New York City names Cornell-Technion alliance

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Israel Institute of Technology
JANUARY 2012
www.focus.technion.ac.il
[Photo Credit]: New York City Mayor’s Office (Kristen Artz)
1
Announcement of the historic partnership, December 19, 2011: (l-r) Technion President Peretz Lavie,
Cornell President David J. Skorton, Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, and Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
Silicon Island
]
“Of all the applications, this was
the boldest and most ambitious.”
- Michael Bloomberg, NYC Mayor
[
New York City names Cornell-Technion
alliance for Roosevelt Island applied
sciences campus.
02
The story
Nobel Prize 2011 Highlights
The History of Quasicrystals.
05
The story
JANUARY 2012
2
Applied Sciences NYC Initiative Designed to Dramatically Transform City’s Economy and Create Tens © Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP
Technion - Cornell partnership wins
coveted bid to boost NY R&D
“Today will be remembered as a defining moment,”
said Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg when he
announced that the Cornell-Technion partnership had won
the city’s tender for an applied science graduate school
and research campus. The NYC Tech Campus on Roosevelt
Island will combine the full spectrum of both institutions’
academic strengths, entrepreneurial culture, and leadership
in commercialization and technology transfer.
Over the next three decades some 600 spin-off companies
are anticipated, Bloomberg predicted. Cornell President
David J. Skorton outlined how technology is no longer just
for the sake of technology but is technology in the service
of business and industry. Technion President Peretz Lavie
said that this undertaking is “something new that will
energize the city.”
According to Lavie, the Technion–Cornell Innovation
Institute (TCII) will lend a new dimension to Israeli
academia with faculty exchange through sabbaticals and
PhD students. TCII will be organized into multidisciplinary
hubs, Technion’s concept based on the success of
multidisciplinary centers such as the Russell Berrie
Nanotechnology Institute, the Grand Technion Energy
Program, and the Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for
Life Sciences and Engineering.
The three hubs are Connective Media (media technologies,
connecting people); Healthier Life (health care provision); and
Built Environment (technologies for the urban environment).
The proposed green NYC Tech Campus was planned by a
top architectural firm and it is a model of energy balance.
The projected Phase One main academic building is a netzero energy building, namely, it will harvest as much energy
from solar power and geothermal wells as it consumes on an
annual basis. The campus is planned to include a solar array
that will generate 1.8 megawatts at daily peak and a 400well geothermal field, to cool buildings in the summer and
heat them in the winter. Green space, open to the public, will
provide views of the Manhattan and Queens waterfronts.
“A new, world-class applied sciences campus on Roosevelt
Island is a perfect holiday gift for our city that will pay
dividends for generations… I thank Mayor Bloomberg for
having the vision to bring an applied sciences school to
New York, and for having the wisdom to choose Cornell
and the Technion – and a location on Roosevelt Island – to
build this incredible new school,” said Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney.
3
of Thousands of Jobs
(l-r) Technion President Peretz Lavie,
Cornell President David J. Skorton,
and Mayor of New York Michael
Bloomberg shake hands on the NYC
Tech Campus announcement.
March 2010
March 2011
Dec 2011
Feb 2012
Sept 2012
NYC announces intent
to expand the city’s tech
capability
Calls for Request
for Expression of
Interest (RFEI)
Cornell-Technion
bid wins
Technion and Cornell to
sign detailed agreement
Launch of first NYC Tech
Campus programs
2012-2014
2017
2022
2042
NYC infrastructure
works
End of Phase I
construction of campus
End of Phase II
Program horizon
MAY 2009
JANUARY
2012
FROM THE PRESIDENT
News
On December 19, 2011, I
had the honor to attend the
dramatic press conference in
New York when Mayor Michael
R. Bloomberg announced his
selection of the joint proposal
submitted by Technion and
Cornell to establish a campus
for Applied Sciences and
Engineering in New York City.
The new campus, to be built on
Roosevelt Island, will transform
New York into a center for
technological innovation.
4
Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie, with
Cornell President David J. Skorton (r),
describes the proposed interdisciplinary hubs.
In early January last year, when a
city representative conveyed Mayor
Bloomberg’s invitation to Technion
to submit a proposal for the new
campus, my first question to him
was, “Why Technion?” He replied:
“Mayor Bloomberg believes no other university
has had such a significant impact on an entire
country’s economy as Technion.”
This invitation for such an illustrious
undertaking reflects the international
community’s perception of Technion’s prestige,
excellent teaching standards, and quality
research. Technion’s administration decided
to accept the offer and submitted a proposal
together with Cornell University.
Numerous proposals were submitted by
prominent universities in Canada, India, Korea
and other countries as well as the USA. The
finalists included Stanford, Columbia, Carnegie
Mellon, Toronto, and NYU, in addition to
the Technion-Cornell alliance. Technion’s
successful partnership with Cornell is the result
of lengthy, even grueling, negotiations, and
is based on the prestige of both institutions
and on Technion’s extensive experience in
applied research and its immense contribution
to Israel as a “start-up nation.” Throughout
the negotiations, Technion remained firm
on the issue of finance: we will commit our
reputation, proven experience, and exceptional
researchers, but we are not prepared to invest
funds in this historic undertaking.
Drafting the proposal was a learning process
during which we confronted a number
of potential issues at stake for Technion.
Shechtman is the 10th Israeli — and the third Technion
scientist — to win a Nobel Prize. In each of the last three
years, three scientists have shared the Nobel Prize for
Chemistry. This year, Shechtman is the sole winner.
How to Win
a Nobel Prize
Opinion by Shlomo Maital
On Wednesday October 5, shortly after noon, I opened my
emails and read: “Technion Materials Engineering Professor
Dan Shechtman awarded Nobel Prize for Chemistry.” I yelled,
leaped out of my chair, spilling my coffee, and screamed
“yes!”… Danny has been a friend and colleague for over 25
years and the tale of how he won his Nobel is worthy of a
Hollywood feature film.
Furthermore, would this venture negatively
impact our fundraising stature in the USA? No,
we determined, it would rather lend Technion
further standing among U.S. benefactors.
Being selected with Cornell for the
prestigious NYC Tech campus puts Technion
at the forefront of scientific, technological,
and applied research globally, bringing us
one step closer to realizing Technion’s vision
of joining the world’s top 10 scientifictechnological research institutes.
So, how do you win a Nobel Prize? Here is how Danny did it.
The recipe has, I think, some valuable lessons for Israel’s science
and technology policy, and perhaps that of other nations.
Impossible. After checking, and rechecking, Shechtman wrote
up his results. His research team leader fired him from the
team; his research paper was rejected for publication. He was
vilified before a large audience by Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling.
He was called a “quasi-scientist”, playing on the “quasi-crystal”
matter he discovered. But he never gave up. In the end, other
scientists replicated and verified his findings and a new definition
of “crystal” was adopted.
1. Read Jules Verne and dream.
Shechtman says he read Verne’s novel The Mysterious Island
25 times as a child. The book is about how an engineer turns
a desert island into a lush garden. “I wanted to be exactly
that: someone who makes everything from nothing,” he says.
3. Believe in Israel.
Shechtman had numerous opportunities to make a stellar
career in America, but he chose to return home to Technion,
where he did all three of his academic degrees. “I’m a
Zionist,” he says simply.
To win a Nobel Prize in physics, medicine or chemistry, you
need to study science or engineering. And to choose those
disciplines, you need inspiration. How can we inspire our
youth to choose science, rather than business or law? This
is far more important than higher education budgets. One
of Shechtman’s projects was to initiate a Hebrew translation
of the popular science magazine Scientific American, now
distributed widely to Israeli schools, with the goal of attracting
young minds to study science.
Until I retired, I co-chaired a popular Technion course with
Shechtman, Technological Entrepreneurship, which he
initiated, attended each Fall by several hundred students. The
idea was simple – inspire Technion undergrads to launch
businesses by bringing successful Israeli entrepreneurs to
tell their stories. “No theories!” we counseled. “Just tell the
students how you did it.” And indeed, many students who
took the course went on to launch businesses.
2. Believe in yourself.
On April 8, 1982, Shechtman was peering into an electronic
microscope at the labs of the National Bureau of Standards,
during a sabbatical from Technion. His mission was to find
lightweight alloys for aircraft. Shechtman was
looking at an alloy of aluminum and manganese
Published by the Division of Public Affairs and Resource Development
that had been rapidly cooled and crystallized.
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
What he saw was an arrangement of atoms
Tel: 972-4-829-2578 > [email protected]
that defied the known laws of nature. Everyone
www.focus.technion.ac.il > http://www.youtube.com/Technion
knew that atoms in a crystal are arranged with
http://pard.technion.ac.il/TechnionLive
perfect symmetry. He saw an arrangement of
VP External Relations and
10 dots, indicating “five-fold symmetry” – an
Resource Development: Prof. Boaz Golany
arrangement in which the distances between
some atoms are shorter than between others.
Director, Public Affairs and
(To understand why, try to tile your bathroom
Resource Division: Danny Shapiro
floor with five-sided tiles, without leaving spaces
between the tiles. It cannot be done.) He ran
Head, Department
of Public Affairs: Yvette Gershon
into the corridor to find someone to tell. But
the corridor was empty. So he wrote in his lab
Editor: Amanda Jaffe-Katz
diary, “10 fold???” with three question marks.
Contributors: Barbara Frank, Leora Gal, Kevin Hattori, Georgina Johnson,
Design: Photo Coordinator: Photography: Would our participation encourage “brain
drain” from Israel? Extensive examination
of this ethical issue led us to the contrary
conclusion: the prestigious TechnionCornell New York City campus will serve as
a stepping-stone and encourage scientists
to return to Israel. While many bright and
promising Israeli scientists seek to return
to Israel from the United States, the lack of
positions available at Technion and other
Israeli universities has left them to seek their
futures elsewhere. Inviting such researchers
to the New York campus will be the first step
in their return to Israel.
Linda Montag, Roberta Neiger
CastroNawy
Hilda Favel
Yoav Bachar, Robert Barker - Cornell, CNRS Photothèque Pierre Grumberg, Åke Ericson, Miki Koren, Roya Meydan,
Reuters - Eduardo Munoz, NIVIERE/SIPA, Skidmore, Owings
& Merrill, LLP, Shlomo Shoham, Yosi Shrem, Eugene Weisberg,
Weizmann Institute of Science and others.
4. Challenge everything.
Israeli students and managers, even very young ones, never
hesitate to tell me how wrong I am, despite my 44 years of
teaching and researching management. This chutzpah is an
integral part of Israeli culture. I find much less of it in other
countries. Though Shechtman is impeccably polite and softspoken, chutzpah is in part what drove him to challenge what
every materials scientist knew as Gospel truth, and stick to his
guns. In international diplomacy, Israeli stubbornness is castigated;
in science, it wins Nobels. In global politics, Israeli chutzpah is
condemned as arrogance; in science, it smashes icons.
I think Shechtman’s story of perseverance and courage will
inspire a new generation of Israeli scientists, provided we give
them the tools and resources they need to change the world
and how it thinks.
Prof. Emeritus Shlomo Maital is a senior research fellow at Samuel Neaman
Institute for National Policy Research, Technion. This article is abridged from
Maital’s Marketplace column, Jerusalem Report, October 2011.
E R R AT U M
In the October 2011 issue of FOCUS, the Trudy and Norman Louis
Double-Helix Bridge that connects the Faculty of Biology with the
Emerson Family Life Sciences Building was misnamed in error.
QUASICRYSTALS:
History in the Making
Dan Shechtman discovered quasiperiodic
crystals in 1982 — a new form of matter.
His findings, recorded from an aluminummanganese alloy which he had rapidly
cooled after melting, demonstrated a clear
diffraction pattern with fivefold symmetry.
Watermark: Electron diffraction pattern of an icosahedral quasicrystal showing fivefold rotational symmetry
Born in Tel Aviv in 1941, Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman,
who showed a precocious ability to view objects in a unique
manner and a prodigious memory for detail, says, “Until the
age of three, I lived on Dizengoff Street in a Bauhaus building. I
remember looking out the porch fascinated at how people on
the street below look from above.”
“In high school I was a sharpshooter, one of the best in the
country. We were educated to become physically and mentally
independent – if you threw us on a Desert Island we would
survive. That’s the Israeli character,” says the world-renowned
scientist who stood up for his discovery in the face of
widespread disbelief.
The young Shechtman dreamed of being an engineer like his
fictional hero, Cyrus Smith. And so, in 1962, he commenced
his Technion studies in Mechanical Engineering. “When I
graduated in 1966 there was a recession and no work, so
I opted to continue for a master’s degree. After that, I was
offered an excellent post as the chief engineer in a defenserelated industry. But I had already fallen in love with science.
On the eve of starting the job, I notified them that I wasn’t
coming, and began doctoral studies instead. This was a decisive
crossroads in my career.”
From 1975, Shechtman spent six years on the Technion
faculty in the Department of Materials Engineering, studying
rapid solidification in metal alloys. Then he went on his first
sabbatical, to the National Bureau of Standards (now known
as NIST), where he made the discovery that, for a while, made
him one of the most unpopular scientists in crystallography and
that nearly 30 years later won him the ultimate recognition —
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Shechtman had always loved microscopes: at his grade
school he was the first pupil to show an interest
in the apparatus. At Technion he fell under the
spell of the electron microscope and mastered
methods of using it. It was with such an
instrument in 1982 that he first noticed fivefold
symmetry — the Icosahedral Phase, the first
structure in the field of quasiperiodic crystals.
]
Shechtman returned to Technion in 1983. Dr Ilan
Blech was the only colleague who not only believed
in him but who agreed to cooperate with him. Blech
was able to decipher Shechtman’s experimental
findings and offered an explanation, known as the
Icosahedral Glass Model. Together, the researchers
wrote an article that included the model and the
experimental results, and submitted it to the Journal
of Applied Physics in the summer of 1984. The paper
was immediately rejected.
“I then submitted it to the journal Metallurgical Transactions
where it was published months later, in 1985.” In the
meantime, he gave the original Shechtman-Blech manuscript
to John Cahn, who was later to receive Technion’s Harvey Prize
in 1995. “Together with Denis Gratias, a French mathematical
crystallographer, we rewrote it as a very concise, minimalist
article just with the electron microscopy observations,” and,
in November 1984, Physical Review Letters was the first to
publish Shechtman’s discovery.
Back in the mid-1970s, mathematician Roger Penrose, of
Oxford University, created an aperiodic mosaic, a pattern
that never repeats itself, with just two tiles — a fat and a thin
rhombus. And in 1982, Alan Mackay of Birkbeck College,
London, showed that one can take a Penrose pattern, shine a
laser beam through circles representing atoms in the mosaic,
and create a fivefold diffraction pattern with sharp peaks.
© CNRS Phototheque – Pierre Grumberg.
be. I thought it must be twinned crystals, and performed
a series of experiments designed to find twins and I did
not find them. So then I did micro-diffraction pattern
experiments. There were no defects or ‘twins’ and so it
was something unique in the atomic structure.”
(l-r) John Cahn, Dan Shechtman, Ilan Blech,
and Denis Gratias, France 1995.
Shechtman provides his explanation for why quasicrystals were
not discovered before 1982. They are not rare, nor hard to
make, nor costly, but they had to be discovered by transmission
electron microscopy (TEM). “This is the triumph of TEM – they
were too small for x-rays which require a sample the size of
which you can feel between your fingers. Then, you need to be
a professional. You also require tenacity; you must believe in
what you are seeing and have courage.”
“Great discoveries come by serendipity. Usually you stumble
upon it. In many cases, it will be an artifact but in other cases
it will be something new.” He tells his students, “Here is a real
test: if you believe in yourself, listen to others but don’t let
them discourage you unless you are convinced they are right
and you are wrong.”
“Immediately after our paper was published, Dov Levine and
Paul Steinhardt published a paper offering a mathematical
model to explain our findings,” Shechtman adds. Quasicrystals
got their name in this article. Levine, now a professor in
Technion’s Faculty of Physics and Steinhardt, now of Princeton
University, made the connection between Mackay’s theoretical
fivefold symmetry model and Shechtman’s diffraction pattern.
“The most important thing about the
quasicrystals is their meaning for fundamental
science. They have rewritten the first chapter
in the textbooks of ordered matter.”
Shechtman explains his discovery in the context
- Prof. Sven Lidin, Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry
of what was known at the time about crystals.
“Modern crystallography started in 1912 with the
seminal work of von Laue who originated the first
x-ray diffraction experiment. The crystals von Laue studied
“When Ilan Blech, John Cahn, and Denis Gratias joined, I
were ordered and periodic, and all the thousands of crystals
wasn’t alone anymore,” Shechtman states. “It was clear that
studied during the next 70 years were found to be ordered and we would win this battle because we knew we were right, due
periodic. Based on these observations, the ensuing definition
to my experimental evidence and the models of Blech and
of ‘crystal,’ namely, atoms in a crystal are ordered in a periodic
Steinhardt-Levine.”
way, was accepted by the community of crystallographers
and by the scientific community in general,” he says.
Crystallographers, however, wanted x-ray results, and did not
“Crystallography was a mature science and no one expected
accept Shechtman’s findings. “The trusted tool of choice was
anything new. The allowed rotational symmetries in a crystal
x-ray diffraction; it is very precise but you cannot discover
structure were 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Fivefold rotational symmetry,
quasicrystals there,” he says. As large single quasicrystals
as well as any other symmetry beyond sixfold, was forbidden in became available in 1987, so did x-ray diffraction patterns that
periodic structures.”
convinced the community of crystallographers that fivefold
symmetry and quasiperiodicity can exist in crystals. Before,
Shechtman’s work required him to sit alone in the dark, eyes
atomic order in crystals was synonymous with periodicity.
glued to the screen of the electron microscope. As recorded
Now, order could be either periodic or quasiperiodic. The old
in his logbook, what he saw on Plate 1724 was a pitch-black
definition of crystal held until 1991, nearly a decade after
crystal which he thought was interesting and so he looked at the
Shechtman’s first observations of quasicrystals. The new
diffraction pattern. “I saw 10-fold symmetry – that later turned
definition, Shechtman says approvingly, “is so nice because it is
out to be fivefold. It was totally unexpected. It was ‘forbidden’ by
humble and it is open. A humble scientist is a good scientist.”
the laws of crystallography. I worked all day to find what it could
Nobel
By Amanda Jaffe-Katz
(l-r) Paul Steinhardt and Dov Levine, Technion, 2006.
[
The Technion quasicrystals legacy continues with research
spearheaded by Distinguished Prof. Mordechai (Moti)
Segev. His team was the first to demonstrate nonlinear
photonic quasicrystals.
Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman was made Distinguished
Professor in 1998. He holds the Philip Tobias Chair in Material
Sciences, and heads the Louis Edelstein Center for Quasicrystals
and the Wolfson Centre for Interface Science.
Basic concepts
Electron diffraction pattern: When the electron microscope sends beams of electrons through material that hit
the atoms within, they scatter and form a diffraction pattern.
Rotational symmetry: An image has rotational symmetry
if there is a center point around which the object is turned
a certain number of degrees and the object still looks the
same. A square has 4-fold, a triangle has 3-fold, and a
hexagon has 6-fold symmetry.
Twinning: Occurs when two separate crystals share some
of the same crystal lattice points in a symmetrical manner,
resulting in an intergrowth of two separate crystals that
does not produce a simple diffraction pattern.
5
MAY 2009
JANUARY
2012
DAN’S DIARY
Bringing the P.M. Benjamin
Netanyahu up to speed with a
short lesson on quasicrystals
OCTOBER
Nobel
5
Breaking News at Technion Press Conference:
(l-r) Technion President Peretz Lavie, just named 2011 Nobel Laureate in
Chemistry Dan Shechtman, Materials Engineering Dean Wayne Kaplan
66
17
]
Nostalgia in the historic classroom and sharing the magic with a Swedish TV
crew at MadaTech—Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, & Space
]
24
“The Technion produces the excellence
that we need in all the fields that form
the driving motor of Israel’s future.”
- Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu
From one Nobel laureate to another:
Distinguished Prof. Avram Hershko
shares his experience
6
23
H.E. Elinor Hammarskjöld, Swedish
Ambassador, makes the pilgrimage
to Materials Engineering Faculty
Introducing Technion to the new student intake at the
launch of the 2011/2012 Academic Year
“I salute you, you gave the people of Israel a
wonderful gift. This is a great day for Haifa, a
great day for the Technion.”
- President of Israel, Shimon Peres
[
Honored by the Faculty of Materials Engineering; Dean Kaplan and
President Lavie wearing hot-off-the-press souvenir T-shirts
[
NOVEMBER
Congratulations from the President of the National
Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Ruth Arnon
21
(l-r) H.E. Elinor Hammarskjöld, Swedish Ambassador,
receives Profs. Dan and Zipora Shechtman at her
residence where she hosted a reception in Dan’s honor
NOVEMBER CONTINUED
Nobel Laureate Distinguished Prof. Aaron
Ciechanover says to expect no more prizes
and much time traveling abroad
Mayor Yona Yahav awards
Honorary Citizenship of Haifa
DECEMBER
28
29
]
[
1 STOCKHOLM
Nobel
24
Discussing Art with H.E. Daniel B. Shapiro,
U.S. Ambassador to Israel
7
Exchanging greetings with H.E. Andreas
Michaelis, Ambassador of Germany to Israel
“I don’t think I could have dreamed of a
better present for the Jewish People and for
the State of Israel for the New Year.”
- Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz
Welcoming the delegation of ambassadors from the
European Union at the Coler-California Visitors Center
2011 Nobel laureates at Royal Swedish Academy
of Sciences press conference
7
Leaving for the Nobel Prize ceremony
Interview by Nordic Life Science Review
at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm
10
The King and I: Receiving Nobel Prize
from His Majesty, King Carl XVI Gustaf
8
Delivering Nobel lecture at Aula Magna, Stockholm University
JANUARY 2012
Research
GONE
BALLISTIC
8
By Amanda Jaffe-Katz
The holy grail of contemporary
warfare is the pursuit of lightweight
and effective materials for protective
armor. Prof. Daniel Rittel is addressing
the challenge of ballistic protection
with innovative approaches based
on materials such as polymers, and
novel testing methods that include
computer simulations and scaleddown modeling.
Prof. Daniel Rittel tests materials in the Dynamic Fracture Lab.
Prof. Daniel Rittel joined Technion in 1994 and
established the Dynamic Fracture Lab (DFL) within the
Materials Mechanics Center (MMC), which he heads
in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. At DFL, he
]
KNIGHTS
in Lightweight Armor
Some 100 invited participants from Israel, Europe,
and the USA convened at Technion in March 2011
at the LWAG (Lightweight Armour Group) Meeting on
New Concepts in Armour Engineering, hosted by Prof.
Daniel Rittel, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and
Technion alumnus Dr Shuki Yeshurun, of Plasan-Sasa –
an international provider of state-of-the-art lightweight
ballistic protection and survivability solutions. LWAG
members aim to improve the design of armor and armor
systems as well as study the use of computer codes,
where applicable. DYMAT, the European association for
the promotion of research into the dynamic behavior of
materials and its applications, co-sponsored the meeting.
“We concentrate on fundamental
research, but the dividing line
between basic and applied
research is sometimes very thin.”
[
investigates the mechanical properties of materials
subjected to extreme loading conditions, dynamic
fracture and fragmentation, and develops numerical
simulations for high velocity impacts. DFL combines
experimental facilities with computer simulations, and
is, according to Rittel, unique in Israel and well-placed
at the international level.
shattering as expected, can, under certain conditions,
behave in a highly ductile manner, thus absorbing
energy from the impact. Additional work, carried out
with Brill and Dr Avraham Dorogoy, further investigates
these effects and their relevance to the development of
lightweight armor material systems.
Further research into the dynamic mechanical
properties of polymers continued with polycarbonate
– the material used for the lenses in eyeglasses.
“Now that we have characterized and modeled the
response of an armor-piercing bullet on Plexiglas
or polycarbonate plates – namely, bullet ricochet,
penetration, or perforation – the next step is to test
laminated structures as model structures,” Rittel says.
Another example of Rittel’s security-related research
addresses the hazard of anti-tank mines and the need
to offer new protection against large buried improvised
explosive devices (IEDs). A critical threat is being hit
by the dynamic bulging response of the tank floor,
yet the cost of testing full-scale tanks by explosion is
prohibitive. In a study conducted with Lt Col (Res.)
Dr Avi Neuberger (formerly Tank Directorate, Israel
Defense Forces), the researchers developed novel
scaling methods to supplement full-scale experiments.
“Scaling is a basic science question in physics, but
here there is full application in vehicles,” Rittel says.
“It is interesting to note that the U.S. Army showed
immediate interest in our method.”
“The war against surprise never ends,” says Rittel.
“The sophistication and efficiency of IEDs improves
constantly, together with their conditions of operation
that create ever-varying situations… the constant
concern for the crew of combat vehicles requires quick
and adaptive armor solutions without compromising
Rittel and colleagues are co-funded by the Technion’s
PMRI, and cooperate with national partners that
number, among others, the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF), Ministry of Defense R&D, Israel
Military Industries Ltd, and Rafael
“The war against surprise never ends…
Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. “We
don’t develop products – that’s what
constant concern for the crew of
our industrial partners do. Rather,
combat vehicles requires quick and
we concentrate on fundamental
research,” says Rittel. “But the dividing
adaptive armor solutions.”
line between basic and applied
research is sometimes very thin.”
safety. Our research into scaling down represents a
Examples of sponsored research include a new solution significant reduction of both the costs and the time of
to lightweight body armor. In research conducted with
the development phase.”
former student Alon Brill and published in 2008 in
Prof. Daniel Rittel is the incumbent of the Zandman Chair in
the Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids,
Experimental Mechanics. Since 2011, he also holds the position
Rittel reports a new and previously unknown response
of Technion Deputy Senior Vice President.
of Plexiglas. This nominally brittle material, instead of
]
[
NEW
BLOOD
Research
Images of blood vessel cells in developing
human embryonic and induced stem cells.
Cells composing the inner layer of blood
vessels appear in red and cells composing
the outer layer appear in green. Cell
nuclei are stained in Blue (B). Pericytes
are recognized by the expression of the
proteins Calponin and CD90 (C).
Researchers Create Blood Vessels
from Reprogrammed Stem Cells
Technion and Rambam Health Care Campus researchers have
created, grown and multiplied large quantities of cells, called pericytes.
This groundbreaking research is significant in understanding blood
vessel development as well as in the treatment of heart and vascular
diseases.
Regeneration of blood supply
and muscle tissue in injured
mouse limb. Normal blood
supply can be recorded in
red and yellow (left limb),
while absence of blood flow
appears in blue (right limb).
Injection of pericytes restores
the blood supply in injured
limb within 3 weeks.
]
The research was conducted by Prof. Joseph Itskovitz-Eldor and Dr
Ayelet Dar-Oaknin at Rambam and the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine.
The researchers generated pericytes, cells that play a crucial role in
blood vessel formation and function. The scientists derived these cells
during the process of embryonic stem cells differentiation in which
multiple cell types are formed, including pericytes. The pericytes
were separated based on characteristic markers found on their
membranes.
When injected into the leg muscles of mice whose blood flow
had been almost completely blocked, the pericytes restored
a functional vascular system and even regenerated muscle
that had been damaged by inadequate oxygen supply. This
experiment simulates the treatment of damaged muscles or
tissue caused by disruptions to the blood supply, a phenomenon
linked with widespread illnesses such as cardiac and vascular
disease, and diabetes.
[
The research paper “Multipotent Vasculogenic Pericytes from Human
Pluripotent Stem Cells Promote Recovery of Murine Ischemic Limb” —
coauthored with Hagit Domev, Oren Ben-Yosef, Dr Maty Tzukerman,
Dr Naama Zeevi-Levin, Atara Novak, Igal Germanguz, and Dr Michal
Amit — was published online in November 2011 in the American
Heart Association’s prestigious journal, Circulation. It was discussed
in an editorial in the same issue by Prof. Bruno Péault. According to
Péault, while previous research has been dedicated to the derivation
of endothelial cells or vascular smooth muscle cells from embryonic
and induced stem cells, this “is the first time that genuine pericytes are
thoroughly characterized in this model of early development.”
]
The pericytes were derived from
embryonic stem cells that originate in
“Pericytes restored a functional
fertilized eggs donated for research
vascular system and even
and from cells taken from adults
and reprogrammed through genetic
regenerated damaged muscle.”
manipulation to possess embryonic
properties, called induced pluripotent
stem cells. Both induced and embryonic
stem cells are pluripotent, namely, they can differentiate into any type
of human cell or tissue. As these cells can be produced from the
patient him- or herself, transplanted pericytes from induced cells can
heal damaged tissue without being rejected by the patient’s body.
“As these cells can be produced
from the patient him- or herself,
transplanted pericytes from induced
cells can heal damaged tissue without
being rejected by the patient’s body.”
[
Prof. Rafael Beyar, currently director of Rambam and formerly dean
of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine when the stem cell research
center was established, said that, “This is breakthrough research with
wide-ranging implications for many fields. The path to implementation
in patients is long, but I see tremendous potential here that will be
realized in just a few years.”
Prof. Joseph Itskovitz-Eldor is the incumbent of the Sylvia and Stanley Shirvan Chair
in Cell and Tissue Regeneration Research. He heads Rambam’s Department of
Obstetrics/Gynecology, and the Berlin Family Laboratory for Stem Cell Research
in the Sohnis and Forman Families Center of Excellence for Stem Cells and Tissue
Regeneration Research at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine.
VP Prof. Boaz Golany
Goes Public
On January 1, 2012, Prof. Boaz Golany, the
Samuel Gorney Chair in Engineering, assumed
the position of Technion’s Vice President for
External Relations and Resource Development.
Golany has been a faculty member at
the William Davidson Faculty of Industrial
Engineering and Management (IEM) since
1986, serving as Associate Dean for Teaching
(1994-1999) and as Dean (2006-2011).
Golany’s research is in the areas of industrial
engineering, operations research, and
management science. In recent years he has
also addressed issues of homeland security and
counterterrorism. In Israel and the USA, he has
served as a consultant to government agencies,
energy companies, and companies in the
financial sector, manufacturing, services, and
information technologies.
He holds a BSc (summa cum laude) in IEM
from Technion and a PhD from the School of
Business, University of Texas at Austin.
Boaz is married and has three children. He is a
sports enthusiast and is a proud member of the
Carmel Mountain Bike Club (CMBC).
9
Academic Excellence
JANUARY 2012
10
PASSION
2 TEACH
The newly established Yanai Awards
for Excellence in Education foster
faculty-student synergy
The first cadre of Technion faculty
to receive the Yanai Awards was
recognized at a ceremony at the
end of December 2011. This
prestigious prize is awarded for a
substantial and unique contribution
to the advancement of academic
education of undergraduate
students. Nine members of
engineering faculties and five
scientists received this annual
award that encourages excellence
in teaching and showcases
outstanding contributions to
undergraduate education.
Academic Affairs, the Assistant to the Senior Vice President
for the Promotion of Teaching, the Dean of Undergraduate
Studies, a representative of the Technion Students
Association, a member of the Alumni Association, the
Head of the Center for Promotion of Teaching, and the
Head of the Beatrice Weston Center for the Advancement
of Students. Any faculty member who receives the
generous $30,000 award cannot be nominated again for
a three-year period.
Moshe Yanai, a world leader in the field of information
storage, graduated Technion’s Faculty of Electrical
Engineering in 1975. Yanai remembers Technion student
life being “difficult and demanding.”
Seeking a way to ease the distress
of today’s students, he established
the prize that rewards Technion
professors for excellent teaching
and mentoring of students. Yanai’s
incentive program at his alma mater
will run for 20 years.
Yanai said of the recipients, “They put
the needs of society and state above
their personal
interests and
I am in awe
“You are the epitome of altruism.”
and full of
- Moshe Yanai, Technion, December 2011
admiration and
gratitude for
their actions and glad that I can help on this issue.” He
continued, “I consider it a great personal privilege that I
Nominees for the individual teacher awards were
can pay such rare and special people like you this honor
requested to submit their “teaching philosophy statement” — you are the epitome of altruism.”
including a discussion of pedagogical methods,
assessment techniques, instructional technology, and/or
In June 2011, Yanai was made a Distinguished Fellow of
teaching innovations used to promote student learning
the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at a festive ceremony
in and out of the classroom. Thirty-two such portfolios,
that recognized his formidable global accomplishments in
together with other supporting documentation, were
technology and entrepreneurship, as well as his visionary
considered by the Technion Teacher Awards Committee.
gift. “The Technion gave me an entry ticket to the world of
The Committee comprises the Vice President for
computers and I owe it much of my success,” he said.
]
Mentoring
4 Success
Over the last decade, the Landa Equal
Opportunities Project personal mentoring
scheme has dramatically improved the
success levels of Israeli Arab students and
lowered their dropout rate.
Ayman Mouallem, electrical engineering student, said that
when he came to Technion from his village he found a new
atmosphere, new surroundings, new people, and a new
culture; but he also found his guide from the Landa project.
He thanked the Landas, saying, “Your donation is not so
much a gift as an investment. What you’re doing here is not
just developing students, coordinators, and tutors, you’re
developing a whole population.”
In 2001, 61 percent of the Arab students studied civil
engineering. By 2011, this percentage dropped to under
15 percent while their numbers in other faculties has
increased. Sarah Katzir, head of the Weston Center for the
Advancement of Students, said, “Before the project began,
[
most of the students were concentrated in just one faculty;
their grade averages were very low, and the image of Arab
students on campus was very low. Today, we have doubled
the number of Arab students who study computer science,
electrical engineering, and all the high-tech fields.” She further
explained that the basic concept of the Landa Project was that
Arab students themselves would absorb the new students
and would clear the path for them as their mentors.
2011
YANAI
AWARDEES
Standing (l-r) Prof. Amnon Katz, Civil and Environmental Engineering;
Prof. Uri Eliash, Mathematics; Prof. Irad Yavneh, Computer Science;
Dr Sefi Givli, Mechanical Engineering; Prof. Noam Soker, Physics;
Prof. Eitan Kimmel, Biomedical Engineering; Prof. Alon Gany,
Aerospace Engineering; Prof. Avinoam Kolodny, Electrical Engineering;
Prof. Avishai Mandelbaum, Industrial Engineering and Management;
Prof. Hossam Haick, Chemical Engineering.
Sitting (l-r) Prof. Doron Melamed, Medicine; Prof. Shimon Gepstein,
Biology; Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie; Moshe Yanai;
Prof. Ayelet Fishman, Biotechnology and Food Engineering.
Not pictured Prof. David Chillag, Mathematics.
Benny Landa said, “We concluded that the best way
of impacting the future of this country was to invest in
education. So we set up a $50 m. dollar fund that over the
past 10 years has had a huge impact at various universities.
Nowhere has the impact been greater than at the Technion.”
Patsy Landa added that most of these students had no
initial interaction with the Jewish population, perhaps due
to language skills that were not so proficient. “They came to
Technion feeling they were coming to a different world, that
they were strangers in another world,” she said.
Prof. Peretz Lavie, Technion president, stated that the Landa
Equal Opportunities Project is one of the most important
projects that Technion has taken upon itself, allowing
the Arab students to overcome the hurdles of
higher education in Israel. “This program didn’t
compromise for excellence,” he said. “We provide
“Your donation is not so much a gift as an
a means for these students to be integrated into
investment… you’re developing a whole population.”
the Technion without changing our requirements.”
]
- Ayman Mouallem, electrical engineering student
Academic head of the project was professor of
mathematics Daoud Bshouty, who assumed the
position of Dean of Undergraduate Studies on
January 1, 2012. He commented, “This program provided
the students with the immediate needs of preparing them for
studies in the Technion as well as accepting them as equal in
the Technion society. Such a help is very important because,
after all, the student feels a part of the Technion society.”
To date, 480 students have benefitted from the project and
80 have themselves acted as mentors, thereby increasing
their self-esteem and tutoring experience. Each student who is
paired to a mentor later becomes a mentor to other students.
According to Dalia Peled, Project Manager, “Landa coordinators
are outstanding Arab students in their faculties. They want to
contribute, they love people, and they want to give to their
communities. We test them very carefully for this role.”
Program graduate Ronza Amara completed her degree in
biotechnology and food engineering, and is now studying
for her master’s in environmental engineering. She came to
Technion directly after high school, aged 18. “My Hebrew
was terrible,” she said. “But the tutor helped me a lot. The
workshops were in Arabic and that really helped. I want to be
the youngest professor at the Technion,” she added. To the
Landas she said, “I really feel like I’m your daughter here, or
the project’s daughter, and I’m a success story of the project.”
(r-l) Academic Head of the Landa Program Prof. Daoud Bshouty meets with the program coordinators Ayman
Mouallem, Ronza Amara, Tamer Hleihel, Anas Abdul-Lateef, Dia Hanady, and Rana Barham.
[
High Powered Gift
Academic Excellence
Meyer Foundation Program in the
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
boosts next-generation research
By Amanda Jaffe-Katz
]
Technion’s Faculty of Electrical
Engineering (EE) – ranked among the
world’s Top 10 electrical engineering
departments – is host to some 2,000
students. EE is the prime source of
technology leaders at the vanguard
of Israeli high-tech development
in electronics, computers and
communications.
proactive in its extracurricular activities.
The third cohort started studies in
October 2011, and all told there are
some 36 students currently enrolled who
benefit from a meeting room/lounge,
personal advisors, and friendly faces. “We
organize seminars and lectures by faculty
members, demos in their research labs,
and outside visits to industry,” he explains.
A major challenge is to identify and
nurture top students for a research
career. The Meyer Foundation, by
providing financial support, personal
Even-Chen has already gained research
experience in two projects. The first,
using nanotechnology and conducted
in Prof. Nir Tessler’s lab, seeks ways
to lower the cost of photovoltaics in
energy production with organic materials
as a substitute for silicon. The second
involves biological signals in the exciting
area of brain-computer interface (BCI),
and is an interdisciplinary project
with Prof. Ron Meir of EE and Prof.
Miriam Zacksenhouse of the Faculty
of Mechanical Engineering. Here, the
researchers are studying neural signals –
subconscious brain signals – in response
to visual stimuli.
“The Program confers several advantages
and added value.”- Nir Even-Chen
[
interaction, and a stimulating program
that requires 10 additional credits and a
mandatory research course, enables a
select group of undergraduate students
engaged with EE research to focus on
their studies at one of Technion’s most
popular – and demanding – faculties
without the need to seek employment.
Nir Even-Chen combines a
challenging study program
with student leadership and
coordinates enrichment activities
Prof. Adam Shwartz, dean, explains that
the goal is, “to expose the students to,
and encourage their participation in,
the diverse areas
of research in EE.
These excellent
students enjoy
frequent interaction
with faculty and
research personnel,
a support network,
enrichment
activities, and
social events.” The
Meyer Foundation
also supports
eligible outstanding
students who
continue directly to
graduate studies.
The Meyer Foundation also supports
eligible outstanding students who
continue directly to graduate studies,
known as Meyer Fellows.
for the Meyer Excellence Program.
“The Program confers several
advantages and added value to the
study period at Technion,” summarizes
Nir Even-Chen, 27, a third-year student.
“It also provides the flexibility to tailormake one’s study program.”
Even-Chen is among the first intake of
students in this elite EE program and is
11
Sampling is the conversion process
from analog to digital (A to D).”
undergraduate project that won
her the Yehoraz Kasher Memorial
To reconstruct the signal perfectly,
sampling must conform to the
Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem;
namely, the minimum sampling rate
required is equal to twice the highest
frequency contained within the
signal. “We are now attempting subNyquist sampling, possible in cases
where the frequency bandwidth is
not fully occupied,” she says.
In addition, Even-Chen, who follows
the challenging dual degree electrical
engineering-physics
track, does active
“My dream is to create a start-up.”
reserve service
- Deborah Cohen
with UAVs in the
Air Force. He is a
keen cyclist and the
Technion mountain bike team, with
Cohen’s focus is to overcome the
his participation, won last year’s intereffects of noise by means of signal
university games. He hopes to take
cyclostationary detection. This she
part in a prestigious research project
presented recently at an international
next summer at MIT’s Media Lab within
conference in Puerto Rico. “People from
the framework of MISTI and the Hibur
outside this research area told me that
(MIT–Technion) exchange program.
they now understand what ‘sub-Nyquist
barrier’ means,” she says.
Master’s student Deborah Cohen, 23,
is a serial highflier. Fresh from high
This new Israeli – who barely knew
school in Paris where she achieved the
Hebrew five-and-a-half years ago – is
highest grade in France in the scientific
determined to keep up her varied
baccalaureate, she made aliyah and
interests in ballet, tennis, sailing, and
came straight to Technion to study
playing the piano. “You can always find
EE. She has won numerous awards
the time,” she explains simply. Cohen
for her studies and research and is a
will take part in the upcoming Dean of
Meyer Fellow. Now, working with Prof.
Student’s delegation to the American
Yonina Eldar on signal processing, the
Technion Society.
two are tackling a theoretical question
with many applications in the field of
“My dream is to create a start-up,” she
telecommunications.
says. As she has already accomplished
so much, there’s little doubt that she will
“Audio, video, radar, ultrasound – all
fulfill her dream.
are signals,” Cohen explains. “And all
Prof. Adam Shwartz is the incumbent of the
are analog and continuous in timespace. However, today, most processing Julius M. & Bernice Naiman Chair in
Engineering.
is digital and therefore is discrete.
]
Deborah Cohen and the
[
Award, 2nd Place.
Nobel 2011
JANUARY 2012
12
New
Paradigms
(l-r) Prof. Lars Thelander, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for
Chemistry, Prof. Sven Lidin, Member of the Nobel Committee for
Chemistry, Prof. Ivar Olovsson, Member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences, and Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman.
Prof. Sven Lidin, in his introduction to
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to
Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman, described
how the electron diffraction pattern obtained
by Shechtman on April 8, 1982 led to a
revision of our view of the concepts of both
symmetry and crystallinity. “The objects he
discovered are aperiodic, ordered structures
that allow exotic symmetries and that today
are known as quasicrystals. Having the
courage to believe in his observations and
in himself, Dan Shechtman has changed
our view of what order is and has reminded
us of the importance of balance between
preservation and renewal, even for the most
well-established paradigms,” he said.
“Each generation takes knowledge a little
further because it builds on the results of its
forebears,” he continued. “The image of the
amassed knowledge as a blind giant with a
seeing dwarf on its shoulders is an idealization
of science at its best: A relationship of mutual
trust between the bearer and the borne,
between the blind and the seeing. The giant
provides established truths. The dwarf strives
for new insight.”
The dwarf depends on the giant, and, despite
the clarity of his vision, gets nowhere without
him. “In order to make his own choices he
is forced down on the ground, to walk alone
without the support he enjoyed on the
shoulders of the giant. This year’s Chemistry
Laureate was forced to do battle with the
established truth.”
“Coming down from the shoulders of the giant
is a challenge… It is far too easy for all of us
to remain in our lofty positions, and with lofty
disdain regard the fool who claims that we are
all wrong. To be that fool on the ground takes
great courage, and both he and those that
spoke out on his behalf deserve great respect.
“Your discovery of quasicrystals has created
a new cross-disciplinary branch of science,
drawing from, and enriching, chemistry,
physics and mathematics. This is in itself of
the greatest importance. It has also given us
a reminder of how little we really know and
perhaps even taught us some humility. That is
a truly great achievement.”
Young Israeli Scholar
Follows in Giant’s Footsteps
One of the young persons present at
the Nobel events was neither a family
member, friend, nor colleague of
Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman. She
is an aspiring scientist and budding
entrepreneur, and a fellow Israeli. Her
name is Maya Samuels, she is 18 years
old, and she was chosen along with two
dozen young scientists from across the
world to present their school research
to this year’s Nobel Prizewinners. At a
meeting held at the residence of the Israeli
Ambassador to Sweden, Samuels was
introduced to Shechtman and to Technion
President Peretz Lavie, who offered the
young woman a scholarship to pursue her
studies at Technion.
Samuels attended high school in the
Galilee. Her research project, conducted
at Tel-Hai College, explored the
photochemical fading of colors. Inspired
by art history and the Mayan practice
in 6th-century Central America of using
clay stones to paint objects, Samuels
investigated the use of Maya Blue.
Archeologists have shown that these clay
items retained their original color. Maya
Blue is composed of the organic pigment
indigo and palygorskite (or attapulgite)
— a magnesium aluminum phyllosilicate
found in clay.
As discoloration is a serious problem in the
paint industry, where color fades due to a
photochemical reaction created by light,
Samuels’ method could resonate within
industrial paint or printing applications as
well as art and textile industries.
(l-r) Nobel Laureate Dan Shechtman,
Maya Samuels who researched the
Mayans, and President Peretz Lavie.
The fashion statement
Students at Stockholm’s Beckmans
College of Design interpret the Nobel
prizes, on display at Nobel Museum
SCIENCE
On
Tap
Enjoying a tankard of beer, a snack, or a glass
of wine at a popular Jaffa nightspot, a riveted
gathering heard Prof. Gitti Frey of the Faculty
of Materials Engineering discuss materials
science and engineering and Nobel Laureate
Dan Shechtman’s discovery of quasicrystals.
The almost entirely lay audience watched
Frey’s deft use of Technion custom-made
props — the quasicrystals scarf and diffraction-
pattern T-shirt — to translate into atoms what
Shechtman saw in the electron microscope.
“The audience was very interested and asked
about the applications of quasicrystals,” Frey
said. “I stressed the importance of pure
scientific discovery in Danny’s case and, in
answer to questions about the contributions
of our science to mankind, I explained lightemitting diodes and solar cells.”
The Science on Tap series is an initiative
of the Weizmann Institute of Science,
spreading the word about the latest scientific
innovations and the relevance of science to
everyday life.
Where did you
get that tie?
SCIENCE JUST GOT SMARTER.
In the installation Fashion Innovation, fashion
students display their interpretations of this year’s
Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine,
literature, economic sciences and peace, and of
the discoveries and the people who have been
awarded the prize this year. The project also
explores the unifying factor connecting Nobel
laureates and fashion designers, namely creativity,
courage to think on entirely new lines, daring
to question established theories and innovative
combinations of insights from different fields.
Taking up the gauntlet for the adaptation of
Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman’s Nobel
Prize in Chemistry, Jonna Billengren and Marita
Öhman claimed that the complete creation has
a unisex, oriental expression, mixed with parts of
the female power suit silhouette, and with the
possibility for men to radiantly wear glitter. “We
also wanted to remove the conservative label of
the Nobel festivities and make it more equal,” they
said. “Equality needs action and acceptance from
everyone in order to make an impact on society.”