Israel Active

A personal account about one of the thousands of international students who have come to Israel to experience Israel’s hi-tech ecosystem. Benjamin applied through MASA’s Destination Israel program and joined Israeli startup City Transformer, producer of foldable electric cars.

It had to happen.  The Israeli startup Verstill has developed a unique molecular distillation process that hyper-ages whiskey in a fraction of the usual time for maturing.  Verstill won the Fresh Start Foodtech Incubator Challenge in September.

This CNN article reports that there are 350 food and agriculture technology companies in the Startup Nation. It features , and (all previously reported in this newsletter) and highlights that Israeli concerns for animal welfare derive from Jewish values.

This article on Israeli water-tech startups includes the WFI group comprising four separate startups not featured previously in this newsletter. Toxsorb removes toxic chemicals; Triplet purifies using bacteria and oxygen; Rotec performs desalination and AST project manages solutions.

Israel’s Aquarius Engines has signed a deal with Honda Motor Corporation affiliate Musashi Seimitsu to co-develop its revolutionary linear engine . The 10kg engine has just 20 components and one moving part It is efficient and inexpensive with low maintenance.

As reported previously, Israel is the global leader for developing super-fast and Artificially Intelligent microprocessors. Now, researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute and Israeli chipmaker Towerjazz have integrated memory plus computing ability, to emulate the brain.

Cisco Systems has unveiled its new Cisco 8000 Series of carrier-class routers, built using Cisco Silicon One chips, developed at its Israel research and development center. Cisco forecast that the new routers will reduce internet bottlenecks and power future broadband online services.

Israel’s Energy and Water Resources Ministry and the PM's Office’s program for fuel alternatives and smart mobility, are investing NIS 22 million in new projects. They include City Transformer’s folding vehicle, a hydrogen gas station and a portable vehicle battery.

Hundreds attended the inauguration of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) new Tel Aviv office. It will serve as the European Union organization’s bridge between the two tech ecosystems and is only its 3rd hub, after Silicon Valley and Beijing.

Engine shutdown is one of the major causes of flight accidents. Students at Israel’s Technion Institute have built a safe landing guidance system for aircraft with disabled engines. The system (algorithm, interfaces with pilot display, sensors etc.) was successfully tested on an actual flight in Israel.