Israel Active

The Leiden University of the Netherlands has issued its latest ranking of the 1,000 best Universities (CWTS Leiden Ranking). Israel’s Weizmann Institute was awarded ninth place for its Research Quality. It has risen from 19th in 2008 and from 10th in 2017.

Israel’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is unveiling this year’s innovations by more than 400 graduating industrial design students. Highlights - a field blood supply kit for medics, a home dialysis machine, artificial fruit to fight global food and vitamin shortages, and a mosquito control system.

The cloud-based technology of Israel’s TaKaDu is now operational in 13 countries. Jyväskylä Energy Group, the water utility of central Finland’s largest city, will deploy TaKaDu’s central event management solution to improve network efficiency and customer service.

Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks is to develop fast, secure broadband data transmission via the Phase-1 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite from Canada’s Telsat that was launched earlier in 2018.

Israeli startup XTend has developed drone-based extended reality technology to simulate the experience of pilots or race car drivers. They say users will realize their dreams of flying. XTend’s founders previously launched 3D company Replay Technologies which they sold to Intel for $170 million.

Israel-based Evogene is partnering with Instituto Matogrossense do Algodão (IMAmt) to test its pest-resistant genes in Brazil’s cotton crops. Annual damages caused by the Cotton Boll Weevil is estimated at $468 million just in Brazil.

In just three years, Israel has doubled the number of advanced math students in Israeli high schools, particularly in the periphery. There are now 18,000 students studying math at the highest level – crucial for the future of the State of Israel as the Startup Nation.

The InfiniBand systems from Israel’s Mellanox now support 43% of the World’s 500 fastest supercomputers including the top three.  The 216 include Astra, supporting the US Dept of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and Summit – the fastest computer in the US.

I reported previously on Israel’s ProoV’s service that allow companies to perform Proof of Concept (PoC) testing on new technology. ProoV has now expanded its strategic partnership with Deloitte to become the testing arm of its Innovation Tech Terminal lab.

Israel’s NanoLock Security has unveiled what it markets as “the industry’s most comprehensive lightweight, unbreakable security and management platform purpose-built for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Connected Devices ecosystem”.