The groundbreaking system locates the relevant building permit within municipal archives, rapidly analyses it, and transmits accessible, actionable information directly to rescuers’ mobile devices

The recent ballistic missile attacks from Iran, which claimed the lives of dozens of Israelis, have underscored the urgent need for rescue teams to access precise, real-time information about damaged buildings and the options for extracting civilians trapped inside. In response, researchers from the Technion and the University of Haifa have developed an AI-based tool that delivers critical data at unprecedented speed.

According to the researchers, every building in Israel is documented through its construction permit. However, many local authorities struggle to retrieve these documents in real time. Even in advanced cities such as Tel Aviv, permits are often printed and physically delivered by courier to support rescue efforts; a time-consuming process that can delay operations and reduce the chances of saving lives.

The innovative tool developed by the Technion and University of Haifa teams retrieves building permits directly from municipal systems, analyzes them, and rapidly provides precise engineering information about the damaged structure. This information is sent directly to rescuers in the field via their mobile devices, enabling more efficient and effective rescue operations. The researchers have already begun collaborating with city engineers in Nahariya and Gedera to help save lives and support residents who have lost their homes.

Architect Tal Sadeh
Architect Tal Sadeh
Dr. Yiftach Ashkenazi (Credit: Noa Tal)
Dr. Yiftach Ashkenazi (Credit: Noa Tal)
Prof. Moshe Lavee
Prof. Moshe Lavee
Prof. Yael Allweil (Credit: Lucy Mor Haim)
Prof. Yael Allweil (Credit: Lucy Mor Haim)

From the Technion, members of the Housing Lab research group participated in the development: Prof. Yael Allweil, Dr. Yiftach Ashkenazi, and architect Tal Sadeh. From the Elijah Lab at the University of Haifa, Prof. Moshe Lavee, and Liat Bonen. The researchers also thank the Nur Lab for facilitating the connection with the Home Front Command.

From cultivated milk to sustainable proteins, Technion researchers and graduates are reshaping the future of food

The way the world eats is changing rapidly. As global populations grow, climate pressures intensify and consumers seek healthier, more sustainable alternatives, food technology has emerged as one of the defining industries of the 21st century. At the forefront of this revolution stands the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Featured recently in The Jewish Chronicle, Technion Professor Uri Lesmes highlighted how Israel has become a global centre for food innovation, with Technion researchers, graduates and entrepreneurs leading advances that could transform nutrition, sustainability and food production worldwide.

Reimagining dairy

One of the most exciting examples is Remilk, the Israeli start-up co-founded by two former Technion students. The company has developed a groundbreaking method of producing dairy proteins without cows.

Using precision fermentation, scientists insert the gene responsible for milk protein production into yeast cells. The yeast then produces proteins that are molecularly identical to those found in cow’s milk. The result is a dairy product that contains the same essential proteins, but without lactose, cholesterol, hormones or antibiotics.

This innovation has the potential to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of dairy farming while maintaining the taste, texture and nutritional value consumers expect.

Israel became the first country in the world to approve the sale of lab-grown and alternative proteins in 2024, cementing its reputation as a global food-tech leader. The sector has attracted billions in investment and continues to expand rapidly.

Innovation with purpose

Professor Lesmes, from the Technion’s Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering in Haifa, is helping train the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs who will shape the future of nutrition.

His work focuses not only on technological breakthroughs, but also on improving public health and accessibility. Among the challenges being tackled are the nutritional needs of ageing populations, healthier processed foods and more sustainable methods of production.

“We’re trained to think about what other people are missing, or what they think is impossible – and then we try to do it,” Professor Lesmes said.

That mindset reflects the wider Technion culture: combining scientific excellence with practical problem-solving that can improve lives around the world.

Food security and resilience

The importance of food innovation has become even more pronounced in recent years. Since October 7, many Israeli researchers and students have also contributed directly to national resilience efforts.

Professor Lesmes himself worked with IDF units to improve nutrition for combat soldiers, helping develop sterilised, ready-to-eat meals suited to frontline conditions.

At the same time, Technion students continue to launch new ventures addressing food security, sustainability and nutrition challenges on a global scale.

From the laboratory to the supermarket

What once sounded like science fiction is increasingly becoming reality. Alternative dairy products, cultivated proteins and advanced nutritional technologies are already reaching supermarket shelves.

Companies founded by Technion graduates are helping redefine how food is produced and consumed, while demonstrating how scientific research can translate into real-world impact.

The Technion’s unique ecosystem — bringing together world-class researchers, ambitious students and close industry collaboration — has positioned Israel as one of the world’s leading food-tech hubs.

Supporting the next generation of innovators

Technion UK is proud to support the pioneering research, education and entrepreneurship taking place at the Technion.

From sustainable food systems to medical breakthroughs, Technion scientists are addressing some of the greatest challenges facing humanity.

As the world searches for smarter, cleaner and more resilient ways to feed future generations, Technion innovation is helping turn pure imagination into reality.

For generations, observant Jews accepted certain culinary boundaries as fixed. Butter on a burger? Impossible. A creamy cappuccino after a meat meal? Out of the question. Cheeseburgers were perhaps the most famous symbol of what Jewish dietary law forbids.

Today, science is quietly dismantling those assumptions.

In laboratories and food technology start-ups across the world, researchers are reimagining the foods we eat. Plant-based milks, precision-fermented dairy proteins and cultivated meats are no longer futuristic curiosities; they are appearing on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus, reshaping both the food industry and religious practice.

At the heart of this revolution is Israel, the world’s original start-up nation. In 2024, Israel became the first country to approve the sale of cultivated beef to consumers. By 2026, it ranked second only to the United States in alternative protein investment, attracting more than $1.3 billion in venture capital.

One of the scientists helping to drive this transformation is Professor Uri Lesmes of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, where he is training a new generation of food engineers to tackle problems others consider impossible.

Milk Without a Cow

Among the innovations that excite Lesmes most is Remilk, a company co-founded in part by two of his former students.

“It’s a proper alternative to cow’s milk,” Lesmes explains. “And quite distinct from soy milk, which isn’t dairy.”

Remilk’s product is made through precision fermentation. Scientists identified the genes responsible for producing milk proteins in cows and inserted them into yeast. As the yeast ferments and multiplies, it produces proteins that are biochemically identical to those found in conventional milk.

The result is genuine dairy protein, but without the cow.

According to the company, the milk contains no cholesterol, lactose, hormones or antibiotics. Yet its molecular structure is the same as that of traditional dairy.

In Israel, Remilk and its competitor Cow-Free are already being produced at scale. Their absence from European shelves is not due to scientific limitations, Lesmes says, but regulatory ones.

“Many regulations in Europe are yet to catch up on such rapid innovations.”

For observant Jews, however, the implications are extraordinary. Because these products are not derived from animals, rabbinic authorities have ruled them to be parev – neither meat nor dairy. Suddenly, the once-forbidden cheeseburger becomes a halachic possibility.

Teaching Through Beer

While Lesmes’ research is transforming global food systems, he is equally passionate about teaching.

One of his most imaginative projects combines food science, entrepreneurship and rehabilitation. Working with Beit Halochem (House of Warriors), Lesmes developed a course in which students are paired with wounded veterans and given 1,500 shekels – roughly £360 – to brew 25 litres of beer.

The teams use Technion’s facilities to create their own recipes, brands and production processes. At the end of the course, a professional panel judges the beers in a blind tasting.

“It’s a huge celebration,” Lesmes says with a smile, “with a lot of beer.”

One group attracted national attention when they created a beer called HEROES. The label featured the faces of four fallen friends and family members, transforming a scientific exercise into a moving act of remembrance.

Feeding Soldiers in Wartime

Like every Israeli, Lesmes’ life changed after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.

Though exempt from military service since 2015, he felt compelled to contribute.

“Like everybody, I wanted to chip in,” he recalls.

He contacted friends in the Israel Defense Forces and offered his expertise in nutrition and food engineering. The army accepted, and Lesmes became a consultant tasked with improving meals for frontline soldiers.

The outcome was a range of sterilised pouch meals that could withstand battlefield conditions while providing comfort and nutrition. Menu options included shawarma, mujaddara – a Middle Eastern rice and lentil dish – and tofu-based meals.

In wartime, food becomes more than sustenance. It becomes a source of morale, familiarity and resilience.

Nutrition for an Ageing World

Lesmes is also focused on another pressing challenge: global ageing.

“One cannot avoid the fact that the world is ageing,” he says.

At Technion, this demographic shift is treated as a grand challenge. Lesmes and his colleagues are redesigning everyday foods to meet the nutritional needs of older adults, many of whom struggle to consume enough calories and protein.

One product he highlights with particular pride is a reformulated breakfast cereal.

“We’re giving it a higher protein content and a higher calorific content, and we cut down on sugar by almost five times to make space for the other things,” he explains. “You have to make every bite count.”

He describes this approach as “health by stealth” – improving nutrition without requiring consumers to change their habits or preferences.

The concept has proven effective before. In the United States, the fortification of bread with folic acid dramatically reduced neural tube defects in newborn babies. Lesmes believes similar strategies can enhance quality of life for ageing populations around the world.

A Culture of Solutions

What distinguishes Technion, Lesmes says, is its mindset.

“We’re trained to think about what other people are missing, or what they think is impossible – and then we try to do it.”

It is a philosophy rooted in practical optimism.

“I was taught not to talk about problems, but to talk about solutions,” he says. “And we’re looking for solutions to things that people are yet to identify as problems.”

That ethos has helped turn Israel into a global centre for food innovation. From dairy without cows to meat without slaughter and cereals designed to combat malnutrition, scientists are redefining what food can be.

Science in Service of Humanity

For Lesmes, the ultimate goal is not novelty for its own sake, but human wellbeing.

“My responsibility is to make more products which contain everything, so that people have better choices,” he says.

Then he offers a reflection that captures both his humility and his ambition.

“Life is not perfect. But through science, we can try to shed light on things we don’t understand, so that we can make them better for everyone.”

It is a sentiment that resonates far beyond the laboratory.

In an era defined by environmental pressures, health challenges and changing traditions, the foods of the future are being shaped by people willing to question what is possible.

And sometimes, that future tastes remarkably like a cheeseburger.

A pioneering technology for coating plants with a thin wax layer is expected to dramatically reduce the agricultural use of pesticides

According to UN reports, plant diseases destroy about one-third of the world’s agricultural yield, causing an estimated annual economic loss exceeding CAD $95 billion. Findings recently published in Small present SafeWax – a new technology developed at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Funded by an EU EIC Pathfinder grant, SafeWax could reduce crop disease impact and lower pesticide use by more than 50%. Coordinated by Prof. Boaz Pokroy from the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, the SafeWax project collaborated with another Technion laboratory led by Prof. Ester Segal from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, along with four international partner organizations – BASF (Germany), the University of Bologna (Italy), the French Wine and Vine Institute (France), and Eurofins (France).

Traditional methods of combating plant diseases rely heavily on chemical pesticides, which seep into the soil and endanger both the environment and human health. Moreover, many pesticides have lost their effectiveness due to bacterial resistance. The SafeWax technology offers a promising, sustainable alternative to pesticide use. Through a simple spray application, it creates a thin, uniform, biodegradable layer on the plant surface of superhydrophobic (water-repellent) material that passively prevents fungal spores from germinating, thereby inhibiting disease development. The inspiration for this innovative technology is the cuticle – a natural waxy layer that covers plants such as lotus leaves and broccoli, enabling them to self-clean by repelling bacteria and other contaminants.

In the experiments described in the article published in Small, first authored by Dr. Iryna Polishchuk from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the new technology was tested on tomatoes, peppers, grapevines, and bamboo plants, and proved both feasible and effective in protecting these plants without affecting essential physiological processes such as photosynthesis. Furthermore, the unique coating filters intense UV radiation that damages crops, shielding the plant from heat and UV exposure while slowing dehydration. Moreover, the coating is transparent to visible light necessary for photosynthesis.  The coating material is based on biodegradable fatty acids that can be derived from food waste, thus also helping to reduce global food waste.

The researchers estimate that the SafeWax technology could reduce the use of chemical pesticides by at least 50%. According to Prof. Pokroy, “This is an ecological, efficient, and multifunctional alternative for crop protection, especially in view of challenges that climate change poses to modern agriculture. Beyond providing passive defense against diseases, it enhances the environmental resilience of plants and reduces the ecological footprint of crop cultivation.”

Israeli research team develops brick made from recycled salt; this could be solution to dependence on polluting cement

Over the past decade, there has been a growing understanding that we need to rethink not just how we build the structures of the future, but from what materials we build them. The main reason is that the construction industry is one of the world’s leading sources of environmental pollution. Cement production—the most widely used building material—alone accounts for roughly 8% of global carbon emissions.

In response, science and technology are advancing to develop alternative, sustainable building materials with lower carbon footprints, often based on recycled resources while preserving strength and quality. As part of a joint initiative by researchers and students from the Hebrew University and the Technion, a new innovative building material has recently been developed with exceptional environmental potential—made entirely from recycled salt. Could we one day build entire structures from salt?

אתר בנייה
Construction site
(Photo: Shutterstock)

Working with what we have
Today, construction is a major environmental burden. According to data from the UK Green Building Council, the industry uses more than 400 million tons of raw materials annually, many of which are tied to ecosystem damage, pollution and high energy consumption. A 2017 United Nations Environment Program study also found that construction accounts for 23% of global air pollution, uses about 36% of all energy produced, and contributes roughly 39% of carbon dioxide emissions.

Construction clearly demands vast energy. In Israel, apart from natural gas, traditional natural resources like oil are scarce. One notable resource is the Dead Sea, one of the world’s largest sources of potassium and salt, where mineral extraction has become a distinctive national asset.

Each year in the southern Dead Sea, millions of tons of excess salt are deposited as a byproduct of decades of industrial production. Over time, enormous quantities have accumulated in evaporation ponds with no practical use. This buildup presents an environmental and logistical challenge, raising the lakebed and shifting shorelines. For years, this surplus salt was viewed as worthless waste.

Since 2015, Professor Danny Mendler of the Chemistry Department at Hebrew University has led research aimed at turning the accumulating Dead Sea salt from waste into a usable raw material. The guiding principle is simple but far‑reaching: treat the salt not as a nuisance to remove, but as a resource that can be refined and used.

Salt deposits on the edges of the Dead Sea
Salt deposits on the edges of the Dead Sea(Photo: Shutterstock)

Mendler developed a chemical process that compresses and processes the salt into solid bricks with strength nearly equivalent to concrete. “About 5% additional materials are added to the salt, compressed under high pressure, and you get strong bricks that can be shaped in various forms and sizes,” he explains. “If we can replace even a small portion of cement with salt, the environmental impact would be dramatic. It could significantly reduce the industry’s carbon emissions.”

From lab to architectural studio

This year saw the first collaboration between Mendler and a group of Technion architecture students. As part of the Studio 1:1 program in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, under Michal Bleicher and Dan Price, the students applied architectural thinking to the technology. They translated the new material into a practical building system—defining the brick’s dimensions, understanding its strength requirements and examining its potential for use in the Israeli construction industry.

“What’s interesting here is the connection between chemistry and architecture,” Bleicher says. “The students designed an example structure called the ‘Mediterranean Igloo’ and studied the qualities of salt—translucency, mass, strength. From there we developed the structure and derived the brick itself in proportions of 8 cm x 8 cm x 24 cm. That 1:3 ratio allows flexibility in compositions and building forms.”

The studio, which annually explores alternative materials and develops real‑scale projects, served as an experimental platform linking research, design, and implementation. Based on Mendler’s patent, the students developed the first building brick made entirely from Dead Sea salt, suited to contemporary construction needs and opening the door to reusing a material once deemed worthless. The final product is uniform, producible in series, and adaptable to various shapes, thicknesses and textures. Beyond recycling an existing resource, this material is less polluting and more sustainable compared with conventional building materials.

A direct flight to the Biennale

The initiative was presented in October at Change: The Shape of Transformation, part of the Venice Architecture Biennale—one of the most important global architecture events. The project was selected from 55 academic institutions, with only 10 groups invited to present—a distinction that places the local academic work alongside leading worldwide programs.

Will we soon see salt bricks on construction sites in Israel?
Will we soon see salt bricks on construction sites in Israel?(Photo: Shutterstock)

At the Biennale, the students showcased their research, development and material model. Bleicher says their participation represents international recognition of the importance of material research and the potential to turn this waste into a future building resource.
“We took bricks with us to Venice and presented the project, and it created incredible buzz,” she says. “This material is both natural and engineered. Our intention, together with Professor Mendler next semester, is to build a real structure in Israel using these bricks. We believe in this technology; it can solve a significant environmental problem and turn waste into something valuable. There is a real breakthrough here for the future of construction and the environment.”
The challenges ahead
Despite progress in sustainable building solutions, researchers emphasize that improvements are not keeping pace with accelerated construction and rising energy demands. The implications are clear: without new, more environmentally friendly materials and building processes, construction will remain a key driver of the climate crisis.
So, will we soon see salt bricks on Israeli construction sites? The answer for now is complex. The path from the Technion lab to widespread industry use is long—especially in construction, an industry known for conservatism.
“Introducing a new material into construction takes time and resources,” Bleicher notes. “Every material must undergo prolonged standardization, strength and durability testing—and that takes many years and significant investment. Moreover, there is a lack of regulation and legislative support that complicates the development of new solutions.”
Yet the salt that has accumulated for decades as a problematic surplus may yet become a cornerstone of cleaner, more thoughtful architecture—one that views crisis not just as a threat, but as an opportunity for innovation.

H2Pro believes it can slash costs and clean up one of the world’s dirtiest industries.

H2PRO

In the Caesarea industrial zone, an Israeli startup is working on a technology that could help reinvent one of the world’s most polluting industries. H2Pro, founded in 2019 after a chance bus ride conversation between two Technion professors and later led by serial entrepreneur Talmon Marco, is aiming to transform how green hydrogen, hydrogen produced without carbon emissions from renewable energy, is generated.

The means: a fundamental re-architecture of electrolysis, the decades-old process used to produce hydrogen from water. The ambition is bold, streamlining the process enough to drive the cost of green hydrogen down to around one dollar per kilogram, making it competitive with hydrogen produced using fossil fuels.

Prof. Avner Rothschild (left), Prof. Gideon Grader of H2Pro (Daniel Campos)

Today, the world consumes roughly 100 million tons of hydrogen each year, a market worth an estimated $200 billion. “The large hydrogen market today is in refineries, chemical plants, and steel manufacturing, and in the future, jet fuel production,” says H2Pro CEO Tzahi Rodrig. The problem is that hydrogen production accounts for roughly 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“About half of the hydrogen used globally goes to ammonia production, and the other half to the oil industry,” says Prof. Gideon Grader, one of H2Pro’s founders from the Technion. “This market creates enormous pollution because of the way hydrogen is produced.”

Most hydrogen today is made using steam methane reforming (SMR), a cheap but highly polluting process that relies on natural gas. The clean alternative, electrolysis, which separates hydrogen from oxygen in water using electricity, has been known for more than a century, but it remains prohibitively expensive.

“The cost of producing hydrogen through electrolysis simply can’t compete with the polluting methods,” says Prof. Avner Rothschild, another Technion professor and company co-founder. The most expensive and problematic component, he explains, is the membrane at the heart of the electrolyser, which separates hydrogen and oxygen gases.

“Our invention challenged something that no one had questioned before,” says Rothschild. Instead of producing hydrogen and oxygen simultaneously, separated by a membrane, H2Pro’s system generates the two gases in separate stages.

In the first stage, one electrode produces hydrogen while the other temporarily stores oxygen. In the second stage, the oxygen is released. “This two-step architecture dramatically reduces costs and complexity,” Rothschild says.

The change required an entirely new type of electrode. “We had to reinvent the electrode, its composition, its structure, everything,” he explains. At H2Pro’s R&D facility in Caesarea, engineers manufacture electrodes from scratch, mixing metal powders and sintering them at temperatures of up to 1,200 degrees Celsius to withstand the harsh operating conditions inside the electrolyzer.

Protecting the technology poses its own challenge. “You can’t protect hydrogen itself, it’s a natural molecule,” says Dr. Revital Green of the Ehrlich Intellectual Property Group. “Once hydrogen is sold, there’s no way to trace its origin. That’s why protection has to focus on the system: the components, their configuration, and how they interact.”

For hydrogen to be truly green, it must be produced using renewable electricity from solar or wind. But those energy sources are inherently volatile.

“Conventional electrolyzers don’t cope well with fluctuations in power supply,” says Rothschild. “They degrade quickly, and that comes at a high cost.”

H2Pro’s system, by contrast, can be turned on and off repeatedly without damage. “Existing electrolyzers can’t handle constant cycling,” says Rodrig. “Ours can.”

That capability allows the system to be connected directly to solar fields. In theory, farmers growing tomatoes or cucumbers could also produce hydrogen on-site and sell it as an additional revenue stream.

“To reach one dollar per kilogram of hydrogen, every cost component has to be attacked,” says Rodrig. “Electricity is the biggest one. At around five cents per kilowatt-hour, the math starts to work.”

Talmon Marco, who chairs the company after selling Viber for $900 million in 2014 and Juno for $200 million in 2017, is cautious about timelines. “A dollar per kilogram is an extremely tough target,” he says. “But reaching a low, economically viable price, probably around 2031, is realistic.”

Marco frames the effort as part of a broader climate solution. “Green energy may be less fashionable right now, but progress is real, especially in China,” he says. “In the end, we’ll have to go where the problem leads us: solving the climate crisis.”

H2Pro has raised more than $100 million from investors, including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy fund and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. A 50-kilowatt system is already operating at its Caesarea facility. In February 2026, a 500-kilowatt system is scheduled to go live in Ziporit, near the Sea of Galilee, followed by a much larger system, up to 50 megawatts, in Spain or Portugal.

“There simply isn’t enough green hydrogen today,” says Rodrig. “Even if everyone wanted to switch tomorrow, the supply doesn’t exist. Someone has to build the infrastructure.”

That demand could soon explode. “Aviation wants hydrogen. Shipping wants hydrogen. Heavy-duty trucking wants hydrogen,” he says. “We’re talking about a market that could eventually reach trillions of dollars.”

Cornell Tech hosted the inaugural Disability and Access in Tech and AI Summit on Oct. 9-10 on its Roosevelt Island campus, bringing together researchers, technologists, and community advocates to explore how disability and accessibility intersect with innovation. The summit welcomed speakers, students, faculty, alumni, and community members from Cornell’s Ithaca campus, New York City, and around the United States.
The event, designed to be a space for dialogue, lived experience, and cross-sector collaboration in addition to showcasing research, was co-organized by Omari W. Keeles, senior director for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and Thijs Roumen, assistant professor of information science at Cornell Tech.

The idea to create the event emerged from conversations across campus and a growing recognition that accessibility deserves a central place in the tech landscape.

“We felt there was a bigger opportunity here,” said Roumen, who is also affiliated with the Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. “The most important outcome is to find one another — those who built technology, those who make policy, and those who use the technology. There is so much we can all learn from one another.”

Thijs Roumen and Omari W. Keeles standing in front of a Cornell Tech banner background
Event organizers Thijs Roumen and Omari W. Keeles.

The event was powered by YAI, a nonprofit organization that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. YAI’s involvement helped ground the summit in real-world impact, connecting Cornell Tech’s academic community with practitioners and advocates working directly with people with disabilities. YAI also co-hosted interactive workshops, including one where attendees could try out assistive technologies and engage with startup founders developing tools for communication and mobility.
In welcome remarks, Keeles began the summit by acknowledging the systemic barriers that have historically excluded disabled voices from tech and academia. “When disabled researchers and practitioners lead and contribute to the development of technology, the outcomes are more responsive, more creative, and ultimately more just,” he said.

The opening keynote was delivered by Shiri Azenkot, associate professor of information science at Cornell Tech, Cornell Bowers, and the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute. Azenkot shared her lab’s work on making augmented and virtual reality technologies accessible to people with low vision and other disabilities.

One project involved designing an augmented reality system to help users locate specific products on store shelves, a task that can be frustrating and time-consuming without visual cues. Another explored how blind users could navigate social virtual reality environments using a “sighted guide” avatar they could virtually “hold onto.”

Throughout the summit, panels covered a wide range of topics, each rooted in personal experience and practical application. One session explored the challenges of navigating graduate school while undergoing cancer treatment, highlighting the often invisible nature of disability. Another focused on mental health and disability justice in higher education, with speakers reflecting on how institutions can better support students and faculty with neurodivergence or intellectual disabilities.

A panel on AI and safety examined how emerging technologies can support disabled people across cultures, while another featured startup founders building expressive communication tools for nonverbal users.

Stephanie Valencia, assistant professor at the University of Maryland, giving a talk on Day One of the Disability and Access in Tech and AI Summit.

The summit concluded with a powerful closing keynote by University of Washington Professor Jennifer Mankoff, a leading researcher in human-centered design and accessibility. Mankoff shared insights from her work on accessibility in AI and the importance of centering disabled voices in technology development.
The event’s hybrid format, in-person on Thursday and fully remote on Friday, reflected this ethos, ensuring broader participation for those unable to travel to New York City and expanding the accessibility of the summit.

Roumen said he hopes the summit will inspire students and technologists to think more deeply about accessibility — not just as a niche concern, but as a universal design challenge.

“I hope more people, even those not directly working on accessibility, take this important demographic into consideration when developing technology and policy,” he said. “This will not only make the world better for people with disabilities, but for everybody else too.”

Nature Reviews Clean Technology spotlights Decoupled Water Electrolysis (DWE) – a novel approach to green hydrogen production pioneered by H2Pro that solves key challenges in direct connection to solar and wind.

For decades, water electrolysis has remained stagnant, relying on conventional technologies like alkaline and PEM, where ongoing development yields only incremental gains in overcoming the barriers to affordable green hydrogen production. Now, a new category is gaining global recognition: DWE – an approach that tackles these challenges with fresh thinking. At the center of its rise is Israeli climate tech company H2Pro, whose bold reimagining of electrolysis is featured in a landmark review in Nature Reviews Clean Technology.

The article highlights a critical challenge: conventional electrolyzers struggle to operate safely and efficiently under fluctuating solar and wind power. Membranes, gas crossover risks, and operational constraints limit their ability to respond dynamically to intermittent renewable energy, driving up costs and limiting deployment.

“To unlock the full value of cheap renewable electricity, we need electrolysis that can go behind the meter and be fit for green – hyper-flexible, ultra-low cost, seamless on/off, and efficient across a wide range of power loads,” said Rotem Arad, CBO of H2Pro and article contributor. “By splitting hydrogen and oxygen into two distinct steps, mediated by a proprietary redox cycle, that’s exactly what H2Pro’s DWE does.”

The review was co-authored by Prof. Avner Rothschild and Dr. Guilin Ruan (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology), Dr. Fiona Todman and Prof. Mark D. Symes (University of Glasgow), Dr. Tom Smolinka (Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE), Prof. Jens Oluf Jensen (DTU – Technical University of Denmark), Gilad Yogev and Rotem Arad (H2Pro). Together, they examine the chemistry, system architectures, and commercial implications of decoupling hydrogen and oxygen — and validate growing consensus that DWE could be key to scaling green hydrogen cost-effectively.

“When we conducted the groundbreaking Technion research that became the foundation for H2Pro, we knew incremental improvements to legacy electrolysis weren’t enough,” said Dr. Hen Dotan, CTO and co-founder of H2Pro. “We let go of outdated assumptions — like the belief that hydrogen and oxygen must be produced simultaneously — and ended up pioneering not just a breakthrough technology, but a new mindset around electrolysis. We’re thrilled to see DWE gaining momentum and honored to be featured alongside the esteemed researchers advancing the field.”

H2Pro is now preparing to deploy the world’s first decoupled electrolysis system in the field — a major step in translating science into scalable commercial infrastructure. Scheduled for installation this year in Tziporit, Israel, it will also be the country’s first green hydrogen project.

Business Intelligence Group Innovation Awards recognize ideas, organizations and people that are positioned to change how we experience the world.

The Philadelphia-based Business Intelligence Group honored three Israeli companies at its 2025 BIG Innovation Awards, which “recognize all ideas, organizations and people – no matter how big or small – that are positioned to change how we interact and experience the world around us.”

ICL Group of Tel Aviv won in the agriculture category.

This global specialty minerals company focuses on sustainable solutions for the food, agriculture, and industrial markets. Its agricultural products include fertilizers using minerals mined from the Dead Sea, and advanced ag-tech products to increase yield, growth, quality, and harvesting of crops.

Dr. Ofer Sharon, CEO of OncoHost. Photo courtesy of OncoHost

OncoHost of Binyamina (Israel) and North Carolina won in the healthcare category.

The precision oncology company’s PROphet platform provides reliable biomarkers to optimize immunotherapy treatment decisions and improve patient outcomes. The platform’s initial commercialized test is the first and only liquid biopsy standalone proteomics test on the market and the first AI-based blood test to guide first-line immunotherapy decisions in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. In addition, OncoHost is developing PROphetirAE, a test designed to predict immune-related adverse events prior to the start of treatment.

Trax Retail of Singapore and Tel Aviv won in the retail category.

Founded in 2010 by Israeli entrepreneurs Joel Bar-El and Dror Feldheim, Trax developed a first-in-market image-capture solution that sees every product on a store’s shelves, coolers, displays, bar taps and back rooms. The BIG award is specifically for Trax’s signal-based merchandising system that provides brands and retailers with ongoing access to critical insights for addressing out-of-stocks, phantom inventory and pricing disparities. Trax is active in more than 90 countries.

The BIG Innovation Awards program receives nominations from across the globe. Nominees are judged by a panel of experienced business executives. They use a proprietary unique scoring system that “selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers.”

“I’m part of the division that protects civilians in Israel and that makes me very proud,” said Technion alumna Maya Shnur. “Every morning when I go to work, I feel like I’m on a mission.” Shnur works at the vaunted Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems as the deputy general manager of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Subsidiaries in the Air Defense Division, which produces Iron Dome and David’s Sling.

Almost every day since October 7, bombs have fallen on her village just south of Lebanon, said Shnur at the time of this interview. “When you’re living in the line of fire, it becomes personal.” Her older daughter is in the Israel Defense Forces and the younger will join soon. On October 7, one of Shnur’s sisters hid with her children for 10 hours after terrorists entered her kibbutz. A resident of Shnur’s village was kidnapped. Shnur and her Rafael colleagues worked 24/7, some going into the battlefield to help with the equipment.

“When the sirens start and I take my little boy down into the bomb shelter, I say ‘thank you Rafael for saving our lives.’ I’m grateful that I can explain how Israel is protecting him. But we are eight months into a non-stop war. As a human, I am very sad.”

Shnur lost both parents as a teenager — her mother from cancer and her father from heart disease. The losses, coupled with the responsibility of caring for her little sister, made her more driven. “I remember looking outside the window and saying to myself, ‘I can be a success even though I don’t have parents.’” On the day she completed her military service, “I gave back my army uniform at noon, then started working.” She woke up at 4 a.m. each day to catch a bus to her job making salt at the Dead Sea Works, while studying for her undergraduate degree at night.

In 2010, she joined Rafael, where her husband was already working. One day her husband came home with a half-smile and said, “How do you do it? I’ve been at Rafael for years before you and people ask me, ‘are you Maya’s husband?’”

Shnur started in Rafael’s Human Resources group before moving into business management, a field long dominated by men in the industry. Such a move was not often granted and rarely to a woman. “But my manager believed in me,” she said, and in the value of a Technion education. “If you want my permission,” he told her, “Get an MBA at the Technion. They will teach you how to look at financial issues, deal with conflicts, and allow you to continue progressing in your career.”

In 2017, Shnur earned her Technion MBA in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship track. As the number two person in the Mergers, Acquisitions, and Subsidiaries group of Rafael’s Air Defense Division, she is responsible for growing six subsidiaries, including a collaboration with Raytheon to build an Iron Dome system in the U.S. She also scouts for new companies with technologies that can enhance Rafael. “My MBA from the Technion helped me arrive at the next level. It took me to a place where I feel I’m contributing more than ever.”

Shnur’s calling is twofold: contributing to Israel’s security and to women’s rise in the workplace. “It’s no secret that the defense industry is not dominated by women, far from it, so getting to my current position was breaking the glass ceiling,” she said. “Sometimes I’m the only woman in the room. My message to women in similar situations: bring your potential and be yourself. It matters less who is in the room or their gender.” Through the Director’s Association, she mentors female managers with inspiring advice. “Don’t be afraid to express your desire to reach the top,” she says. “In my life, there have been times when people disliked my ambition and even tried to stop me. I taught myself to persevere and move through these challenges.”