. This book changed both theory and practice on a global level. Jacob has also mentored a long list of outstanding young researchers and practicing engineers throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
Jacob has made benchmark research contributions, notably, to the theory of volume averaging, to quantification of dispersion in solute transport, and to modeling of seawater intrusion (combined with management of coastal aquifers). The latter work dictated management of the coastal aquifer of Israel from the early 1960s and has led to practical improvements in exploitation of coastal aquifers around the world.
As a consequence, Jacob has fundamentally influenced the thinking of at least two generations of hydrologists. Jacob’s conceptual thinking and quantitative approaches have revolutionized the field of groundwater hydrology. Quite simply, Jacob Bear is a legend in his own time. Jacob Bear is a credit to AGU, richly deserving of this highest distinction for outstanding contributions to the geophysical aspects of hydrology.
—BRIAN BERKOWITZ, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

“I cannot close without thanking my many students who helped me, sometimes pushed me, to move ahead, eventually reaching this point.”

Response

I would like to begin by expressing my thanks to those who nominated me for this prestigious award, to those who supported the nomination, to those who selected me, and to Brian Berkowitz for his warm citation.
Many of you, who know me mainly from my books, have no doubt noticed that I am working in two, albeit interconnected, directions: groundwater hydrology and modeling phenomena of transport in porous media. Knowledge of the latter is essential for the former. In addition, this knowledge constitutes the basis for many other engineering disciplines, like geochemistry, petroleum reservoir engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering. Common to these disciplines is the fact that phenomena of transport of mass, momentum, and energy occur in the special multiphase domain called “porous medium.” The starting point is the use of a magnifying glass to observe and understand what happens at points within the phases and on interphase boundaries and then, by employing homogenization of one kind or another, obtain mathematical models that describe these phenomena in terms of measurable quantities in a domain regarded as a continuum.
An exciting aspect of this area is that it is interdisciplinary. It requires knowledge (and cooperation with experts) in physics, chemistry, continuum mechanics, thermodynamics, and more. All of this knowledge is used to solve societal problems of water resources, energy, and the environment.
Traditionally, groundwater hydrologists have been dealing with extracting groundwater from aquifers while ensuring good quality water and aquifer sustainability. Nowadays, geologists, geochemists, hydrologists, and reservoir engineers join forces to solve environmental problems. An example is carbon dioxide sequestration in deep geological formations, often saturated with brines. Currently, a lot of research and implementation activities are taking place on this exciting subject around the world.
Altogether, I feel lucky to work in the field of hydrology, in which I can combine theory and application, research, and teaching around the world and cooperate with colleagues of many disciplines in contributing to the solution of societal problems—ensuring a sufficient quantity of clean water to the population and ensuring a clean environment.
I cannot close without thanking my many students who helped me, sometimes pushed me, to move ahead, eventually reaching this point.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Siona, and my children and grandchildren for being patient when I have been spending with them much less time than they deserve.
Thank you.
—JACOB BEAR, Technion-­Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa

Proofs of Progress, Prof. Yeshayahu Talmon, Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute

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RBNI Director Prof. Yeshayahu Talmon
 
 
The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute has become an exemplary paradigm for progress. By giving inspired, but grounded, structure to create and nurture research into nanotechnology and science at Technion, the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute is at the global forefront of transforming teaching, science, technology and industry.

Active, ground-breaking research into the nano-dimension has been thriving in individual labs across the many faculties of the Technion for over a decade. The ingenuity, curiosity, expertise and global scientific direction was scattered in individual projects across campus long before the festive dedication ceremony of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute on June 7th 2005, held together with the visionary Russell Berrie Foundation trustees.

Yet the formation of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute as a unified multidisciplinary structure committed to nurturing nano research and cooperation, and bringing the expert infrastructure to campus to make that research possible had a local, national and international impact. Month by month we are witnessing a revolution and evolution of science, as Israel takes its place through a powerful, supportive structure at the pioneering frontier of future science and technology. Nano is not a dream or a fantasy, it is a global need – directed by the progress of science and technology in all fields, and thanks to the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion scientists are in a position where they can answer that need, maintaining Israel’s position at the cutting edge of world-class research and innovation.

The Triangle Donation Matching (TDM) 5-year program to transform Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NN) research in Israeli universities was set up in 2005 at the Technion. The rapid and evident success of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (resulting partly from the great pool of excellent scientists already active in nanoresearch at Technion) inspired the birth of five other such nano centers at other universities in Israel in 2006, leading to a total investment of $220 million over five years in addition to tens of millions of dollars raised in research funds from Israeli and international funding agencies. The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute has also had a dramatic impact on the development of Israeli nano industry.

The momentum of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute and the clarity of its vision and direction inspired other philanthropists to answer the call of scientific need and to invest in the future. Over five years, the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute scientists tripled the amount of the funding from external grants.  The evidence of the clearly operating, highly productive structure of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute has formed a model for effective multidisciplinary research, exposing a national and international need for such structures. As a result, major donors have committed to investing in additional centers at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Our first priority at the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute is education, for on this, the security and future of the state of Israel depend. The future of scientific research in Israel and its high-tech success, is personified by its young people. the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute’s Norman Seiden Multidisciplinary Graduate Program in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was the first in Israel to award advanced degrees in the field. Following the success of this program, two similar initiatives were recently born at the Hebrew University and at the Tel Aviv University (towards an MSc degree). Graduates of the Norman Seiden Graduate Program, equipped with a unique multidisciplinary education, will have a dramatic impact on research in industry and academia.  

The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, a powerful Israeli nano center, is also an international magnet. The Institute hosts winter schools, which bring together world-renowned researchers with graduate students from Technion and other Israeli universities. In addition, the Nevet research program is actively supporting international collaboration between Technion and scientists from Israel, Germany, Singapore and others.

In response to a rising need, RBNI has taken a new initiative to develop the field of NanoMed. Major donors have already committed to invest in this scientifically fascinating center to nurture active collaborations between Technion’s nano scientists and its stellar researchers in life sciences. Breakthrough research focused on identifying and curing cancer and kidney-related diseases are already underway. Much of Technion research into NanoMed opens the promise of a revolution in new medical treatments and world health-care. Research projects such as the “Electronic Nose” – detecting cancer via breath analysis – give a glimpse of the miracles nanoscience can perform when combined with life sciences and applied to medical research.

The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute is also nurturing other innovative multidisciplinary drives, such as the Technion’s courageous move into energy research, environmental research and security. Examples include the photovoltaic cells project; sensors for monitoring water quality; and research into the identification of toxic air-borne chemicals.

The combination of world-class Nano infrastructure with exclusive expertise, means Technion is a first port of call for industry. Approximately 120 research groups from industry have used this equipment over the past five years, in addition to dozens of academic groups.  

A Message from Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie

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Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie


Where once there were separate faculties and individual research scientists or groups, today Technion is home to a dynamic multidisciplinary community, where science and technology are daily being recreated across the thresholds of former limitations. Of course, in a country the size of Israel, the intense and highly prolific activity at RBNI rapidly gained a status of national importance, as the institute became the nerve center of Israel’s flourishing nano community.

In the past five years, 111 projects were launched in cooperation with industry and through RBNI’s active role in the government MAGNET consortia. By 2009, 104 patent applications were made with a myriad of success stories leading to the transfer of intellectual property rights to multinational companies or to hot Israeli start-up firms.

But first and foremost, Technion is a university committed to education. The need for an excellent program to bring students the highest skills and knowledge today, is paramount to being at the frontiers of nano-industry, education and research tomorrow. The Norman Seiden Multidisciplinary Program for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was the first of its kind in Israel to grant advanced degrees in nanoscience and nanotechnology. As a result of its success, two similar programs have now been launched at other universities in Israel.

In addition to its top graduate program, RBNI uses its powerful research base to widen its circles of influence in Israel and beyond. The Winter Schools gather world-class international researchers with hundreds of students. The 58 “Nevet” research projects involve in-depth collaborations between Technion and scientists in Europe, Asia and other institutes in Israel. These collaborations generate joint workshops, joint funding of research projects, and vital student exchange.

With each semester RBNI expands. To date thirteen dynamic new faculty members have been recruited from the world’s top universities. Eight infrastructure centers were established or upgraded; 43 research labs, and five student labs were modernized and reequipped.

These key facilities are put to work with wisdom and vision, serving not only projects from across the Technion faculties, but also dozens of research groups from other universities and from industry.

Indeed, the birth of RBNI initiated a cultural transformation at Technion City. Whether in the Calatrava Obelisk signaling technological marvel and scientific discovery at the heart of campus, or in the stateliness of the Russell Berrie Promenade, or in the many upgrades and new laboratories creating academic synergy on campus, it is a transformation underway that no visitor – young or old – could miss.

The transformative impact of RBNI has been a direct result of the wisdom, vision and application of its leadership. Considering the vast sea of potential and promise that each new nano-scale discovery reveals, clear foresight and  organization are critical for progress. At present, RBNI has targeted three key focus areas for nano research: tissue engineering, photovoltaic cells (at the key junction of energy research and nanoscience), and NanoMed – which is creating and empowering the incredible medical potential found in the synergy of RBNI researchers with the excellent scientists at the Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences and Engineering.

I congratulate RBNI and its leadership on the successful formulation of one of Israel’s most dynamic and transformational structures for scientific and technological progress. I look forward to overseeing and witnessing the ramifications of RBNI in the discoveries, collaborations, applications, start-ups, and excellent students of the future.

Proud 2B Technion ~ Awards and Prize

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Who recently brought home two Krill prizes, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Emet Prize, the US Medal of Science, The France-Israel Foundation Prize and seven European Research Grants?
The Krill Prize
Dr. Oren Cohen.


Dr. Oren Cohen, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Physics, and Dr. Yuval Shaked, a senior lecturer at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, have received the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research for 2011.

Dr. Yuval Shaked.

The Krill Prize is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation to excelling faculty members at Israel’s universities who have not yet been granted tenure. This year two of the eight winners of the Krill prize are from Technion.


Both Cohen and Shaked joined Technion in 2008; Cohen as a Horev Fellow and Shaked as a Landau Fellow in the Leaders in Science and Technology Program. Cohen’s research interests are in non-linear and ultra-fast optics, optical imaging and nonlinear dynamics. Shaked’s research interests are in tumor angiogenesis and tumor biomarkers.

France-Israel Foundation Prize
Prof. Ori Lahav

Held in Paris at INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research), the France-Israel Foundation presented its annual bilateral prize of the scientific commission presided over by Edith Cresson, former Prime Minister of France.

This year’s theme was Water Engineering and Technion‘s Prof. Ori Lahav received the award along with Moshe Herzberg from Ben-Gurion University and a French researcher from CNRS. Lahav is an associate professor at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a member of the Grand Water Research Institute at Technion.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Prof. Emeritus Reuven Rubinstein


Prof. Emeritus Reuven Rubinstein from the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management has received the Lifetime Professional Achievement Award, the highest honor given by INFORMS Simulation Society. The award recognizes major contributions to the field of simulation that are sustained over most of a professional career, with the critical consideration being the total impact of those contributions on the field.


Prof. Rubinstein has been a pivotal figure in the theory and practice of simulation as we know it today. His career reflects a high level of creativity and contribution, with a willingness to explore new areas and an amazing ability to suggest surprising new avenues of research and to influence subsequent work.


U.S. National Medals of Science


Two Israeli physicists—both Technion graduates—were among the top 10 scientists awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama in November 2010.

Technion alum Prof. Yakir Aharonov


Prof. Yakir Aharonov, a professor at the Chapman University in California, was honored for his work in quantum physics. Prof. Amnon Yariv, of the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), was noted for his work in photonics and quantum electronics that has helped developments in optics and light wave communications.
Technion alum Prof. Amnon Yariv.


European Research Grants x7

Prof. Ron Kimmel

This year, seven Technion faculty members receive research grants from the European Research Council (ERC). These accumulated grants amount to more than €11.5 m.

Advanced Grants are awarded to Prof. Ron Kimmel from the Faculty of Computer Science for Non-Rigid Shape Reconstruction and Deformation Analysis, and to Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz from the Faculty of Biology for Mechanisms of Cell Fusion in Eukaryotes.


Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz 


Starting Grants – awarded to researchers who have obtained their PhD more than two but less than 12 years prior to the call for proposals – go to Assoc. Prof. Yuval Ishai and to Assoc. Prof. Amir Shpilka, both of the Faculty of Computer Science; to Prof. Lior Gepstein and to Dr Yuval Shaked, both of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine; and to Dr Hossam Haick of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering.


The ERC is the first European funding body set up to support investigator-driven frontier research. Its main aim is to stimulate scientific excellence by supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists to be adventurous and take risks in their research, going beyond established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of disciplines. 


The Emet Prize

Prof. Emeritus Moussa Youdim

Prof. Emeritus Moussa Youdim was awarded the 2010 EMET Prize for Brain Science in the category of Life Sciences. The EMET Prize is an annual award given for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and significant contribution to society.



Prof. Youdim is internationally renowned for his brain research and drug development in depressive illness and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. He has established the importance of monoamine oxidase and brain iron metabolism for brain function that can lead to cognitive impairments and neurodegenerative diseases. Research together with 


Technion colleague Prof. John Finberg has led to the development – in conjunction with Teva Pharmaceuticals – of the second generation of monoamine oxidase inhibitor anti-Parkinson drug, Rasagiline (Azilect®).


Youdim holds more than 100 international patents in the field of neuropsychiatric drug development and cardiovascular drugs. He acts as a consultant for several major international pharmaceutical companies and he serves on many national and international scientific and grant giving committees.


Recently Moussa Youdim was awarded The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) LifeTime Achievement Award for contribution to the field and drug development and was elected to the Leopoldina Germany Academy of Sciences (the world’s oldest Academy).

The Energy Challenge

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“I am one of those that believe that we need to do something now, and quickly.”

Prof. Harry L. Tuller, MIT


Global warming, desertification, vastly accelerating levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, rapidly depleting fossil fuel reserves, the disaster of war triggered by energy scarcity, hunger, drought, rising petrol prices… there is no wonder that the word “sustainability” has become one of the most frequently-heard political buzz words in the western world.

It was in anticipation of the variety of future threats to Israel and to the planet that Technion took the initiative in 2007 to set up the Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP). Under its auspices, Israel’s top minds from a variety of science and engineering faculties are given the facilities and opportunity to think together on how to meet the challenge of escalating global energy demand, and to do the science to turn a crisis into an opportunity.

“I am one of those that believe that we need to do something now, and quickly,” says Harry L. Tuller, Professor of Ceramics and Electronic Materials at MIT. Prof. Tuller was hosted at the Technion by his former post-doc student, Dr. Avner Rothschild of the Faculty of Materials Engineering and an active member of GTEP, and was speaking in the framework of the Israel Pollack Distinguished Lecture Series at Technion’s Faculty of Material Engineering in December 2010.

Prof. Tuller’s research team at MIT focuses on defects, transport and electronic structure of metal oxides and their integration into sensors; fuel cells; solar cells, and MEMS devices.

“We need an astronomical increase in sources of energy,” says Tuller, in the first of two lectures: Electroceramics – strategic materials in the quest to solve the energy crisis. “Energy is a crisis, but it is also a big opportunity. It stimulates you to do things… to do something great for humanity but also for the economy – and for the economic stimulation of Israel. The answers are in the materials. Scientists need to work fast to solve the energy crisis to create clean, affordable energy, to improve living standards and to diminish environmental impact.”

Beyond the rapid depletion of fossil fuels, which before vanishing completely, will involve an escalating price for power, Tuller showed a shocking map to the crowded lecture room of faculty and students. Highlighting the users, the map showed the western world lit up with massive consumption of energy, while the developing world is aiming to reach the same standard of living. As it stand, explains Tuller, we are in trouble as population increases, but given the developing world’s right to also have the luxuries of heat and light, the demand for global energy is going to escalate astronomically. China, for example, is adding an extra coal station each week, says Tuller.

With massive energy use comes a responsibility in first world nations for technological development. “The US are the heavyweights in using energy,” says Tuller, “If developing nations use energy like the US, we will need 6-7 times the power we use today – around 100 terawatts (100 terawatts is equivalent to 100,000 nuclear reactors).

In addition, says Tuller, the environmental and strategic implications of accelerating use of finite fossil fuels can be catastrophic, as seen by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the cumulative effect of rising CO2 levels in the earth’s atmosphere over the past 40 years. “On 22nd December, 2003, the power grid around New York failed,” says Tuller, showing a slide of the Manhattan skyline in total darkness. “Amazingly, there was a 90% decrease in 24 hours of CO2 in the atmosphere – a dramatic correlation.”

Solar power could supply 600 TW of world energy needs, says Tuller, but the question is how fast scientists, industry and government can develop and implement it. Energy from biomass could supply 102 TW; hydroelectric 9 TW; geothermal 11.6 TW; and wind 2-3 TW.

It is therefore necessary, said Tuller to think in both short and long term. In the short term, to do the science to make the use of fossil fuels cleaner and more efficient, and to invest in processes such as thermoelectrics to capture wasted heat. In the long term, says Tuller, solar photovoltaics and hydrogen could give a tremendous alternative energy source.

According to the state-of-the-art right now, about 750,000 km2 (about the size of the state of Arizona) is the land mass needed to satisfy the energy needs of the US through solar power. To give perspective, this is about the same area presently used by highways, says Tuller. Thus at centers of research such as Tuller’s lab at MIT and Rothschild’s lab at the Technion, research is being done to meet the grand energy challenge through improved electroceramic materials for fuels cells and solar energy conversion.

Should Israel relax about the energy crisis, blessed as it is with its new found reserves of natural gas off its Mediterranean coast? “Gas may solve the strategic part of the problem for now,” says Tuller: “It is clean compared to coal or petroleum and is good for everything.” But in the long-term there is no option but to invest in the science to increase efficiency, transport and maximize the methods to harness the power of the sun

For a country this size, Israel has a large visibility in technology and innovation, says Tuller. “There is a high density of highly educated, very clever people. Technion – like MIT – plays a pivotal role as a meeting place for ideas in science and engineering. Other places can lack the insight as to how knowledge can be used and applied. Visible programs like The Grand Technion Energy Program are very useful to create new generations of people who are sensitive to core problem and focused on the challenge.

Tuller, who today has co-authored 40 books and published over 300 papers, spent his post-doc years at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology at the Faculty of Physics. “It was a changing experience,” he says. “There were a lot of possibilities to interact with different groups across the physics department and it broadened my perspective tremendously and extended my vision of things. It is a pleasure to come back home: a great honor.”