Israel Active

Through the Israel Fuel Choices Initiative (IFCI), Israel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Iveco (a Brand of CNH Industrial) and Magneti Marelli (FCA Group) for co-operation in the development of natural gas based technologies.

The CODS Mobile Edge Computing platform from Israel’s Saguna Networks increases mobile network speeds while reducing network congestion.  Saguna has just received funds from Akamai Technologies and SoftBank Ventures Korea to help it expand in Asia, North America and Europe.

Tel Aviv-based Brenmiller Energy will establish a 10-megawatt solar power station in Dimona, capable of generating electricity from solar energy for an average of 20 hours a day on a typical summer’s day.  This is four times as many hours than any previous Israeli solar field.

Israel’s Green Ride has launched the INU – an electric scooter that makes commuting much easier.  It folds automatically, recognizes its owner and has a range of 40km at speeds up to 25km/hour.

Israeli start-up RideOn has developed augmented reality goggles that superimpose a computer-generated image into the user’s view.  Direct-to-eye display technology positions the transparent display directly over the eye, eliminating the need to look away or refocus in order to read the data.

The MIT-Israel-BGU Seed Fund recently approved five joint research proposals involving scientists at MIT and at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.  They cover water technology, spinal cord treatment, tomato seeds, online student training and photocurrent spectroscopy.

Growing crops on water used to be only available to big industry.  Now Israel’s Flux has developed a device that lets individuals and small businesses install hydroponics on rooftops, in school gardens, basements and even in restaurants.  Flux’s product was demo’d at Israel’s Cann Tech conference.  

(Thanks to Michelle) Depending on which report you read, Israeli innovation is rated 3rd in the world by the World Economic Forum and 5th by Bloomberg.

The NaNose cancer breathalyzer technology developed by Professor Hossam Haick of Israel’s Technion will soon be installed in a mobile phone - to be called, appropriately, the SniffPhone. Using a tiny smell-sensitive sensor, the phone will be able to detect cancer on a users’ breath.

Whilst the new 2 million-square-foot Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island is being constructed, its 2nd semester is underway in temporary offices provided by Google. Graduates from the two-year program will receive dual degrees from the New York and Israeli schools.