Technion - Israel Institute of Technology > Articles by: 2012 > Page 3

In cooperation with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the leading business newspaper the Financial Times completed a study to investigate how to support Asian and European companies in harnessing the powerful penchant of leadership in innovation in Israel – giving the advantages of each. No global entrepreneur should miss reading this fascinating, well-researched review!

1. Partnering with a local company
2. Investing in a local company
3. Setting up a corporate venture-capital arm in Israel
4. Establishing incubators in Israel
5. Establishing local R&D centers
6. Acquiring a local start-up

Israel: an innovation gem, in Europe’s backyard

[Financial Times, UK]

By Michael Bloch, Jonathan Kolodny and Dana Maor

Israel is a first-tier innovation hub, second in the world only to Silicon Valley in its concentration of start-up companies. However, it seems as though European companies have yet to get that message. US companies and investment funds currently make the vast majority of all investments in the Israeli market.

Read the full article at the Financial Times (available after free registration).

In the foreseeable future there’ll be no need to stick needles/syringes into your arm (or other body part) to draw blood for testing if Technion scientists and smart biomedical entrepreneurs have their way. Instead, someone can take an image of your blood, and use this for routine diagnosis.

The Technion team demonstrated a non-invasive technique for imaging blood cells in vivo that could eliminate the need to extract blood from many patients. Their high-resolution Spectrally Encoded Flow Cytometry (SEFC) probe offers primary care physicians the capability to detect directly a wide range of common medical disorders, such as anaemia and bacterial infection, and potentially life threatening conditions, including sepsis, thrombosis and sickle cell crisis.

As well as enabling an immediate medical response to be offered, SEFC could also allow large-scale screening for common blood disorders. Vitally, its ability to directly and continuously visualise blood cells flowing inside patients could also provide an early warning of a medical emergency, such as internal bleeding, in post-operative and critical-care conditions.

SEFC was developed by the Biomedical Optics Laboratory, headed by Dr. Dvir Yelin. Their focus is the application of advanced optics to address some of today’s clinical challenges, particularly the development of non- or minimally-invasive diagnostic tools.

Dr. Dvir Yelin at the Biomedical Optics Lab. Technion.

Here’s a description of the difficulties (and how they were solved) with imaging blood that’s beneath skin from the Aug. 31, 2012 Andor news release.

According to Lior Golan, one of the researchers at the Biomedical Optics Laboratory, two major challenges needed to be solved. “SEFC Images of fast-moving blood cells are acquired from deep under the surface of the skin through tissue that scatters the light. This means that very little light is available and necessitates the use of a spectrometer equipped with a high-speed line camera. The Andor Newton DU970N-BV camera provided our team with a combination of high sensitivity and the required line rate for imaging physiological blood flow. Switching between 2-D image and full vertical binning mode on the Newton camera also made the alignment of the spectrometer very easy and the ability to customise the Labview software development kit to control the camera was very convenient.”

Having demonstrated the clinical potential of SEFC, the team believes that miniaturization of the probe’s optics is feasible to produce a compact, hand-held SEFC probe, free of moving parts and connected to the main system console by just a pair of optical fibers. This would allow the application of SEFC for minimally invasive applications, either as a standalone device or through the instrument channel of an endoscope.

The Patent
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MED-0991: In-vivo flow-cytometry

In this invention, a method for imaging the cross section of a vessel for detecting the flow of cells using spectrally encoded imaging was developed. This method provides visual information on the scattering particles, including their size, shape, brightness, as well as their location within the vessel. Such information could significantly increase the accuracy of flow cytometry and provide additional capabilities, such as cell sorting and the modification and destruction of specific cells. Potential applications include in vivo and ex vivo flow cytometry for industrial and clinical applications. For in vivo applications, the compact dimensions and simplicity of the probe, which is approximately 20 x 5 x 5 mm in size with no moving parts, could enable endoscopic flow cytometry in various locations in the body

Further information

The panel – from right to left – Zohar Zisapel, Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, Eyal Waldman and Prof. Peretz Lavie. Photo credit: Hezi Hojesta, Technion Spokesman

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie hosted a panel on “From Academy to Industry Leadership – Technion Alumni CEOs Session”, with Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, President of Intel Israel, Eyal Waldman, CEO of Mellanox, and Zohar Zisapel, President of RAD Data Communications. The panel was held as part of Israel’s main high tech conference hosted by IATI (Israel Advanced Technology Industries), and discussed, among others, the quality of the Israeli engineers compared to their counterparts worldwide, Technion alumni’s leading the Israeli high tech industry, and the establishment of the applied science and engineering campus in New York City together with Cornell University.

The CEO of Mellanox, Eyal Waldman, who graduated from the Technion in 1986, answered Prof. Peretz Lavie’s question on the Technion’s contribution to his career, saying “the Technion shaped the way I think. The fact that the studies connect theory and practical experience is highly significant for later careers. Engineers who are Technion graduates have real experience, which differentiates them from the graduates of other institutions”.

The President of Intel Israel, Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, referred to the issue of the quality of Israeli engineers, saying that the Israeli culture creates engineers who are willing to take risks and to face challenges: “from my experience in Intel, there is a high correlation between senior managers and people who served in military command roles and as officers. Moreover, in Israeli culture there is a tendency to doubt authority and disobey hierarchy, which makes Israeli engineers leaders in founding successful start-ups”.

The President of RAD Data Communications, Zohar Zisapel, said that the Israeli engineers are the best in the world, but the fact that Israel excels in founding start-up companies, but not large companies, is a problem: “we have to get better at building large companies. At the end of the day, when you sell the start-up, you are selling your birthright for a bowl of stew. If we were to develop large companies in Israel, the contribution to the economy would be far more substantial, both in terms of employment and in terms of the company’s long term profit”.

Prof. Peretz Lavie talked during the panel discussion about the new cooperation with Cornell University in New York, which selected the Technion out of dozens of top universities worldwide to establish together with it a unique, combined program for the promotion of knowledge intensive industry in New York: “the new research institute will combine academy and industry. Cornell intends to invest in the project two billion dollars, and the Technion will be responsible for building the academic curriculum”.

During the panel, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg congratulated the Technion by video on its cornerstone centennial. Among others, Mayor Bloomberg said that he is excited about the cooperation between Cornell and the Technion. He also noted the 11 years anniversary of the Twin Towers terrorist attack, and thanked Israel for its assistance to New York during and after the attack.

The high tech conference opened yesterday with a visit to the Technion’s laboratories by dozens of guests from Israel and abroad, and later an event in tribute to the Technion’s cornerstone centennial. The conference sessions will continue at the Jerusalem International Convention Center until Wednesday, September 12th.

Among the main speakers at the conference are the President and CEO of eBay, John Donahoe; President of Samsung Semiconductors, Dr. Nam-Sung Woo; CEO of SingTel, Allen Lew; President of Intel Israel, Mooly Eden; President of RAD, Zohar Zisapel; President of Cadence, Lip-Bu Tan; CEO of Mellanox, Eyal Waldman; CEO of Y&R, David Sable; and the CEO of Bank Leumi, Rakefet Russak-Aminoach – in addition to a long, illustrious line of senior vice presidents for technology, mergers and acquisitions, from Microsoft, IBM, Google, Citibank, SAP, eBay, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel Lucent, ZTE and others.

Israel’s International High Tech Conference at the Technion

The conference was formally opened with a salute to the Technion in celebration of 100 years to the laying of the cornerstone for our historic building in Hadar Hacarmel

(r-l) Maiko Nishimoto and Kazunari Nawa of Toyota, Alfonso Gutierrez of Finland, and the Senior Executive Vice President of the Technion, Professor Paul Feigin.

Israel’s main high tech conference, hosted by IATI (Israel Advanced Technology Industries), began Septrmber 10th, 2012, with a visit to the Technion’s laboratories by dozens of guests from Israel and abroad. In the evening an event took place at Krieger Hall in French Carmel, in a tribute to the Technion’s cornerstone centennial. The conference sessions will continue at the Jerusalem International Convention Center.

This year’s conference boasts an unprecedented concentration of Israeli and international disruptive technologies. It will showcase a unique ‘Invented in Israel’ exhibit of innovative developments by the Israeli R&D centers of multinational companies. It will also showcase the first display of its kind in Israel of the leading Israeli startup accelerators, and, as it does every year, will present new and intriguing Israeli startups. The conference will also serve as a stage for a unique summit meeting of senior representatives of worldwide telecom leaders – Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, ZTE, Alcatel Lucent, and SingTel.

The conference will be attended by senior government, academy and local authority officials, notably Israel’s President Shimon Peres, Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Technion President Professor Peretz Lavie, former Ministry of Finance Director General Haim Shani, and others. The conference Chairs are Yossi Vardi and Yahal Zilka.

This would be the largest high tech conference in Israel for the third year in a row, and it will be attended by hundreds of senior executives from leading companies in Israel and worldwide, as well as by dozens of Israeli start-up companies that will participate in panels and present innovative technologies to representatives of companies from all over the world. IATI expects 4,000 participants from Israel and the world to attend the three conference days; international delegations of senior high tech representatives from the European Union, India, China, the US and others, venture fund representatives, senior executives of technology leaders from Israel and the world, the CEOs of leading Israeli start-up companies, entrepreneurs, and additional industry and high tech partners.

This year’s conference will be also attended by extended delegations of leading international companies, who are here to pursue business opportunities in the Israeli high tech and to obtain a personal impression of the local industry and entrepreneurship. The conference will address urgent issues in the global and local high tech, among them trends in fundraising, investments, funds and angels, technological innovations from the chip level to the future of man-computer interface, the telecom market and the transition to LTE, and the world of social media and online advertising.

Aaron Mankovski, outgoing Chairman of IATI and Managing General Partner of Pitango Venture Capital: “the international high tech conference taking place in Jerusalem for the third year now has succeeded in establishing itself as one of the top international conferences in the field, and in attracting the senior executives of leading companies worldwide. Last year, the annual high tech conference provided a platform for meetings and for the creation of professional and business relations between Israeli entrepreneurs and companies and worldwide leaders, which resulted in agreements, transactions and joint developments.”

Yahal Zilka, co-chairman of the conference and Managing Partner of Magma Venture Capital: “This year the conference is attended by an unprecedented concentration of global internet, telecom, chip and capital market senior executives – from China, India, the US and European Union countries. This summit meeting of key players from all over the world under one roof is a tremendous opportunity to create a collaborative growth engine for the Israeli high tech”.

Karin Mayer-Rubinstein, CEO of IATI: “During the conference, IATI will sign cooperation agreements with international companies that will bring added value to its members. This, further to cooperation agreements that IATI signed last year with Indian delegations, and which have strengthens relations with the Indian high tech industry.”

About Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI)

IATI is an umbrella organization for the high tech, venture capital and life science industries in Israel, including for individuals and companies that engage in research, development and marketing in knowledge intensive fields such as hardware, software, internet, telecommunications, bio-pharma and medical devices. The organization initiates and assists in developing policies and activities aimed at advancing the Israeli high tech and life science industries by promoting its interests vis-à-vis government authorities, creating collaborations between its members, promoting innovation and technology, and generating opportunities for the creation of business relations in Israel and worldwide.

Israel Advanced Technology Industries is the largest umbrella organization in Israel, representing over 300 companies and organizations of the entire industrial spectrum in Israel – high tech, life sciences, venture capital, start-up companies, technological incubators, commercialization companies and service providers – that employ hundreds of thousands of high tech and life sciences employees in Israel.

Zohar Zisapel : “The Israeli Engineers are the Best in the World”

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie hosted a panel on “From Academy to Industry Leadership – Technion Alumni CEOs Session”, with Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, President of Intel Israel, Eyal Waldman, CEO of Mellanox, and Zohar Zisapel, President of RAD Data Communications. The panel was held as part of Israel’s main high tech conference hosted by IATI (Israel Advanced Technology Industries), and discussed, among others, the quality of the Israeli engineers compared to their counterparts worldwide, Technion alumni’s leading the Israeli high tech industry, and the establishment of the applied science and engineering campus in New York City together with Cornell University.

The CEO of Mellanox, Eyal Waldman, who graduated from the Technion in 1986, answered Prof. Peretz Lavie‘s question on the Technion’s contribution to his career, saying “the Technion shaped the way I think. The fact that the studies connect theory and practical experience is highly significant for later careers. Engineers who are Technion graduates have real experience, which differentiates them from the graduates of other institutions”.

The President of Intel Israel, Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, referred to the issue of the quality of Israeli engineers, saying that the Israeli culture creates engineers who are willing to take risks and to face challenges: “from my experience in Intel, there is a high correlation between senior managers and people who served in military command roles and as officers. Moreover, in Israeli culture there is a tendency to doubt authority and disobey hierarchy, which makes Israeli engineers leaders in founding successful start-ups”.

The President of RAD Data Communications, Zohar Zisapel, said that the Israeli engineers are the best in the world, but the fact that Israel excels in founding start-up companies, but not large companies, is a problem: “we have to get better at building large companies. At the end of the day, when you sell the start-up, you are selling your birthright for a bowl of stew. If we were to develop large companies in Israel, the contribution to the economy would be far more substantial, both in terms of employment and in terms of the company’s long term profit”.

Prof. Peretz Lavie talked during the panel discussion about the new cooperation with Cornell University in New York, which selected the Technion out of dozens of top universities worldwide to establish together with it a unique, combined program for the promotion of knowledge intensive industry in New York: “the new research institute will combine academy and industry. Cornell intends to invest in the project two billion dollars, and the Technion will be responsible for building the academic curriculum”.

During the panel, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg congratulated the Technion by video on its cornerstone centennial. Among others, Mayor Bloomberg said that he is excited about the cooperation between Cornell and the Technion. He also noted the 11 years anniversary of the Twin Towers terrorist attack, and thanked Israel for its assistance to New York during and after the attack.

Above: The panel – from right to left – Zohar Zisapel, Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, Eyal Waldman and Prof. Peretz Lavie. Photo credit: Hezi Hojesta, Technion Spokesman

The conference was formally opened with a salute to the Technion in celebration of 100 years to the laying of the cornerstone for our historic building in Hadar Hacarmel

Israel’s main high tech conference, hosted by IATI (Israel Advanced Technology Industries), began yesterday with a visit to the Technion’s laboratories by dozens of guests from Israel and abroad. In the evening an event took place at Krieger Hall in French Carmel, in a tribute to the Technion’s cornerstone centennial. The conference sessions will continue at the Jerusalem International Convention Center.

About Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI)

Above (right to left): Maiko Nishimoto and Kazunari Nawa of Toyota, Alfonso Gutierrez of Finland, and the Senior Executive Vice President of the Technion, Professor Paul Feigin Professor, at the start of the tours of the Technion labs. Photo: Yoav Bachar, Technion Spokesman

Social networks have swept the internet scene from other budding concepts and taken center stage in such an overwhelming way, that one is hard pressed nowadays, to find someone who isn’t involved in one network or another. Whether its on Facebook, Twitter, or another venue, people are constantly busy searching out friends, getting, and providing updates, sending messages, and playing games. If you think this whole social scene is mostly for young people looking to mingle, and that you, as a ’serious’ person, have no time to spend on this fad, you should think again. Chances are, that if you work for a medium, to large size organization, you are probably already spending time on a social network within your organization’s enterprise portal, without even knowing it.

If you follow colleagues’ birthdays, tag friends in company photos, or even keep your own blog on the enterprise portal, you are most likely a closet intranet addict. Rest assured though, you are not alone. The rise of organizational portals has seen the increased presence of social networking on these portals. The development of enterprise social media tools is on a steady rise. Microsoft’s Sharepoint, and SAP’s NetWeaver, are two good examples of enterprise tools that are constantly getting their social networking features tweaked and enhanced.

Is it all about social opportunities?

The ongoing growth of the enterprise portal market, constantly requires development of new tools, and feature sets for smart data management. With this market in mind, Technion Institute researchers, Prof. Oded Shmueli, and Royi Ronen, have developed a novel concept: a Generic social protocol, that can upgrade data management within a portal’s social networks.

Social Protocols are automation tools for social networks that govern the network’s structure, and the way data is communicated within, and without it.. Social protocols enable all of the connectivity features that make a network social. For example, say you are invited to a party by someone using the Facebook Events feature. When you receive the invitation you are asked whether or not you will be attending, and given the option to answer tentatively, with a ‘maybe’. Since your response is visible to the rest of the invitees, it may affect their responses, and possibly facilitate with the organization of the party. In fact, the social protocol behind ‘Facebook Events’ directly impacts the party’s organization by providing the three options for response.

The Generic Social Protocol

The idea behind the Generic Social Protocol is to create a malleable protocol that can be adapted to the needs of each organizational social network, by allowing users that initiate an event to set the protocol logic rules themselves. In This way, by applying protocol modifiers, an event initiator can have greater control over the behavior of their invitees. Assume for the moment that you wish to recruit several developers using the “one member brings another” method. An event is initiated by sending an initiation message to any desired set of network members. By applying protocol modifiers, you can define that only developers will enjoy the privilege of forwarding the message to their social network friends outside the company, whereas others can only view the message. In this manner you gain more control over information sharing between your social network participants. A tool such as this is bound to improve an organization’s productivity, streamline it’s work process, and become a meaningful supplement for social networks on enterprise portals. The Generic Social Protocol widens the number of potential participants who are not necessarily directly connected to the event’s initiator and can greatly change decision making, regarding events in any social network.

If you are interested in our novel technology for commercial purposes you are welcome to join the Technion Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program.

EiR program introduces entrepreneurs to the Technion’s research environment, helps them, identify promising technologies, and assists them with the launching of Start-up Company.

The above article is extracted from The Wadi.

The Patent

animated gif
Social networks interaction protocol
Ref. COM-1197

BACKGROUND

Recently, social networks turn into an automated platform which enables participants to become dynamic users rather than just provide site contents. Social networks applications structure participants intelligent communication by sending automate invitation to friends in the same network and collect different types of given responses. Since these responses can be viewed by all invited friends, they create great impact during decision making regarding the event on large number of participants.However, a better solution of structured communication is a modified interaction protocol that offers a wide range of communication and dissemination options

METHOD

Our methodology provides a platform for structured communication between participants which includes several types of modifiable messages . In every instance of the modified protocol, the participants determine their status regarding a certain event, which can be any happening, physical or virtual. As the protocol instance runs, participants make some of their friends in the network aware of event. Participants who are aware of the event may determine their status regarding this event as ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘undecided’, and their friends can see these decisions. Based on such status decisions, other participants may determine their own status regarding the event. In addition, Since the protocol fits participant’s specific needs it enables decisions changing by activating additional protocols during each run of the protocol instance.

ADVANTAGES

• Enables protocol modifying according to user’s definition of protocol
• Enables better decision making regarding events in social network

APPLICATIONS

• Enterprise portal social networks
• Web 2.0 social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Linked in

Celebrating the opening of the Jewish year 5773, snake robots from the Biorobotics and Biomechanics Lab (BRML) of Prof. Alon Wolf, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

To review the most recent technologies available for commercialization from T3, click the image below! (PDF), or to see the newsletter as a webpage click here.

Technion GTEP pioneers national and global research collaboration into new solar fuels through I-CORE.

Our global future will be affected by our ability to create scientific and technological solutions to unlock new sources and methods of renewable energy. In Israel, regional instability is threatening energy sources and the cost of conventional fuels is multiplied.

At the Solar Fuels I-CORE, top Israeli scientists from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and the Weizmann Institute of Science have joined forces to create a synergy of expertise in order to generate clean, efficient energy from renewable sources. In addition, the Solar Fuels I-CORE is an Israeli multidisciplinary task force attracting returning Israeli energy scientists from across the world.

Through intense research, world-class facilities, a dynamic agenda of educational and outreach programs and global collaboration, the Solar FueIs I-CORE team is passionate about fulfilling the promise of paving the road towards a sustainable future for all humanity.

Supported by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and The Israel Science Foundation

“Mr Zielony, your actions cannot be described simply; you are a true visionary. You have provided us with the tools for genuine development. You have given us the foundations for our community. Thank you for giving our campus a heart and our students homes close to that heart. We truly feel blessed.”

Ori Avi-No’am, former chair of the Graduate Students Organization.

“My mission in life is to provide others with the tools to realize their dreams and goals.”
Shalom (Stanley) Zielony ז”ל

Shalom (Stanley) Zielony

Born in Jerusalem in and educated in Haifa, Stanley Shalom Zielony served in the communications division of the Hagana during the War of Independence and in the Israel Defense Forces after the establishment of the State.

He moved to North America, settling in Canada, where he became involved in the export of pulpwood to Europe. He demonstrated his ingenuity by developing a more efficient machine to debark wood prior to process, and also designed Ways to improve the loading of pulpwood on cargo ships for transatlantic journeys. His ability to improve machinery transformed into his aptitude to improve processes. In 1967 Zielony founded New York Publications Expediting Services (PES.) that distributes scientific literature Worldwide. This was the first US company to use air freight and mail to import and export scientific journals and books between Europe and the US, Zielony became a World leader in scientific literature distribution as P.E.S. became the major conduit for leading international scientific publishers.

Throughout his life Stanley Shalom Zielony committed himself to help strengthen Israel by buttressing its scientific and technological character. His generosity and modesty are legendary. In 2003, he received a Technion Honorary Doctorate in appreciation of his recognition of the Institute’s critical role in the development and wellbeing of Israel, and in profound gratitude for his outstanding support of the quality of life at Technion, transforming the face of campus, improving Student life and supporting academic programs.

The inauguration of the Stanley Shalom Zielony Student Union Building

Zielony’s remarkable dedication to priority projects at Technion included funding for faculty recruitment, research, and campus life. The Shalom Zielony Plaza, dedicated in 2002, transformed the Technion into a more beautiful and vibrant campus with attractive waterfalls, a scenic promenade and an expansive central lawn providing a vvonderful location for large gatherings and ceremonies.

The quality of student life has been greatly enhanced and revitalized by the Stanley Shalom Zielony Student Union Building the Stanley Shalom Zielony Graduate Student village, and the strengthening of the Unit for Student Advancement. Loved across campus, March 18th 2009 was declared “Zielony Day” to express the gratitude of Technion students and faculty.

Zielony’s wish was to be buried at the family plot in Haifa, near Technion. His funeral, attended by his daughter Tamara, close family, friends, Technion staff and students, was a poignant yet optimistic tribute, a celebration of a life that touched so many. A recurring theme was the nobility of a man who felt lucky to be able to help others, especially young people. “Whenever I thanked Shalom for his magnificent gifts, he would respond: ‘My mission in life is to provide others with the tools to realize their dreams and goals. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to give, and to ensure the education of the next generation in Israel,” said Technion President, Professor Peretz Lavie.

“Mr. Zielony’s abundant generosity to the Technion and the Student Association has had a significant impact on the students here and will continue to do so for generations to come,” said Assaf Zinger, chairman of the Technion Students Association. “Sir Winston Churchill once said: ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ Mr. Zielony’s gifts are a testament to a life well lived.”