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The annual conference of Tech.AI, the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Hub, was held on March 2 with the participation of about 500 experts, students, and guests. The conference focused on prospects and risks in the field and on ways to translate AI theories into useful applications. It was held with the support of Mobileye, Nvidia, Harel Technologies, IBM Research, and the Zimin Institute at the Technion for AI Solutions in Healthcare.

The opening session panel, titled “Generative AI: Evolution or Revolution,” was moderated by journalist Hila Korach, and included Dr. Tomer Simon, chief scientist at Microsoft Israel R&D, Dr. Yoav Levin, chief scientist at AI21 Labs, and Professor Karin Nahon, head of the Data, Government, and Democracy program at Reichman University. The panel examined whether recent developments in Generative AI reflect a natural development of human-machine interface, or a real revolution that changes the rules of the game and will change academia, industry, and the labor market. Where are the new AI based tools taking us? Where does ethics fit into the integration and operation of these models? And what does the future of generative AI hold for us?

“For thousands of years,” said Dr. Levin, “our way of working with texts has hardly changed – one person writes the text word by word, another person reads it word by word. Despite the invention of the printing press and the invention of word processors, the format remained the same. Now, with texts being written by artificial intelligence, there is a potential for a significant new revolution.”

Prof. Nahon referred to the democratization brought by the new AI tools – technologies that are open for use by the general public. She warned that there are also dangers in AI, and that countries must take care of the introduction of appropriate regulation that will not slow down the technological development, but at the same time will not allow the new AI tools to harm people and society.

Dr. Simon said that AI is revolutionizing many fields, for example medicine: “In the medical field, there are thousands of studies published every day, and no doctor can cope and absorb the volume of studies and all of the data. AI will not replace doctors, but it will result in doctors who use it, replacing doctors who do not.”

Prof. Shie Mannor

Prof. Assaf Schuster

Prof. Shai Shen-Orr

Following the opening session, hundreds of conference participants dispersed among seven simultaneous content sessions. Dozens of senior executives from the leading companies in the high-tech industries and from Israel’s leading academic institutions, lectured in seven parallel sessions on the hottest topics from the forefront of AI in fields of medicine, core research and basic science, robotics and autonomous systems, natural language processing, transportation, and more.

The academic management of the conference was led by Tech.AI’s three co-directors, Technion faculty members Professor Shie Mannor from the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor Assaf Schuster from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science, and Professor Shai Shen-Orr from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine.

According to Prof. Mannor, “The AI and BEYOND Conference aims to bring Technion audiences and conference participants the best of AI from the forefront of academia and industry. To realize this goal, we have made considerable efforts to bring the best researchers and professionals who deal with the hottest topics on the forefront of AI, and in addition, we have created a format through which participants chose their own personal course of lectures throughout the day, so that they can deepen their knowledge in their field of activity and in other fields as well.”

Opening panel

“One of the main goals of Tech.AI,” added Prof. Schuster, “is to serve as a base for constant enrichment for the thriving and ever growing AI community at the Technion, which today numbers about 150 researchers in various fields of artificial intelligence. The AI and BEYOND Conference allowed us to have leading researchers from the Technion community lecture in all conference sessions, and at the same time provide the entire Technion AI community with a platform for quality networking with the community of AI experts in Israeli academia and industry.”

“The Technion Artificial Intelligence Hub is in the midst of an accelerated development process,” concluded Prof. Shen-Orr. “As part of this process, we have already established several new centers under the Tech.AI umbrella in the past year, and many more new initiatives and programs are in the process of establishment. The AI and BEYOND Conference gave us an excellent platform to expose Tech.AI’s partners to conference participants, and to present Technion’s AI capabilities, ranked number one in Europe in AI according to CSRankings, to potential partners.”

Tech.AI thanks the hundreds of conference participants for taking part in the event, and invites companies, organizations, and individuals interested in promoting collaborations with the Hub to contact Gady Paran, Tech.AI’s marketing director, at: gparan@technion.ac.il.

Technion- Israeli Institute of Technology Professors Shulamit Levenberg and Avi Schroeder were inducted into the AIMBE College Fellows, in a ceremony held in Washington on March 27^th. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”

Prof. Shulamit Levenberg and Prof. Avi Schroeder at the ceremony in Washington

Prof. Levenberg was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows “for leading biomedical engineering research and translational projects applying stem cells and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine and food production.”

Prof. Levenberg, of the Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering Department, conducts interdisciplinary research on stem cell-based tissue engineering. Her lab’s main focus is on creating complex tissues for regenerative medicine. The group has successfully produced vascularized muscle and heart tissue, and recently – ear implants. She is also the CSO of Aleph Farms startup, which has recently succeeded in producing a cultured entrecôte steak. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Rappaport Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Sciences and the Michael Bruno Memorial Award.

Prof. Shulamit Levenberg receiving the AIMBE fellowship from the hands of AIMBE College of Fellows Chair Prof. Guillermo Ameer and AIMBE President Prof. Joyce Wong.

Prof. Schroeder received the induction into the AIMBE College of Fellows “for outstanding contributions to the development of clinical nanotechnologies including precision nanomedicine and in cancer and orthopedics.”

Prof. Schroeder is a member of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering. He leads the Laboratory for Targeted Drug Delivery & Personalized Medicine Technologies. The lab focuses on targeted drug delivery systems to treat cancer more effectively and improve patients’ quality of life. The group’s research spans personalized cancer treatments, targeting metastases, bringing medication across the blood-brain barrier, and more. Prof. Schroeder has received 20 national and international innovation awards and is a successful scientific entrepreneur, having launched five Technion spin offs.

Prof. Avi Schroeder receiving the AIMBE fellowship from the hands of AIMBE College of Fellows Chair Prof. Guillermo Ameer and AIMBE President Prof. Joyce Wong.

AIMBE Fellows are among the most distinguished medical and biological engineers including 3 Nobel Prize laureates: Frances H. Arnold (Chemistry, 2018), Paul C. Lauterbur (Physiology or Medicine, 2007) and Norman E. Borlaug (Peace, 1970).

Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have developed and successfully lab-tested a novel titanium-air battery in cooperation with researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. This is the first time that experimental results of such a battery have been published, in which titanium is used as an active material. The metal is of interest as an electricity storage material because each atom can donate up to four electrons for charge transfer, while at the same time being relatively light and extremely resistant.

Prof. Yair Ein-Eli

Scientific Results

Titanium is known as a passive, stable material. The researchers succeeded in utilizing its electrochemical potential for the storage of electrical energy by applying an ionic liquid called EMIm(HF)_2.3F. Ionic liquids consist of salts with an atypical, very low melting point, which are used in a variety of applications due to their special electrical and material properties.

Titanium-air batteries theoretically have two to three times the energy density of zinc-air batteries, which are used today as standard button cells in hearing aids, control modules, and sensors. The theoretically achievable voltage of the titanium-air-battery is in a similar range to that of zinc-air batteries. In experiments, an average cell voltage of up to 1.2 volts and relatively high discharge currents of up to 0.75 mA cm^-2 could be measured.

Social and Scientific Relevance

In metal-air batteries, the contained metal reacts with the oxygen in the air to release electrical energy. This type of battery thus occupies a special position among batteries, since one of the two reaction partners, oxygen, is obtained from the ambient air via a special electrode and does not have to be kept in the battery. Therefore, significantly higher energy densities can be realized with these systems than with common battery types, at least in theory.

For this reason, metal-air batteries are particularly suitable for applications where a compact size is important. Another potential area of application is in large-scale stationary storage systems that use low-cost, common, and non-toxic materials. For example, titanium, although known as an expensive material, is much cheaper than lithium in terms of material costs but is more expensive than aluminium. Titanium is the ninth most frequently occurring materials in the earth’s crust, so the available resources are correspondingly abundant.

Graphic illustration of titanium-air battery properties, in the style of the periodic table of elements

Further Details

Zinc, aluminium and iron for metal-air batteries, and silicon for silicon air batteries, are the main focus of research in anode materials today. Titanium, on the other hand, has hitherto hardly been considered as an active material, and experimental results had not yet been available.

The development of the new battery concept was carried out in close cooperation between Dr. Yasin Emre Durmus from the Jülich Institute for Energy and Climate Research (IEK-9) headed by Professor Rüdiger-A. Eichel and Professor Yair Ein-Eli from the Technion, who spent a seven-month-long sabbatical at IEK-9 as part of the Umbrella Cooperation between Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Technion, and RWTH Aachen University.

Original Publication

Yasin Emre Durmus, Marcel Kaltenberg, Krzysztof Dzieciol, Maximilian Schalenbach, Danny Gelman, Boris Shvartsev, Hermann Tempel, Hans Kungl, Rüdiger-A. Eichel, Yair Ein-Eli
Breaking the passivity wall of metals: Exempli gratia non-aqueous Ti–air battery
Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 461, 2023, DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.141903

Dear Technion Family,

The coming hours, days, and weeks are crucial for the future of the State of Israel – the most significant cusp since the Yom Kippur War, 50 years ago. If the current legislative process isn’t stopped, the judicial system will be subordinate to the executive and the legislative branches, and the character of the State of Israel will be changed for many years to come. The separation and balance between the judiciary, the legislative, and the executive branches are the essence of democracy.

Conducting a dialogue and reaching broad agreements is the only way to make changes in the essence and nature of the constitutional basis on which a state relies. Calls for dialogue from the President of Israel, academia, industry leaders, economists, lawyers, present and past heads of the National Security Council, national security services, Benyamin Netanyahu’s former advisors, reservists, and the majority of the Israeli public, have fallen on deaf ears. This is tearing the delicate fabric of our society apart and damaging our connection with the diaspora.

Over the past two months, Israeli universities have worked with great restraint. However, we saw a disappointing turn of events yesterday evening when the Prime Minister fired the Minister of Defense for his concern and integrity regarding the State of Israel, when he suggested to halt the legislation process. It became clear that the Prime Minister is not interested in dialogue but in a legislative takeover, aiming to subordinate the judiciary branch to the executive branch and alter the character of the State of Israel.

The character of the state is at the forefront of our concerns, as is the continued existence of a liberal and democratic society that is essential for the prosperity of academia and its integration into the global academic community. Government conduct in recent weeks raises deep concerns about its intentions and the nature of the regime to which it is headed.

Following the declaration of the Senate and the Technion Council last month, we must ask ourselves whether the definition in our constitution: “the institution will act to further the aforementioned goals (education, research, supporting Israel’s economy) without discrimination of any kind based on race, religion, nationality or gender” will remain relevant? Will we retain our success, which is rooted in the universal values of openness, tolerance, academic freedom, equality, and absence of discrimination, on which our membership in the global academic community is based?

This concern is real. In a declaration of the presidents and rectors of the Israeli universities two months ago, we expressed concern about the expected harm to the strength of the universities. Sadly, these predictions are coming true. Postdoctoral fellows hesitate about coming back to Israel, Israeli researchers are considering immigration, an international conference was cancelled last week due to international scientists’ refusal to visit Israel. Yesterday, I was informed that a key speaker at a conference planned for June cancelled his participation due to the situation, international scientists taking part in evaluation committees have cancelled their participation, and a philanthropic foundation has let me know that should the legislation on the appointment of judges pass, they will limit their support of the Technion. I must also mention the reduction in investments in Israeli start-ups, and the reluctance of international companies, whose share in Israeli R&D is dominant, to invest in Israeli R&D.

Last Thursday I returned from an extensive fundraising tour in Boston, New York and Florida. I met with hundreds of true friends of the Technion and of the State of Israel, from the USA, Canada, and Brazil, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. There wasn’t one who did not express his/her deep concern about the current affairs in our country and about the growing rift between the Jewish North American community and Israel on the subject of democratic values. As one of our most loyal donors summed it up, “I’m afraid that the State of Israel and I may no longer share the same values.”

As a result, the Israeli research university presidents decided last night, in a difficult and extraordinary step, to halt studies in the universities and to urge the Prime Minister again: stop the legislative process before we fall into the abyss of a constitutional crisis. Launch, with genuine intent, an in-depth discourse, and allow its results to decide the character of the State of Israel.

To the Technion Family, I call on all of you to unite around the statement of the Senate and the Technion Council, to focus on the values that unite us as a community. Discourse, tolerance, inclusivity and adherence to the truth have been an integral part of the Technion for 100 years. They were our guiding star when the skies were clear and they were our beacon in raging storms. I call on all of you to speak your opinion in a voice that is loud and clear, without fear or trepidation, remembering that the Technion is home to a variety of opinions, and that we share one country, and one Technion.

Finally, in these tumultuous times, I would like to wish you all a Happy Passover, Happy Easter, and Ramadan Kareem.

Uri Sivan

President of the Technion

Distinguished Professor Jacob Ziv

The Technion mourns the passing of Distinguished Professor Jacob Ziv, one of the most renowned scientists in the field of information theory, who passed away on March 25, at the age of 91.

Prof. Ziv, Technion Alumnus and one of the greatest researchers in the history of the Technion, joined the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering 53 years ago. He had held senior positions in the Technion and the Israeli Academy. In 2021, he became the first Israeli scientist to receive the IEEE Medal of Honor for Fundamental contributions to information theory and data compression technology, and for distinguished research leadership

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan said “the scientific contribution of Distinguished Professor Jacob Ziv changed forever the way we store, process, and transfer information. He was an inspiration to all of us – a beacon of scientific excellence, a symbol of science’s great potential to ignite technological revolutions that affect all of mankind. For me, Prof. Ziv was not only an example and a role model, but also a mentor and a friend who walked beside me on my academic path at the Technion. May his memory be a blessing.”

“Prof. Ziv was a great scientist and a great man,” said Prof. Idit Keidar, dean of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “He left his mark not only on the way information is transmitted over computer networks and stored in files around the world, but also on the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, by his scientific path and his personal conduct. He taught and mentored researchers who followed in his footsteps. He led the faculty, in the capacity of dean, on the path to academic excellence. His research approach was characterized by combining deep theory with important practical applications. Prof. Ziv was an inspiration to us all. He will be missed. Together, we will continue in his path. May his memory be a blessing.”

Dist. Prof. Jacob Ziv in his youth – 1954, faculty of Electrical Engineering

Born in 1931, Prof. Ziv, completed a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at the Technion, followed by a doctorate at MIT (1962). After some eight years of research and development at Raphael and Bell Labs in the United States, he joined the Technion faculty. Over the years he held senior positions including Vice President of the Technion for Academic Affairs, Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, and President of the Israeli Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dist. Prof. Ziv won many prestigious awards, including the Israel Defense Award (twice), the Israel Prize in Exact Sciences (1993) the Marconi Award (1995), the Richard Heming Medal (1995), the Shannon Award (1997), the Frontiers of Knowledge Award from the BBVA Foundation (2009), and the EMET Prize (2017).

Dist. Prof. Jacob Ziv (right) with Prof. Abraham Lempel

In 1977, Prof Ziv and Prof. Abraham Lempel of the Taub Faculty of Computer Science published the initial version of the Lempel-Ziv algorithm, and in 1978 the second version. Both versions served as the basis for essential compression technologies including PNG, TIFF, ZIP and GIF and played a major role in PDF (for documents) and MP3 (for music) formats. This is an information compression algorithm that enables lossless compression, regardless of the structure of the data and without prior knowledge of the statistical properties of the data. Based on this algorithm, many of the compression technologies currently used today in memory devices, computers and smartphones were developed.

The Lempel-Ziv algorithm has opened the way for unprecedented technology, enabling the transfer of visual and other information at high speed without loss of information. In 2004, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) announced that the Lempel-Ziv algorithm is “a milestone in electronics and computer engineering” and that it “made a significant contribution to making the internet an effective means of global communication.”

Dist. Prof. Ziv also participated in the development of the Wyner-Ziv algorithm in Bell Laboratories. This algorithm, which is now part of Microsoft’s operating system, allows the compression of many images from different cameras, and their simultaneous transmission (for example in sports events).

In addition to his scientific achievements, Prof. Ziv was a beloved teacher and mentor to countless students throughout his career. He will be remembered not only for his groundbreaking contributions to science, but also for his kindness, generosity, and dedication to the next generation of scientists.

Professor Jacob Ziv’s contributions to the field of information theory have left an indelible mark on the world, and his legacy will continue to inspire generations of scientists to come. He will be deeply missed by his colleagues, students, and all who knew him.

Hadas Orgad

Doctoral student Hadas Orgad from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion recently received the Apple Scholars in AI/ML PhD fellowship. The fellowship is committed to supporting the academic research community by amplifying emerging leaders in their field and their cutting-edge machine learning research.

Orgad completed her bachelor’s degree (2019) at the Taub Faculty of Computer Science, with summa cum laude honors. She then pursued a master’s degree in the field of natural language processing, under the supervision of Assistant Professor Yonatan Belinkov. For her work during her master’s degree, Orgad was awarded the Google Scholarship for Women in Computer Science. During her graduate studies, Orgad worked at Microsoft, where she researched artificial intelligence methods for cyber defense. She then proceeded to a direct Ph.D. path as a full-time student.

“Natural language processing systems demonstrate impressive abilities, but they still suffer from various problems, such as failures on out-of-distribution examples and social biases,” said Orgad. “Since these systems are expected to integrate into many aspects of our lives, we would like to understand them better and make sure that they behave in the way we want. My research attempts to provide an answer to these problems by ‘opening the black box’, which is the large neural network: to understand what causes the unwanted behaviors – and correct them accordingly.”

Peleg Zeiff, a 12th-grader from Maccabim-Reut High School took first place in the annual Biotechnology Olympics competition, the finals of which were held at the Technion – Israeli Institute of Technology earlier this month. Peleg explored the potential of using the αvβ3 integrin, a protein uniquely presented on lung cancer cells, as a target for delivering chemotherapy drugs. Cancer patients suffer a multitude of chemotherapy side effects caused by exposure of their whole body to the drugs needed to the cancer cells. Targeted delivery of the drug to the cancer cells would significantly reduce side effects and increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

Prof. Ayelet Fishman speaking to the students

The annual Biotechnology Olympics competition is held at the Technion for the sixth year running. It is supervised by Prof. Ayelet Fishman and Dr. Omer Yehezkeli of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion, and by Ms. Judith Deskalo, supervisor of the Biotechnology subject in the Ministry of Education. “This event is made possible thanks to a close collaboration between the schools and the faculty,” said Ms. Deskalo. “This collaboration is a great opportunity for the students who major in Biotechnology. Biotech and foodtech are becoming increasingly important globally. The biotechnology school program gives students hands-on research experience, in addition to theoretical knowledge.”

Prof. Sima Yaron, dean of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, addressed the students: “It is very exciting for me to see the future generation of researchers. You’ve learned to ask questions, develop methods to search for knowledge, and examine your findings. Those skills are a precious jewel you can keep through your life. I hope to see you here again as faculty students, in a few years.”

“I would like to thank the wonderful biotechnology teachers who work relentlessly to engage students in science and technology. I congratulate the finalists for their motivation and dedication. You all did such a wonderful job, it was difficult to choose the winning project,” said Prof. Fishman.

Prof. Ayelet Fishman (left) and Ms. Judith Deskalo

The first stage of the Biotechnology Olympics takes place at the start of the school year, and consists of a written exam. In the second stage, students present their research in the form of posters and are examined and judged by several teachers. Finally, five students advance to present their studies to a panel of judges at the Technion. The winning student is awarded full tuition scholarships for their first year in the Technion.

Peleg Zeiff started by finding out that the αvβ3 integrin appears on lung cancer cells, and does not appear in healthy lung cells. Then, he tested the possibility of using the peptide AFP4, which is known to specifically bind and inhibit the αvβ3. This experiment showed a reduction in cancer cell growth. Finally, he bound a chemotherapy drug to the AFP4. The AFP4 brought the chemotherapy uniquely to the cancer cells, reducing their viability by 80% without harming healthy cells. Peleg dedicated his project to the memory of Zehava Barak, founder of the Biotechnology program in Maccabim-Reut High School.

Peleg Zeiff presenting his project

Eden Sapozhnikov from Eid Madaim School in Lod took second place, with a project about the role of the gene Paladin in breast cancer. Third place went to Yogev Yaakobi from Ort Rabin School in Gan Yavne, for a project about mutations in the α1 anti-trypsin gene. The runner-ups were Ilai Aviv from Ort Lilintal School in Ramla and Noya Raba from Makif D School in Ashkelon.

Prof. Yitzhak Reizel from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering spoke to the students about the various applications of epigenetic markers. “Science needs young and motivated people to join the field,” he said. “There’s a lot more to study and discover.”

L-R: Peleg Zeiff, Ms. Judith Deskalo, Yogev Yaakobi, Eden Sapozhnikov, Prof. Ayelet Fishman

In honor of International Women’s Day, a photography exhibition titled “Life as a Scientist” opened on Thursday, March 9, at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Created by photographer Gerald Bruneau, the installment includes 40 portraits of inspiring Italian women scientists.

Visitors at the “Life as a Scientist” exhibition

The exhibition was created from the “100 Women Against Stereotypes” database project, which was established with the support of the European Union delegation in Italy, out of a desire to overcome biases and prejudices often associated with the work of women in the fields of science and engineering.

It was opened by Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Italy to Israel Ms. Sarah Eti Castellani, Technion President Professor Uri Sivan, Technion Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Professor Adi Salzberg, CEO of Bracco Imaging Dr. Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, and Bracco Group President Dr. Diana Bracco, who was unable to come and sent a recorded video greeting instead.

“Women scientists are under-represented in many scientific institutions, mainly in STEM fields,” Prof. Salzberg said at the inauguration. “I believe that increasing the visibility of women in the public space on campus is therefore very meaningful, especially for our students.”

Prof. Uri Sivan speaking at the exhibition opening

Prof. Sivan made mention of the way the Technion has changed over the past hundred years. “The Technion’s first cohort of students consisted of only one woman and 16 men. We’ve been working to increase the number of women among students and faculty. This year, 48% of our freshmen are women, a record number among technological universities, I believe.”

Ms. Sarah Eti Castellani, speaking on behalf of Ambassador of Italy to Israel, Mr. Sergio Barbanti, quoted Jewish-Italian Nobel laureate Prof. Rita Levi-Montalcini. “Don’t think of yourself – think of others, and what you can do for them. Don’t be afraid of obstacles, but find ways to overcome them.” The women in the photographs, like many other women scientists, continue the path of Rita Levi-Montalcini.

Prof. Rita Levi-Montalcini with Prof. Adi Salzberg, when the former visited the Technion in 2008

Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, who is creating tissue for transplantation through bioprinting, spoke about her research.

Dr. Fulvio Renoldi Bracco, CEO of Bracco Imaging, said “Women make a big contribution to science, but their contribution is rarely recognized. This exhibition seeks to change that. We need the women scientists. With the challenges humanity faces, no talent should be overlooked and wasted.”

Dr. Diana Bracco’s message was “With this exhibition, the Bracco Foundation pays tribute to Italian women engaged in science at very high levels. Through these images, the foundation portrays their ingenuity, enthusiasm and commitment and hopes to overcome the prejudice and discrimination often associated with the work of women in science.”

The Foundation noted that despite the many experienced and professional women who make up a considerable part of the planet and who can provide a new media language for science, it is almost always men who explain and interpret the world.

The initial project morphed into a book where female scientists talked about themselves and their private and professional lives, extensively or through short snappy tweets. Over time, this platform has grown, particularly by its expansion to include female economists and financial experts, which are areas where women are very underrepresented.

The exhibition at the Erna Finci Viterbi Lawn

The exhibition not only provides a venue for the voices of these strong women, but it also lets the viewer associate a face to a name. Gerald Bruneau’s photos allow these women to “step out in the open” and reveal their dedication and determination in pursuit of their endeavors.

The exhibition was conceived by the Italian Bracco Foundation and brought to the Technion in a joint effort by the Italian Embassy to Israel, the Technion, and the Italian Technion Society.

The exhibition was translated into Hebrew, Arabic, and English. It was placed in the Erna Finci Viterbi Lawn, between the Central Library, the Students’ House, and the Senate administrative building, where it would be visible to students, faculty, and staff, and where it will remain until the end of June 2023. The consultant for the placement of the exhibition at the Technion was curator Valeria Geselev and the designers were Hagar Messer and Ofri Fortis. The printing and installation were done by Lederman Ltd.

“Public spaces can shape cultural perceptions,” Ms. Geselev said. “This exhibition is a beautiful gift that helps us consider how women can be made more present in the public space, in particular in the context of science, technology and research.”

“My goal is to build novel imaging tools that can visualize the complex biology of inflammation,” says Assistant Professor Katrien Vandoorne, head of the In-Vivo Multimodality Imaging Lab. “Using non-invasive tests to understand the pathological changes that occur in cardiovascular disease and cancer development may give rise to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches”.

Asst. Prof. Katrien Vandoorne

Prof. Vandoorne studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Ghent (Belgium), and completed her doctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, and an assistant professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands). She joined the Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering in 2020, and heads a lab that combines biology, medicine, engineering, and image processing tools.

Recently Prof. Vandoorne’s lab has received a novel PET/SPECT/CT/OI scanner, the first of its kind in Israel. This new instrument, which combines PET, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), CT, and optical imaging (OI) like fluorescence and bioluminescence all in one, will significantly advance her unique research.

Plants convert light into a form of energy that they can use – a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – through photosynthesis. This is a complex process that also produces sugar, which the plant can use for energy later, and oxygen. Some bacteria that live in the light-exposed layers of water sources can also convert light to ATP, but the process they use is simpler and less efficient than photosynthesis. Nonetheless, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology researchers now find this process isn’t as straightforward and limited as was previously thought.

Prof. Oded Béjà (left) and PhD student Ariel Chazan

Rhodopsins are the light-driven proton pumps that bacteria employ to produce ATP. Whereas photosynthesis is a process that involves multiple stages and proteins, the rhodopsin performs everything itself. It is not more efficient, but rather it is like the difference between a medieval workshop and a modern factory. The rhodopsins are activated by a molecule called “retinal,” which absorbs light. Specifically, in these proteins retinal absorbs green light. A different molecule, a carotenoid “antenna,” can enable it to also absorb blue light as well, increasing the amount of energy the rhodopsin can produce.

However, these antennae have so far been found only in two rare bacteria species, whereas half the bacteria living in ocean and lake surfaces contains a rhodopsin gene.

To graduate student Ariel Chazan, working under the supervision of Professor Oded Béjà from the Technion Faculty of Biology, this seemed strange. Being able to absorb light in the blue range is advantageous, as blue light penetrates deeper into the water. And carotenoids are widely available in nature. Could it be that a helpful tool would be lying around, and no bacteria would pick it up? Mr. Chazan hypothesized that rather, the antennae used by many bacteria have not yet been discovered. And he set out to find them.

Lake Kinneret north bank (Kinneret Limnological Laboratory)

How do you find a molecule without knowing what exactly you’re looking for? Mr. Chazan went fishing. He collected water from Lake Kinneret, and isolated known rhodopsin proton-pumps. Then he used them as bait to fish for potential antennae in the same water. Molecules that got attached to the rhodopsins and increased their energy output under blue light were the ones he was looking for. He found many. Many variants of molecules that scientists had not been familiar with in the context of rhodopsins, and that microbes were apparently using to generate more energy from the light they were exposed to.

It is one thing for something to occur in Lake Kinneret. But if the same thing occurs in oceans all across the world, that’s groundbreaking. Mr. Chazan proceeded therefore to perform the same experiments on ocean water. He was also working to prove something else as well: that the molecules he found were effective rhodopsin-antennae not only in a test tube, but also inside the living cells. All experiments proved positive.

Collecting water samples for extraction of carotenoids from the environment

“This is new knowledge about the primary producers on earth – the organisms that produce energy available to living things from inorganic energy sources. Other organisms eat those, and so use the energy that’s already in the system. So, we found out that more energy is entering the food chain than was previously known,” Mr. Chazan said, explaining the importance of his discovery. The scientific community is in agreement that this study has far-reaching implications, and it was recently published in Nature.

The work was performed by an international team, including groups from Japan, Spain and Israel. The “fishing” methodology Mr. Chazan used is an old one, almost an outdated one. “People were a little skeptical when I proposed it,” he said. “But I like applying existing techniques in ways they weren’t used before. We shouldn’t forget old tools just because there’s something newer and shinier in our toolbox. Going out into the field, seeing what nature gives us, takes more effort than ordering clean industrially produced kits and doing everything in the lab. But those sterile kits are farther away from the nature we wish to study, and things get lost in the transition.”

Illustration of the study findings: microbial rhodopsin with retinal molecule (left) and microbial rhodopsin with retinal molecule and zeaxanthin antenna which significantly increases its energy output (right)

For the full article in Nature click here.