Category Archives: כתבות אמצע

An experimental setup built at the Technion Faculty of Physics demonstrates the transfer of atoms from one place to another through quantum tunneling between optical tweezers. Led by Prof. Yoav Sagi and doctoral student Yanay Florshaim from the Solid State Institute, the research was published in Science Advances.

Prof. Yoav Sagi

 

The experiment is based on optical tweezers — an experimental tool for capturing atoms, molecules, and even living cells using an optical potential created by laser beams focused to a micron-sized spot. How is this possible? The interaction of light with matter generates a force proportional to the intensity of the light. This force is too weak to affect our daily lives, but when it comes to tiny particles such as atoms, it can be strong enough to hold them in place or move them from one location to another. The invention of optical tweezers, which have become a significant tool in physics, earned physicist Arthur Ashkin the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.

Yanay Florshaim

The Technion researchers used a linear array of three optical tweezers in their experiment. By changing the distances between each pair of adjacent tweezers, they dynamically controlled the tunneling rate of atoms between them. Tunneling is a phenomenon unique to the quantum world, where particles have a chance to pass through a potential barrier they cannot classically overcome. By controlling the tunneling rate, the researchers were able to smoothly and efficiently transfer atoms between the two outer tweezers.

A scan of the efficiency of atomic transfer. The horizontal axis represents the time difference between two pairs of tweezers arriving at their closest point, and the vertical axis represents the minimum distance. The color indicates the transfer fidelity

In addition, the researchers showed that although the atoms move between both sides of the chain, the likelihood of finding them in the middle tweezer is very low. This intriguing feature of the transfer scheme can be understood by recalling that in quantum theory, a particle is described by a wave packet. In the scheme demonstrated in the experiment, the waves interfere destructively in the middle trap, making it impossible to find the atoms there. This is the first demonstration of this transfer method, and the researchers believe it could represent a significant milestone in the development of new quantum platforms.

The research is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the Pazy Foundation, and the Helen Diller Quantum Center at the Technion.

Click here for the paper in Science Advances

Illustration of the black hole in the NGC 4151 galaxy

 

XRISM, an X-ray telescope designed to facilitate discoveries about the evolution of galaxy clusters and the extreme space-time around black holes, was launched into space in September 2023. Prof. Ehud Behar of the Technion Faculty of Physics, an expert on X-ray observations from space, is part of the XRISM mission’s core science team. His team, which includes Technion PhD students, has been leading the analysis of several key XRISM observations in its first year of operation.

In September, a media briefing was held in Japan about the mission’s main achievements:
• Discovery of the 3D structure of the N132D supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way, and detection of iron at very high temperatures. The remnants, created by an explosion that occurred about 3,000 years ago, provide an unprecedented window into the lives and deaths of massive stars. XRISM’s observation revealed that – contrary to the prevailing hypothesis that the remnants of N132D are spherical – they actually have a tubular (or donut) shape, expanding at a speed of 1,200 kilometers per second. The supernova explosion produced iron, and the resulting shock waves heated it to extremely high temperatures – around 10 billion degrees Celsius.

• Discovery of the structure surrounding the supermassive black hole in the NGC 4151 galaxy, located about 62 million light-years away from us. XRISM’s observations provide unprecedented insights into the material surrounding the black hole at the center of the galaxy, which has a mass 30 million times that of the Sun. Specifically, the observations show the reflection of X-rays from gas in the accretion disk around the black hole, which spins at speeds of up to 15,000 km/s. These discoveries offer new information about the growth of black holes influenced by the surrounding material.

Analysis of data on the black hole NGC 4151 (Photo: Japanese Space Agency, European Space Agency)

XRISM has two primary scientific instruments: Resolve, a high-resolution spectrometer that can measure the energy (color) of X-ray photons to unprecedented precision; and Xtend, an X-ray imaging camera. According to the XRISM website, “At first glance, the Universe seems barren, a place cold, dark, and empty. But the Universe as revealed in X-rays — faint thought they are — paints a different picture. Hot plasmas at millions of degrees. Jets emanating from black holes. Ultra-high energy particles traveling at speeds surpassing 99% of the speed of light.”

The Resolve spectrometer makes precise measurements of the “color” of X-rays, a capability that makes it the primary instrument of the XRISM mission. “The fireworks that decorate the summer skies come about when different chemical elements are made to glow hot. Each metal responds to heating by emitting its own distinctive color.”
Using Resolve, the scientific community can map the elements in our Universe and, based on these data, discover a wide variety of facts in three main domains: (1) the kinematic “blueprint” for galaxy clusters, the largest structures in the Universe; (2) the “recipe for producing chemical elements in the Universe”; and (3) “the edge of space-time around black holes.” by studying matter just before it falls into black holes, or is ejected at enormous speeds away from it.”

According to Prof. Behar, “The Resolve spectrometer is a technological revolution. Its sensor is made of superconducting pixels that are kept at a low temperature. Every X-ray photon that hits a pixel raises the temperature and changes its electrical properties, enabling the system to measure the photon’s energy with unprecedented precision. Resolve has been operating in space for a year now, giving us a new wealth of information about the astrophysical sources the telescope is observing. It helps us map important phenomena in the universe and, based on our observations of them, understand dynamic processes related to the formation of elements and the evolution of cosmic structures. This is a very exciting project, and we are inundated with new data coming to us daily from space via XRISM.”

XRISM is a joint project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA). Prof. Behar is the only researcher on the telescope’s science team who is not from any of the countries in which these entities are located. He was personally appointed by the director of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. XRISM’s design incorporates lessons learned from previous Japanese telescopes decommissioned at various stages due to malfunctions. The XRISM mission aims to ensure continuity in X-ray observations — a continuity that could have been disrupted by the time gap between previous X-ray telescopes and the ATHENA telescope, which is not expected to be launched before 2035. XRISM will be the only telescope of its kind for at least the next 13 years. This will ensure the observational continuity required for expanding our understanding of astrophysical phenomena.

A new and exciting field has emerged in the hardware domain in recent years: in-memory computing. The in-memory computing approach introduces a significant change from the way computers typically operate. While traditionally the CPU runs calculations based on information stored in the computer’s memory, with this innovative approach, some operations are performed directly within the memory, reducing data transfers between the memory and the CPU. As transferring data between computer units is time- and energy-intensive, this change leads to significant savings in both.

Recent decades have seen dramatic improvements in the performance of these two components; the calculation speed of processors has skyrocketed, as has the storage capacity of memory units. These developments have only exacerbated the problem, with data transfer becoming a bottleneck that limits the computer’s overall speed.

Prof. Shahar Kvatinsky

Prof. Shahar Kvatinsky from the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering has dedicated the past few years to finding solutions to “the memory wall problem”— the problem of computations requiring two separate hardware components. In papers published in recent years, he has presented hardware technologies that enable some operations to run in memory, mitigating the “traffic jams” created between the processor and memory in conventional computers.

This paradigm shift in computer architecture has groundbreaking applications in many fields, including artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, finance, information systems and more. Unsurprisingly, many research groups in academia and industry are working on this issue: looking into memory architecture, researching the production of innovative memory units in chip factories, and studying the basic computational operations that would take place in a computer designed with an in-memory-computing approach.

However, one crucial aspect of this approach has been almost entirely unexplored until now: software. For decades, computer programs have been written for “classic” computers, the fundamental structure of which has barely changed since the very first computers in the 1940s. These programs are collections of read and write operations taking place in the computer’s memory, and computational operations performed by the processor. The units of information stored in the memory have addresses that enable software to locate and transfer them to the CPU for processing.

“With some computations now handled by the memory, we need new software,” explains Prof. Kvatinsky. “This new software has to be based on new instructions that support in-memory computations. This new computation method is so different from the conventional one that it renders some of the existing building blocks of computer science unusable. Therefore, we need to write new code, which requires a lot of time and effort from software developers.”

Ronny Ronen

A new article by Prof. Kvatinsky’s research group, led by Ph.D. student Orian Leitersdorf in collaboration with researcher Ronny Ronen, presents a solution to this problem. Their new platform uses a set of commands that bridges the gap between in-memory computing solutions and popular programming languages like Python. To build this new platform, the researchers developed a theory for the programming interfaces of in-memory computing architecture and created software development libraries that convert Python commands into machine commands executed directly in the computer’s memory.

They call this new concept PyPIM — a combination of the abbreviation for Python and the acronym for Processing-in-Memory. With this new platform, software developers will be able to write software for PIM computers with ease.

Illustration from the paper

The researchers have also created a simulation tool for developing hardware and measuring performance, allowing developers to estimate the improvement in code runtime relative to a regular computer. In their paper, the researchers demonstrate various mathematical and algorithmic computations performed using the new platform, with short and simple code, resulting in significant performance improvements.

The new research was presented at the IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture, one of the most important conferences in the field of computer architecture, which took place this week in Austin, Texas.

Orian Leitersdorf

Orian Leitersdorf, 21, is soon to be the Technion’s youngest-ever Ph.D. graduate and is a graduate of the Technion Excellence Program.  Ronny Ronen is a senior researcher in the faculty, Prof. Shahar Kvatinsky is a faculty member and head of the Architectures and Circuits Research Center (ACRC).

Click here for the full paper.

Prof. Sznitman grew up in Switzerland and the United States. He holds degrees from MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ETH Zürich and is perhaps best known for his contributions in research areas spanning pulmonary drug delivery, inhalation therapy, respiratory flows, and biomechanics.

Prof. Josue Sznitman

Prof. Sznitman initially joined our faculty in 2010 and previously served as associate dean for undergraduate studies in the BME Faculty and was the director of the Norman Seiden Multidisciplinary Graduate Program in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology.

Today, he joins the Technion leadership as the youngest dean on campus! His leadership will undoubtedly propel us toward new heights in research, education, and industry collaboration. We look forward to the exciting developments and achievements under his guidance!

Prof. Emeritus Alon Gany has been selected to receive the 2025 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Wyld Propulsion Award. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding achievements in developing or applying rocket propulsion systems and is sponsored by the AIAA Electric Propulsion Technical Committee (EPTC), Hybrid Rockets TC (HRTC), Liquid Propulsion TC (LPTC), Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion TC (NFFPTC), and Solid Propulsion TC (SPTC).

The Wyld Propulsion Award Committee honored Prof. Gany for his “pioneering contributions in propulsion research on metalized propellants, energetic materials, hybrid rockets, ramjets, and scramjets, with sustained excellence in educating generations of propulsion experts.”

Prof. Emeritus Alon Gany

Prof. Gany responded, “This is a significant honor, and I am excited to receive the award. My entire academic life has been dedicated to research and teaching in the field of rocket propulsion specifically, and high-speed aeronautical propulsion in general. I appreciate the contributions of every student, scientist, and engineering team member who has worked with me over the years. The award, given by the world’s leading aeronautical society, reflects the highest level of recognition and appreciation.”

Dean of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Prof. Daniella Raveh, remarked, “We congratulate Prof. Gany on receiving the prestigious Wyld Propulsion Award. His decades of groundbreaking research and commitment to training future generations of aerospace engineers and scientists make him a deserving recipient. Prof. Gany helps our department achieve its mission of becoming a world-class academic hub for aeronautics and astronautics, dedicated to creating, expanding, and sharing knowledge in aerospace sciences and engineering.”

About Prof. Alon Gany
Prof. Alon Gany is a Professor Emeritus at the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. He has had a distinguished career, holding leadership roles such as the academic/planning advisor and head of the Sylvia and David I.A. Fine Rocket Propulsion Center, and managing the Propulsion and Combustion Laboratory. Prof. Gany’s research spans various areas of aerospace propulsion, including rocket, ramjet, and scramjet propulsion. His work has led to over 150 refereed journal publications, 22 book chapters, 20 registered patents, and numerous prestigious awards for research and education. Additionally, he is an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and a Fellow of several esteemed engineering institutions worldwide.

Prof. Gany’s contributions continue to shape the future of aerospace propulsion and inspire and educate the next generation of aerospace engineers.

In a ceremony in the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Technion community gathered to commemorate the terror attack and the war that ensued.

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan at the ceremony

The memorial prayer for the victims was read by Professor Emeritus Joseph Itzkovitz-Eldor from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. Prof. Itzkovitz-Eldor lost his grandson, Staff Sergeant Adi Eldor, a soldier in the Maglan Unit who fell in Khan Yunis in February.

Prof. Emeritus Joseph Itzkovitz-Eldor

During the event, Tamir Steinman, a news reporter from Channel 12’s southern bureau, gave a lecture titled “The Boy with His Finger in the Dike.” Steinman is a recipient of the Outstanding Journalist Award and the Hero of the South Medal.

Tamir Steinman, Channel 12 Southern Bureau reporter at the ceremony

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan commemorated the students and alumni who fell and were murdered during the events of October 7 and the subsequent war, including Captain (res.) Amit Chayut from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science, and Captain (res.) Alon Safrai from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, who recently fell in battles in southern Lebanon. He said, “The memorial day for the October 7 massacre and the Iron Swords War encompasses a full chronological year — a year of bloodshed and profound grief, a year of mourning, of death, the memory of those no longer with us, the memory of personal and national trauma that this generation has never experienced before.

“But this tumultuous year will also carry the memory of a new spirit, a powerful spirit that filled hearts and was evident in the field, a spirit of a remarkable young generation. Israeli society rallied its full energy and abilities for defense and assistance on all fronts — on the battlefield, in extraordinary aid initiatives to affected communities, and with inspiring ingenuity in places where the state was absent. The mobilization of the Technion community across all its branches was, and still is, a tremendous source of pride for all of us. We are proud of our thousands of reservists — students, administrative and academic staff, and many others who took upon themselves a civilian ‘call to arms’ and helped those among us whose lives were disrupted, those evacuated from their homes, farmers, soldiers, and other communities. Once again, we proved what we always knew: the mission of the Technion community, its resilience, and its commitment to its members and society as a whole.”

The audience at the event

News reporter Tamir Steinman shared his experiences from October 7. On that day, Steinman went on air as soon as the attack began, bringing the voices from the border communities and expressing the feeling of abandonment that the residents of Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Sderot, Ofakim, and other communities felt that day. He described how he acted as a bridge between the residents, the security forces, and the media, reading the pleas of terrified residents live on air. At the beginning of his lecture, he said, “I am proud to be here today, especially here at the Technion, which symbolizes excellence and striving to reach the highest possible level. It is a place of excellence, where one can not only aspire to reach space but where values and being human are taught. I look at the beautiful faces of the students and alumni — the faces of this beautiful and unique nation — and it gives me hope and optimism. We must all unite and do everything we can to make things better.”

The Technion student band performed the song “Believe” by Idan Raichel at the ceremony.

Photo Credit: Haim Zinger

On Monday, September 30, 2024, Iftach Mashal presented his final project at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion. Architect Gabi Schwartz and architect Dr. Dikla Yizhar supervised the project. The project will soon be displayed in the United States at the GA, the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. The exhibition will open in Washington, D.C. on November 10.

Before the war, Mashal thought his final project at the faculty would be focused on his hometown of Ashkelon. However, the intense period he spent at Kibbutz Nir Oz – where he stayed for an extended time as a reservist – changed his initial decision. His special reserve unit settled in the kibbutzim near Gaza at the beginning of the war, and his connection with Nir Oz became a part of him. During his free time there, he worked on his final project at the Technion.

In the opening text of the project, titled “Nir Oz and I,” Mashal wrote, “For three consecutive months, I lived in the ruined kibbutz. Many homes were completely burned out, bullet marks on the reinforced safe-room windows, entire families were erased, and lives were cut short in an instant. Every day revealed more layers of the kibbutz’s story and the place’s complexities, its residents, and its history. I met survivors of the massacre who came to collect their belongings, spoke with the founders of Nir Oz, and encountered people who had lost their entire world. As a person, a soldier, and an architect, I kept asking myself how it would be possible to bring home a wounded and bleeding community that had experienced such a profound trauma.”

The final project focuses on the rehabilitation of Nir Oz in a way that does not turn the kibbutz into a memorial but restores it as a living place. “When thinking of rehabilitation, one must understand what Kibbutz Nir Oz is and what kind of life existed there before the ‘Black Saturday,’” he said. “Afterward, it is necessary to study the spatial trauma the place experienced, and the members’ feelings. The final step is to formulate principles for intervention and create a restored space.”

Mashal, 30, grew up in Ashkelon. His parents, Udi and Noga, are doctors, as are his two older sisters. He studied at an art school in Ashkelon and completed a five-unit matriculation in plastic arts. “There, I discovered that I wanted to be an architect, and by the age of 13, I had already started building model houses, so the path to the world of architecture was natural.”

After the army, he considered studying at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design or the Technion, and following an open day at the Technion, he chose the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. “In addition to the Technion’s reputation, I liked the campus atmosphere and the green spaces near the faculty. Inside the faculty, I saw ‘Moti’s Workshop,’ a carpentry shop that reminded me of my school.” Mashal began his studies in 2018, and today, alongside his studies, he works at an architectural firm. “I am in the right place professionally, a place that allows me to develop and continue nurturing my passion for the profession.”

The paintings Mashal created in Nir Oz during the war were recently exhibited in the exhibition “From Reality to Memory” at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, and the proceeds from their sales were donated to the “For Tomorrow” association, which helps released soldiers cope with their experiences. The exhibition came to the Technion during its annual Board of Governors meeting, then continued to the Israeli Knesset.

Doctoral student Shir Lissak from the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences has been awarded the Scholarship for Excellence in Science and Innovation for Outstanding PhD Students.

This prestigious fellowship is awarded annually to 12 select researchers, who join an elite group leading science and innovation in Israel. This year, the scholarship, amounting to 150,000 NIS for each recipient, was dedicated to the theme of “Mental Health and Resilience – Theory and Practice.”

Doctoral student Shir Lissak

Lissak is an outstanding doctoral student conducting her research under the supervision of Prof. Roi Reichart. Her research is at the intersection of natural language processing (NLP) and mental health, focusing on developing methodologies for risk prediction, identifying risk factors, and providing emotional support in the field of mental health.

At the beginning of her research career, Lissak concentrated on uncovering risk factors associated with suicidal tendencies and developing methodologies for identifying these factors. The research revealed significant insights into risk factors and even led to the discovery of a new risk factor. The study was later expanded to identify success metrics for psychotherapeutic treatments in individuals diagnosed with depression and to develop approaches for providing emotional support to at-risk populations.

Lissak’s research success also stems from fruitful collaborations with leading professionals in the field, including Prof. Anat Brunstein Klomek, dean of the School of Psychology at Reichman University; Prof. Eyal Fruchter, faculty member at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion and director of the Ma’ale HaCarmel Mental Health Center; Prof. Sigal Zilcha-Mano, head of the Psychotherapy Research Lab at the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Haifa; and Dr. Yaakov Ophir, clinical psychologist and research fellow at the Hebrew University and the Technion.

In 2024, the Technion commemorates 100 years of research, teaching, and building a legacy defined by innovation, leadership, and excellence, both locally and internationally.

This week, the Technion commemorates the 20^th anniversary of one of its most significant milestones – the historic announcement by the Nobel Prize Committee to award the prestigious Nobel Prize to Distinguished Professor Avram Hershko and Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover. The prize was awarded for their groundbreaking discovery of one of the most vital processes in cellular biology—protein degradation.

Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover (left) at the Nobel Prize ceremony

The human cell contains thousands of proteins that carry out essential functions. These proteins are continuously breaking down and renewing, enabling the cell to maintain proper function. Disruptions in this continuous cycle can impair cellular function and lead to various diseases.

The pioneering research of Distinguished Professor Hershko and Distinguished Professor Ciechanover and their Nobel co-recipient, Professor Irwin Rose, began in the 1970s. At the time, global research primarily focused on the formation of proteins, but the three researchers adopted an original approach, shifting the focus to the mechanisms of protein degradation. Their revolutionary insights not only reshaped our understanding of cellular processes but also proved to have far-reaching practical applications.

Distinguished Professor Avram Hershko (left) at the Nobel ceremony

Thanks to their research, it was discovered how the cell identifies, and marks proteins destined for degradation using a molecule called ubiquitin. These tagged proteins, whether defective or no longer needed, are then transported to proteasomes – specialized complexes responsible for breaking them down. This process is vital for maintaining cellular health and stability.

These discoveries led to a deeper understanding of diseases caused by disruptions in protein degradation, including cancer, cystic fibrosis, inflammation, and neurological diseases. This knowledge continues to drive the development of innovative treatments and medications for these diseases and serves as a foundation for further extensive research.

For this invaluable contribution, Distinguished Professor Avram Hershko, Distinguished Professor Aaron Ciechanover, and Professor Irwin Rose received the highest international honor in the scientific world – the Nobel Prize.

Dr. Hemi Rotenberg was named by the European Research Commission as one of the winners of its ERC Starting Grants, which assist promising young scientists in advancing their research, forming research teams, and pursuing bold and original ideas. Winning candidates for the awards, which were announced in September, must demonstrate the potential for scientific breakthroughs, strong ambition, and the feasibility of their research proposals.

Dr. Rotenberg completed all of his degrees at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago. Today, he heads the Laboratory for Bio-Electrical and Bio-Mechanical Interfaces at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. Rotenberg is developing methods for precise stimulation of cells and tissues. In 2022, he published a new technology to restore damaged nerve tissues and heart pacing using an external light source to the body. The grant will be used to develop an electro-mechanical interface for brain tissue engineering. This interface will combine optoelectronic and magnetic components and will enable researchers to apply precise electrical and mechanical modulations to different parts of the cell. According to Dr. Rotenberg, this is a complex project, and he hopes to recruit new students and postdoctoral researchers to work on it with him.

“The research we will conduct with the help of the grant will examine how electrical and mechanical stimulation of nerve cells and neural tissues affects their regeneration,” he explained. “The idea is to apply mechanical or electrical stimulation to the cell, which may improve tissue regeneration. In the mechanical context, we will develop a technology that will allow us to stretch and/or compress different parts of the nerve cell such as the axon or the cell body. In the electrical context, we will develop a new optoelectronic nano-material, which is a material that generates an electrical potential when illuminated. In both cases, we are talking about non-invasive intervention, carried out using light and magnetic fields originating outside the body, which has significant advantages.”

The peripheral nervous system differs from the spinal cord and brain in that its cells regenerate after injury, and the new technology is expected to accelerate that regeneration. Furthermore, the new technology may even trigger regeneration in brain and spinal cord cells, which do not naturally regenerate. Nerve cell regeneration is an important ability that can improve recovery from spinal cord injuries and neurological damage to the brain.

ERC Starting Grants are highly competitive. This year, only 14.2% of the 3,474 applications submitted were accepted. The selection process includes submitting written proposals and interviews. Dr. Rotenberg undertook this process while serving many months on reserve duty during the Iron Swords War.

As an infantryman in the Alexandroni Brigade, he was called up for reserve duty on the morning of October 7, and since then his unit has moved between different fronts. “During this period, I worked on the application, and it wasn’t easy, especially since some of my students also had spouses who had been called up for reserve duty. At the end of February, I was released after five months of reserve duty, and I started to prepare for the grant interview, but then another call-up order arrived. Fortunately, my unit was considerate and allowed me to join them after the interview.”

In addition to being a researcher, lecturer, and reservist, perhaps most importantly, Dr. Rotenberg is a father of four. One of his sons celebrated his bar mitzvah last November. “Balancing homelife, the military, and the Technion is not simple; there is no doubt that the main burden fell on my wife, who managed life with the kids and her career, during a very challenging period.”