Yearly Archives: 2014

3-D Printing Technology has opened new possibilities for theoretician, Asst. Prof. Stephan Rudykh, to test his theoretical models of active material properties

Asst. Prof. Stephan Rudykh

Imagine yourself boarding a futuristic morphing airplane made of materials that can repair themselves. While on board, have a look at the photos that the lightweight soft robot took from a narrow space on Mars, where other devices could not reach. Enjoy your noise-free flight with the new materials that selectively cancel acoustic waves. Imagine a material capable of changing its color when stretched. Now picture a radiation-free device that can provide us with a 3-D image of biological tissue at a much higher resolution than an ultrasound image. These are some of the possible applications of the materials being developed by Dr. Stephan Rudykh in his “Soft Composite Materials” Lab.

Rudykh earned his BSc and MSc degrees at the Saint-Petersburg State Polytechnical University, and received his Ph.D. in 2012 from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where he worked with Prof. Gal deBotton. After completing his doctorate, which included spending time at Harvard (with Prof. Bertoldi) and Caltech (with Prof. Bhattacharya) as a visiting graduate student, Rudykh began his postdoc at MIT where he worked with Prof. Mary Boyce in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Upon completing his postdoc (2014) he returned to the Technion; in the meantime, Boyce also left MIT after being offered the position of Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University.

Rudykh arrived to the Technion in July, 2014. “The Technion is very similar to MIT in its scientific culture which conveys to its researchers: ‘If you have an idea – try it out, prove that it can work!’”, he explains, “and this is exactly what I was looking for here.”

A novel movement mechanism – a tiny distortion that initiates a large movement. The microstructures determine how the macroscopic properties of the material will react to different environmental stimuli, such as being pressed or stretched. Here we see a variety of responses by different materials to being pushed on

“I tried different techniques to realize my ideas – one of these is the now popular 3D printing technology,” explains Rudykh. “I became very excited about this new technology, which allows us to actually manufacture the pre-designed precisely ordered microstructures, and then run the experiments. In a way we are well equipped with the theories and numerical results, and we don’t search for effects blindly – but, frankly, you never know what you will find out. That’s the beauty of experiments”

Our interview was conducted at his new lab in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. On his desk are some of the plastic pieces he printed, based on the theoretical models he developed.  Actually, these are not just any plastic materials but rectangular pieces shaped like a cube, made of transparent or semi-transparent polymer. Each one of these pieces has unique mechanical properties defined by the microstructures.

What makes these materials unique are incredible versatile properties – within the same piece of material, the mechanical and electrical properties vary from one point to the other, depending on the direction where you apply pressure or stretch it out. On the same piece, there are areas that you can press down on and nothing happens, and other points that when applying pressure can cause the bending or elevation of the entire piece of material.

Materials of this sort, known as anisotropic materials, are characterized by changing features, determined according to its point of operation and direction. Paper and wood are examples of such materials: when we want to tear paper cleanly (in a straight line), it is best to rip it along its grain as opposed to against it; and if we try to split a tree trunk with an axe we will run into a similar phenomenon – trying to split the wood by cutting across the trunk will be ineffectual, but by chopping in the direction of the grain the wood splits relatively easily.

Dr. Rudykh is interested in the microstructure design rules observed in Nature – how it is possible to create materials with incredible properties and multifunctionalities with so limited material supply available for nature. “We can do much better – we can combine these design rules learned from biology with our ability to use synthetic materials,” Rudykh says.

Anisotropic materials developed by Asst. Prof. Stephan Rudykh, on the front cover of the scientific journal, “Advanced Engineering Materials” November 2014 edition, Volume 16, Issue 11, courtesy of WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

One of his current projects is the design of flexible armor inspired by the scale protecting system of fish.  “Our recent results on 3-D printed prototypes show that there is a huge potential for optimization and tailoring the performance of such materials – light-weight armor that will protect almost without restriction of movement.”

In his research and development of anisotropic materials, Rudykh attempts to understand the connection between the microstructures and macroscopic properties, that is, the relationship of its particle structure and its macroscopic properties (what can be seen by the unaided eye). Why is this important? “At the very fundamental level, to understand the relations between the microstructure and macroscopic properties – both in new synthetic materials and in natural materials. Then we will have the access to the bottom-up design of new materials with desirable properties.

For example, we can assume considerable information about the properties of a particular material by the behavior of waves within it, or understand how its conductivity changes as a result of its density.”

“At the level of application, since I am using electro-active materials (materials that

convert electrical energy to mechanical energy and vice versa), I can also change their shape by electrical means, or their electrical properties, by applying pressure or stretching them. The better we understand the relationship between the microstructure of the material and its properties at the macro level, the more we can control the functions we are ‘extracting’ from it –flexibility or strength, electrical charge, or acoustic filtering, even color. In this way, for instance, we can produce a light filter that will transmit or reflect a specific light color, or a ‘wall of sound’ that blocks sound waves it encounters – something we would like to have in soundproof headsets. In fact, this has ushered in a new horizon for soft robotics that can change their shape, and squeeze themselves into a narrow space – they can also be sensors, we can launch these light-weight  multifunctional devices to Mars to explore the planet.”

Rudykh’s research has already received widespread scientific recognition. His work has recently been published in the prestigious scientific journals “Physical Review Letters” (PRL) and “Advanced Engineering Materials,” which featured the discoveries of his research group on the front cover of the November 2014 issue. According to Prof. George Fytas, the head of the polymer group at the University of Crete, this novel study by Boyce and Rudykh proves how well-established theoretical tools can predict new materials behavior.”

Rudykh believes that his theoretical developments, and the subsequent models he prints, will lead to important applications. “For example, since we can learn about the composition of biological tissue by examining the behavior of waves within it, we can perform non-invasive and radiation-free imaging that can be much more precise and detailed in comparison with the ultrasound technology currently available. Indeed, we are just at the beginning of the way, and there are many mysteries that we will need to understand – and we will be happy to see more young people joining us on our journey to the future of materials.”

In the illustration: a novel movement mechanism – a tiny distortion that initiates a large movement. The microstructures determine how the macroscopic properties of the material will react to different environmental stimuli, such as being pressed or stretched. Here we see a variety of responses by different materials to being pushed on.

In the image: Anisotropic materials developed by Asst. Prof. Stephan Rudykh, on the front cover of the scientific journal, “Advanced Engineering Materials” November 2014 edition, Volume 16, Issue 11, courtesy of WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Following the Arava Oil Spill:

A group of Technion students to assist in the restoration efforts of the Arava by treating contaminated soil by biological means (bacteria) 

A group of Technion students travelled to the site of the Arava oil spill in order to examine the possibility of restoring land damage by biodegradation – the breakdown of oil through bacteria.

The Evrona Nature Reserve in the Arava was severely damaged in early December 2014, as a result of an oil pipeline rupture. This event, described as one of the worst ecological disasters in Israel’s history, was caused by a pipeline breach that leaked five million liters of crude oil, which lead to soil contamination and extensive environmental damage. Technion students volunteered to assist in disaster-relief efforts, all of them members of the Ma’alah project (future engineers for the environment).

The Ma’alah project, comprised of over 20 students from different Technion faculties, was founded in January, 2014 in an effort to harness the knowledge gained at the Technion for the betterment of the environment. Young researchers and faculty members from the Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Unit offered to lead the group in the professional aspects of the project. This student initiative is entirely voluntary.

“We reached the affected area and met with people from the Nature and Parks Authority, working to rehabilitate the reserve,” explained uriel klar, a student in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “We were amazed by the intensity of the damage we saw. Rivers in the reserve are still flowing black with numerous oil puddles built up along the shores. Countess animals died as a consequence of the disaster, as well as flora and fauna. This is a photo showing the signs of damage from the spill.”

“Our intention is to restore the land using bacteria capable of digesting oil and thereby reduce the ecological damage. This method has been employed in the past, at major oil spills such as the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. We took several soil samples of the contaminated ground and brought them to the lab at the Technion in order to find a natural microbial population in the soil capable of digesting the oil, using biological cultivation methods and advanced equipment. As part of the test we will take into consideration hydrological, geological and ecological parameters in order to produce a computational model to describe the treatment of the soil.”

The students volunteering on this initiative are operating under the guidance of faculty mentors, Prof. Uri Shavit from the Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Unit, and Assoc. Prof. Sima Yaron from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering.

A Hanukkah special: High-Schoolers from Ort Bialik programmed a robotic trio at the Technion to perform traditional Hanukkah customs: serving doughnuts, pouring oil and lighting candles on the candelabra.

מימין לשמאל: ד”ר דן קופרמן מהמרכז לחינוך לרובוטיקה וטכנולוגיה דיגיטלית

At the Technion’s Center for Robotics and Digital Technology, a group of students figured out an original and special way to celebrate the holiday:  they developed humanoid robots capable of Hanukkah customs: serving doughnuts, pouring oil and lighting candles on the candelabra.

The project, mentored by the Director of the Center Dr. Dan Cuperman, was undertaken by a group of outstanding 10th graders in the science-engineering track at the Ort Bialik High School.

“Once a week we come to the Robotics Center at the Technion for robotics lessons that are about 1.5 hours in length,” said Mor Pikman, a student participating in the program. “The robots we built are programmed to respond to noise, and start operating upon the sound of three hand claps.” Another student, Kfir Lavie, adds, “As part of the program, we developed a special program that makes the robot light Hanukkah candles according to the right order, and then place the candle used for lighting at the spot of the ‘shamash’ (the “attendant” candle). For humans this is a simple task, but for a robot it is quite complex, and required hours of programming work until we were able to accomplish it in the best possible way.”

“The Robotics Center is a meeting place between high-schoolers and university students who are developing and advancing methods for technology education,” said Associate Prof. Igor Verner, the Head of the Center, and the Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies and Technology Education at Technion’s Department of Education in Science and Technology. “The goal of the Center is to teach youngsters about technology through the introduction of a robot. The students program and research the operations of a robot, and learn programming language at the Center. The movements of the robots they developed on their own, through studies they conducted
on a robot’s movement operations.”

Photo Credit: Sharon Tsur, The Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office

For more information: Gil Liner, 058-688-2208, Doron Shaham – 050-3109088

Breakthrough Solves Centuries-Old Animal Evolution Mystery

Discovery could also lead to a better understanding of cancer

A model for germ-layer evolution

Most animal embryos contain three layers of cells that transform into every part of the body—from brains to bones to guts. Since the 19th century, biologists have been puzzling over which of these layers came first in animal evolution. We now have the answer, thanks to a powerful 21st-century technology developed at the Technion and deciphering the secrets of evolution may have a side benefit in helping to understand cancer.

Using a method called CEL-Seq that can spy on the activity of every gene within a cell at once, Technion Associate Professor Itai Yanai and his colleagues now provide compelling evidence that the layer called the endoderm evolved first, followed by the ectoderm layer and finally the mesoderm layer.

Yanai has other big plans for CEL-Seq. “We applied this unbelievably powerful tool to figuring out the evolution of the germ layers, a 19th century problem, but it will also be useful in things like cutting-edge cancer research as well,” he said.

Yanai and his colleagues used CEL-Seq to show that genes turned on in the endoderm of a worm embryo are the first to turn on in development, followed by genes turning on in the ectoderm and then mesoderm. They also detected that endoderm genes are older than genes mostly found in the ectoderm and mesoderm.

In their paper published in the December 10 advance online edition of Nature, the researchers argue that the endoderm layer dates back to ancient single-celled organisms that banded together to form the first multicellular animals. Endoderm cells kept up their ancestral feeding function in the new animals, which freed up the other cells to evolve into new layers in the animal.

Understanding how evolution has altered cells in the past can also “reveal to us what is easily changeable and what is not changeable in a cell,” Yanai added. “If a cell goes into a disease state, for instance, we might know more about what we could do to reverse this state and what might be more difficult to reprogram in the cell.”

CEL-Seq was invented at Technion in 2012 by the Yanai lab. Yanai said that one way to envision the method’s power is to consider a single human cell and the 20,000 genes it contains as a room with 20,000 light switches.

“Each room can have a different mood, because we can turn on or turn off those switches in many different ways. This is why cells with the same genes can have many, many different types of behavior,” he explained. “With this method, we can take a given cell and know the position of every switch—whether it’s on or off–and from this infer what functions are going on.”

Currently a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University, Yanai is using the method to study the development of tumors in zebrafish. “For the last ten years I’ve been working on development and evolution, all seen through the eyes of gene expression,” he said, “and I’ve realized that cancer is actually a natural extension of this work since here you also have cells developing and evolving.”

Yanai’s team hasn’t finished unleashing CEL-Seq on other big questions in biology, either. One of their ongoing studies uses the method to look at all the genes in ten vastly different animal species and compare how they are regulated throughout the development of the embryo. “We want to see what makes an animal an animal, what is universal across all of them,” Yanai said.

Homepage Picture:Prof. Itai Yanay and DR. Hashimshony Tamar

Technion Announces Winners of the 2014 Harvey Prize:

James P. Allison and Reinhard Genzel

The 2014 Harvey Prize will be awarded to prominent cancer researcher, Prof. James P. Allison, and leading astrophysicist Prof. Reinhard Genzel.

About 20% of Harvey Prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

Prof. James P. Allison

The Technion will award the 2014 Harvey Prize in Human Health to Prof. James P. Allison, an immunologist from the University of Texas, and the 2014 Harvey Prize in Science & Technology to Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel (for Science & Technology), an astrophysicist from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The prize, in the amount of $75,000 US, is named after Leo Harvey (1973-1887), and is awarded annually to men and women who have made significant contributions to humanity.

It has been found that about 20% of the prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, among them Dr. Shoji Nakamura, who today is receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics for developing the energy-efficient and environment-friendly light source – the blue light-emitting diode (LED).

Professor James P. Allison, the Chairman of the Department of Immunology at The MD Anderson Cancer Center, will receive the Harvey Prize for developing a new paradigm for cancer treatment and for his theoretical and practical contributions to cancer treatment. The MD Anderson Institute, affiliated with the University of Texas, is ranked as one of the nation’s best hospitals for cancer care in the United States.

Allison, who was born in Texas in 1948, specializes in the field of immunotherapy – treatment by means of strengthening the immune system – particularly in the context of cancer treatment. Allison has a longstanding interest in T cells, which play an important role in the immune system, and his research led him to discover a T-cell inhibitory molecule (known as CTLA-4) which can prevent them from attacking tumors. Following this discovery, Alison developed an antibody to block this inhibitory molecule in the hope that it will enhance anti-tumor immune responses and tumor rejection. His research led to the clinical development of ipilimumab (Yervoy™), which was approved in May 2011 by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Today, Allison investigates possibilities for applying this drug and similar inhibitory drugs-treatments in treating other forms of cancer.

Prof. Reinhard Genzel

Professor Reinhard Genzel will receive the Harvey Prize in Science and Technology on showing that a black hole exists at the center of the Milky Way (our galaxy). Genzel, who was born in 1952, is a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley and is the Director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. In 2002, Genzel discovered, along with research colleagues in Germany and California, a massive object at the center of the galaxy whose size was smaller than that of the solar system, yet its mass was more than 3 or 4 million than the mass of the sun, in other words, a very massive black hole. This determination was based on the exceptional acceleration of stars surrounding the galactic center. Genzel used innovative optical methods and infrared photography to overcome atmospheric disturbances and particles floating in space.

The Harvey Prize awarded by the Technion was first given in 1972 by the foundation established by Leo M. Harvey (1887-1973) from Los Angeles, in order to recognize significant contributions in the advancement of humankind in the areas of science and technology, human health and peace in the Middle East. The prestigious Harvey Prize has been awarded to scientists from the United States, Britain, Russia, Sweden, France and Israel, among them Nobel Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the USSR, awarded the Harvey Prize in appreciation of his seminal initiatives and policies to lessen regional tensions; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Professor Bert Sakmann; Nobel Laureate in Physics, Professor Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Professor Edward Teller for his discoveries in solid state physics, atomic and nuclear energy; and Professor William J. Kolff  for his invention of the artificial kidney.

The prize ceremony will take place at the Technion on February 17, 2015.

In the photos:  

Prof. James P. Allison – image courtesy of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Prof. Reinhard Genzel – image courtesy of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Ten years ago, on December 10th, 2004, Technion became home to Israel’s 1st Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences. Since then the Technion Nobel legacy has continued, with the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman, and the 2013 Prize in Chemistry awarded to Technion graduate Prof. Arieh Warshel.

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.

The ubiquitin molecule within all living cells

Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, Distinguished Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover unveiled the mysteries of  the ubiquitin system, revealing some 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.

The Ubiquitin Story

In 1975, a protein of unknown function was identified by Dr. Gideon Goldstein which he called Ubiquitin as he thought it was probably ubiquitous to all living cells – turning up everywhere in animal and plant cells and even yeast. Each living cell is made up of many tiny proteins. A protein is a molecule made up of one or more chains of amino acids in a predetermined order. Proteins maintain structure, function and regulation of cells. Each protein has its own unique function – some famous proteins being hormones, enzymes and antibodies.

In the 1970s, protein synthesis was understood, yet the breakdown or destruction of unwanted proteins in cells back to amino acid was still quite a mysterious process.

Over three decades ago, Technion Profs. Hershko and Ciechanover were immersed in ideas as to how to complete our picture of cell regeneration through understanding how proteins are degraded. Working closely with colleague and fellow Nobel Prize Laureate Irwin Rose, then of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, they showed how the small and common protein Ubiquitin attaches to other proteins, and marks them for destruction. Ubiquitin is quite a unique protein, as its task is that of a kind of runner between other proteins, labeling them if necessary for destruction or degradation. “Many knew how the body produces proteins, but not how they were destroyed,” says Hershko. “Without an engine, a car cannot run; without brakes, it is out of control. Proteins provide ways to moderate the body’s machinery.”

At first the three scientists, Hershko, graduate student Ciechanover and U.S. colleague Irwin Rose noticed that Ubiqitin had a way of binding to other proteins – but they didn’t know why. “Hershko used a really simple system in order to make the discovery – just a soup of enzymes and proteins,” colleague John Mayer of Nottingham University told New Scientist. “From this he was able to show the target protein must be “ubiquitinated.”

Sometimes working in tandem, Ubiquitin molecules smartly seek out proteins that are no longer needed, damaged or unhelpful and tag them for degradation, escorting them to a barrel-shaped structure called a proteasome – the cellular recycler. It is a process that cognoscenti call “ubiquitination”. It is a “kiss of death” for protein, which is a “kiss of life” for cells. Later, the scientists identified three types of enzymes involved in the ubiquitination process. The third type – the Ubiquitin protein ligases – is the one that identifies and singles out the target protein. Ligases are the cellular whistle-blowers. The sophisticated process takes place in cells all over the body – it is highly ubiquitous. But at first, few attached the label of “tremendous discovery” to the work.

To celebrate the decade of Nobel Prizes, Technion has released an elite selection of silk Nobel scarves and ties

Autonomous Tracking Shopping Cart – Shopping Made Easy from Technion

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology students have made an autonomous tracking shopping cart using a computer vision algorithm they developed. By using a 3D kinect sensor, 3D camera and Arduino board the cart can track an individual person. Shopping just got easier!

Project by Electrical Engineering students: Ohad Rusnak and Omri Elmalech of the Control Robotics and Machine Learning Lab. Koby Kohai, Chief Engineer.

The 2014 Ziegler award was bestowed upon Dr. Gal Markel for developing an innovative treatment for melanoma.

Dr. Gal Markel, 35, was presented with the 2014 Ziegler award, on November 21st, for developing an innovative treatment for melanoma. The ceremony included a lecture entitled “Phenomena Resulting from Iodine Deficiency” given by Prof. Zaki Kraiem of the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, where the event took place.

Dr. Markel, of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sheba Medical Center, is an intern specializing in immuno-oncology, an area of medicine that focuses on the treatment of cancer using the immune system. Dr. Markel received the award for developing a new antibody against the CEACAM1 protein, which plays a central role in the development of the aggressive and fatal metastatic disease. The protein is expected to be used in the immunotherapy of malignant melanoma, and clinical trials are scheduled to begin this coming year. Dr. Markel’s award ceremony lecture was entitled “Cancer under the Radar”, and discussed the way in which cancerous tumors can “hide” and thus avoid detection by the immune system.

Reuven Ziegler (z”l) was born in 1907 in Bóbrka, Poland. He survived the Holocaust along with his wife and son, Zvi Ziegler, who currently is a faculty member at the Technion’s Department of Mathematics. In 1946, the family immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem, where a daughter, Edna Schechtman (currently a professor of statistics at Ben-Gurion University) was born. In 1948, the Ziegler family moved to Haifa, where Reuven was involved in the timber trade and was an active member of the city’s chamber of commerce.

In 1971, Reuven Ziegler died of a malignant disease, and his family decided to honor his memory by establishing a fund that would bestow awards upon young physicians-researchers for applied medical research. The award, which is for 7,000 NIS, has been presented every other year since 1974 and candidacy is open to researchers from all universities, research institutes and medical centers in Israel. To date, the Ziegler award has been presented to 20 researchers, seven of whom are from the Technion. “It seems like the Ziegler award is a predictor of future success”, said Prof. Michael Aviram, who acted as master of ceremony for the event, “since many of the recipients have ended up in very respectable positions in medicine and in medical research, both in Israel and abroad.” The award committee members are Michael Aviram (Chairperson), Israel Vlodavsky, Ze’ev Hochberg, Nathan Karin, Zaid Abassi, and Asya Rolls.

Photo: Dr. Gal Markel