Israel Active

The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation announced $4 million grants for five joint Israeli-US renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Israeli beneficiaries are BrightSource, CelDezyner, Solview, Waves Audio and the Technion.

Israel’s Public Utility Authority is to issue more than 1,000 megawatts of fresh solar energy development quotas. It is to ensure that Israel achieves its goals of making 10% of the country’s electricity supply renewable by 2020.

Dmitry Medvedev and his delegation were more interested in Israeli agriculture technology than politics on the Russian Prime Minister’s November trip to Israel. They visited the Volcani Center in Beit Dagan, one of the world’s most advanced facilities for agriculture research.

Israeli startup Tethys has developed a direct solar-powered desalination system that produces drinking water using energy from direct sunlight.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann has written about three Israeli Innovations that will revolutionize the planet.  They are Softwheel’s wheel with built-in suspension, Mobileye’s autonomous vehicle technology and Aquarius’s replacement for the combustion engine. (video is of Softwheel).

Israel Aerospace's new Collision Warning System (CWS) alerts pilots of military aircraft of an imminent potential collision with commercial aircraft.  The system gives a voice warning and two separate visual display warnings.

The imaging analysis technology and algorithm from Israeli startup Aidoc streamlines the workload of radiologists struggling to review the increasing number of medical scans performed today.  Aidoc has just won the 2016 Geektime Techfest startup competition.

Two graduates from Israel’s Technion developed a spoon that their child with motor co-ordination problems could use without spilling its contents. Now anyone can buy it.  Useful also for the elderly or anyone suffering from tremor.

I featured Israeli App Engie previously with its ability to diagnose automobile faults and find the best repair shops. Engie has just received $3.5 million of funds and the U.S. and UK versions of the product have been added to Google Play.

Tel Aviv’s 2016 Israel Fuel Choices Initiative Summit featured silent electrical, cars, buses, bicycles and even airplanes. It was organized by Israel’s Fuel Choices Administration whose NIS 1.5 billion ($400 million) government budget supports over 200 research groups and 500 fuel-related startups.