Israel Active

Professor Lior Kornblum, working in the Grand Energy Program (GTEP) at Israel’s Technion, is pioneering new ways to generate and store energy to meet rapidly expanding demand. He is developing smart electronic devices to improve energy efficiency.

Three Israeli food-tech initiatives were among 15 startups to pitch groundbreaking, sustainable solutions for the food and agriculture industry at FoodBytes by Rabobank in London. Redefine Meat won the People’s Choice Award, one of the three top prizes.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem won Science Magazine’s People’s Choice for 2019 Breakthrough of the Year. HUJ researchers captivated the science world with their reconstruction from bone DNA of a Denisovan, a mysterious human-like species that disappeared 100,000 years ago.

The Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial R&D (BIRD) Foundation will invest $6.4 million in seven clean energy R&D projects. The Israeli companies involved are Chakratec (energy storage), Exency (energy from waste), Elbit Systems, EcoPlant, Eta-Bar, Netafim and Ramot.

Israel’s National Infrastructure Committee green-lighted construction of a desalination plant in the Western Galilee - Israel’s sixth. It will provide 200 million cubic meters of water annually and save the cost of building infrastructure to move water from the South over the Carmel Ridge.

Israel’s Ben-Gurion University and the UK’s University of Bristol have signed an agreement to collaborate on cyber security and Artificial Intelligence research. It formalizes their many ongoing ad-hoc research projects and exchange opportunities.

Ben Gurion University researchers have greatly reduced the amount of dust on solar panels, significantly increasing their efficiency. Inspired by the lotus leaf, which remains dust free due to its nanotextured surface, they etched nanowires onto the panels and applied a hydrophobic coating.

Israel’s Elbit Systems’ NANOVA nanosatellite was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Southern India. NANOVA was developed as part of the BIRD foundation initiative and is planned to be a part of a nanosatellite constellation for commercial purposes.

Israel’s Actiview.io develops augmented reality (AR) software for human resources - mostly games and assignments to assess potential employees. Now Actiview’s AR software has been integrated into the training courses and classrooms of French graduate business school INSEAD.

An Israeli installation titled “Goren” won the “Big Emotions” award - as part of the Jerusalem Design Week delegation at Design Art Tokyo 2019. A cloud of wheat rises into the shape of a chandelier, symbolizing extinct varieties of wheat that Israel is restoring.