Israel Active

The tomato harvest robots from Israel’s MetoMotion (see previously) now work at two greenhouse growers in the Netherlands. MetoMotion is looking to install 10 to 20 of the robotic machines this year, targeting Western Europe, followed eventually by Canada and the US.

The Azrieli Foundation has donated $3.75 million to create the Azrieli Center for Excellence in Engineering Education in Israel (Azrieli E3). The new center will develop and promote innovative methods of engineering education, while nurturing engineers over the course of their careers.

The quantum computing platform from Israel’s Classiq (see previously), plus Microsoft Azure Quantum’s cloud have been made available to Israeli professors, students, and researchers for conducting courses and carrying out research in all aspects of quantum computing.

Cybertech Global is the cyber industry’s foremost Business-to-Business networking platform. The 2023 Tel Aviv event was as popular as ever with speakers including Israeli leaders, cyber leaders from governments and industry, both Israeli and global.

Israel’s NT-Tao is engineering compact and scalable nuclear fusion energy technology. It says its proprietary ultra-fast plasma heating method will enable it to reach 1000 times higher density than other fusion reactors, thereby making its fusion reaction 1 million times more effective. It has just raised $22 million.

Israel’s Deep Optics (see previously) is clearly moving ahead with its adaptive optics technology. A layer of liquid crystal allows standard sunglasses to switch into reading glasses with a swipe along the arm of the frame. The next version will allow switching from reading glasses to distance lenses.

The Rothschild-Technion Program for Excellence is an academic study program for a bachelor’s degree, geared to make the most of the students’ curiosity and creativity, and to expand their horizons. The program is designed for students who are capable and interested in learning “differently”.

Israel21c has listed 8 top Israeli innovation sites to visit. I personally can recommend Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, Weizmann Institute, Ramat Negev agriculture R&D, and Vidor Center. The Technion, Ashlam, and Salad Trail look fascinating too.

Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks (see previously) has won a multimillion-dollar contract for the expansion of satellite communications capabilities on trains in Asia-Pacific. Gilat’s ER7000 SATCOM On-The-Move antennas will provide continuous internet access to passengers.

Companies are gradually realizing that most customer queries can be answered by a chatbot – an intelligent robot answering service, rather than a human operator. Israel’s CommBox offers both – passing complex queries seamlessly from chatbot to human and then back again.