Israel Active

Chief Minister of India’s Maharashtra state, Devendra Fadnavis, was so impressed with Israel’s smart city Tel Aviv that he will partner with Israel to make six smart cities in his state. Maharashtra’s Chief Minister also requested Israeli help to stem the suicide rate of the state’s farmers, which amounted to nearly 1,200 in the first 3 months of 2015.

Three Israeli universities are developing a new program, “Creating Water Sensitive Cities in Israel.” Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion Institute will develop strategies and solutions for improving water security and reducing the carbon footprint.

Israeli aid workers in Nepal are using innovative Israeli products such as the Emergency bandage, the Pocket BVM ventilator and the NowForce Life Compass.

Eight scientists from France attended the HCST Medical Robotics symposium in Tel Aviv on 23rd March. The following day they visited Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Universities to see Israeli robotic devices under development.

Dan Huttenlocher is the Founding Dean of Cornell Tech and Vice Provost of Cornell University. He describes the new Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech on a visit to Israel’s Technion Institute campus.

10 Israeli companies showcased at Imaginenano 2015 in Bilbau Spain, Europe’s largest nanotechnology conference. Two, Melodea and Valentis, are using cellulose nanocrystals to make a variety of groundbreaking products out of wood pulp sludge and other plant-derived waste. Meanwhile see how Technion scientists engraved the 1.2 million letters of the Hebrew Bible on a microscopic wafer of gold.

Scientists at Israel’s Ben Gurion University have developed an app that records if you break the speed limit, swerve, stop short, or switch lanes too often. Insurance companies could use the information to reward good drivers and “punish” bad ones.

Israeli startup Massivit is using Autodesk’s “Spark” to print a full-sized car. The Strati is billed as the world’s first car where all the non-mechanical components have been produced on a 3D printer. The Strati was designed and developed by US-based Local Motors.

Israel’s OffBits has produced “build it yourself” kits, comprised of throwaway screws, springs etc. Kids can assemble the kits into cool little toy robots and add their own “bits”.

Rafi Mehudar is one of this year’s Israeli Independence Day torch-lighters. 42 years after he invented the modern form of drip irrigation, it is still used by only 5% of the world’s farmers. But that technology is responsible for crops that feed over a billion people.