Chief mobility officer of Michigan, the heart of the US automotive industry, says Israeli companies are reinventing transportation infrastructure.

“When we look outside of the United States for new technology, especially for mobility technology, there’s really only two places that have the technology applicable to the use cases that we have here,” says Trevor Pawl, chief mobility officer for the State of Michigan.

“The first is Europe and the second is Israel. It’s remarkable that Israel is the second market because of how small the country is population wise and geography wise,” Pawl tells ISRAEL21c after speaking at the EcoMotion international mobility conference in Tel Aviv.

Considering that the Michigan city of Detroit is the epicenter of America’s automotive scene – this is the birthplace of vehicle manufacturing as well as infrastructure such as traffic lights and lane markings — it’s significant that the state is looking to Israel for innovation in that sector.

While Israelis don’t have a history of car manufacturing, says Pawl, “they have a history of software engineering.”

And that’s key, he says, because “the automotive industry is being driven by four foundational platforms: autonomous technology, electric technology, shared technology and connected technology.”

All of which are Israeli areas of expertise.

In-road charging

Trevor Pawl, chief mobility officer for the State of Michigan. Photo courtesy of Michigan Economic Development Corporation

One joint project is with Israel-based Electreon to build America’s first wireless charging road for electric vehicles.

“We’re seeing Israeli companies come in and help us solve problems but also help us realize that the horizon for future technology being integrated into the real world isn’t as far off as we think. And the perfect example of that is Electreon,” says Pawl.

“Once we saw other Electreon deployments in Sweden and in Israel, we knew that Electreon was a company that we wanted to work with in Michigan,” he says.

Photo courtesy of Electreon

“As transportation infrastructure is being reinvented and we have money from the federal government to reinvent it, we are looking at what else could we do, aside from creating charging stations, to help fleet operators transition from diesel to electric. And one of those things is not having to wait half an hour at a charging station,” Pawl explains.

“We believe that Electreon’s technology will allow for continuous loops for things like delivery vans and transit vehicles. We’re deploying the first mile of road that charges a vehicle as it’s in motion, right here in Detroit, to go live next year. I’m almost certain that it’s not going to be the last mile.”

Kinetic charging

Michigan may also do business with ZOOZ Power (formerly Chakratec), an Israeli company whose Kinetic Power Booster (KPB) based on innovative flywheel technology can provide ultra-fast charging networks for electric vehicles.

Photo courtesy of ZOOZ

“As we build out our EV charging network in Michigan, where much of the population is in the lower part of the state, we have some unique challenges with the grid,” says Pawl.

“This company has a contraption that is able to create its own kinetic energy, then make up the difference in that portion of the grid to ensure that a charging station, or two or three charging stations, are able to function in areas where maybe they wouldn’t otherwise.”

Pawl said that the state is looking into Israeli solutions for maritime mobility for recreation and industry as well, given that transportation on the Great Lakes is important to Michigan’s economy.

Michigan Israel Business Accelerator

Pawl emphasizes that Michigan is seeking Israel innovation in a variety of verticals, such as security, consumer goods and water and agricultural technologies, that generate local jobs.

The Michigan Israel Business Accelerator organizes trade missions a couple of times a year to facilitate matches between Michigan’s needs and Israel’s capabilities.

“Obviously, I only get involved in the transportation mobility side of it,” says Pawl, “and it was important that we brought some of the Michigan Department of Transportation lead consultants on innovative projects — whether for bridges or for the future of automated payments — to EcoMotion to see what was going on in real time with a clear focus on the market.”

The accelerator, he continues, “has boots on the ground in Israel, allowing us to have a presence at cool events such as EcoMotion and making sure that we’re meeting with high-level officials, going into the command centers for certain highways, and meeting with people that are trying to solve the micro-mobility congestion issue in cities.”

Looking at the direction in which the automotive industry and smart cities are moving, Pawl says, “there’s more synergy than you would immediately think. You can’t afford not to be having a constant dialogue with leaders in Israel’s public sector and private sector.”

Mobility and smart cities

Among the Israeli technologies piquing interest are data-driven digitized garbage collection from GreenQ, road noise cancellation technology from Silentium and AlgoShield, a real-time early warning lithium battery hazard detection and explosion-prevention solution.

“We’re getting a lot of questions from cities like, ‘Okay, if we’re going to be aggressively rolling out charging stations and electric vehicles on the road — General Motors is flipping over to all electric by 2035 — how are we going to handle the worst cases, such as battery fires? How do we prepare for the future?’

“Aside from making sure firefighters have the right technology and knowledge to work with a battery fire, the vehicle is going to have to take a major leap forward,” says Pawl.

Photo courtesy of EcoMotion

“If you’re focused on trying to make sure that America not just leads the world in producing technologies and vehicles but also that it’s simply one of the best places to get around, I think Israel can help us find the way.”

Testing ground for Israeli technologies

Trevor Pawl speaking at EcoMotion 2022. Photo courtesy of Michigan Israel Business Accelerator

In his speech at EcoMotion, Pawl said that Michigan, which borders Canada, is a valuable testing site for Israeli businesses entering the North American market.

“We understand that there’s other markets like Silicon Valley, and places on the East Coast that have venture capital markets, but to really prove out your technology you’re going to want to actually get it out in communities,” he explained.

“You’re going to want world-class testing sites at the earlier stage, and once you’re past that point you’re going to want to work with a government that’s willing to give you access to their infrastructure and that has regulatory policies where you can move at the speed of the market and get permits quickly.

“So while you may kick the tires at an automaker R&D lab in Silicon Valley, if you want to end up on a North American vehicle, you have to come through Detroit. And if you want to build a fleet, you’re going to have to access our supply chain,” he says, noting that Detroit houses the lion’s share of US automotive suppliers and automakers.

“This is paired with our commitment to, for instance, the Electreon project, opening up our infrastructure to help Electreon write their playbook in North America.”

Michigan also has North America’s first smart parking lab and is constructing America’s first signature EV route along Lake Michigan. The US and Canadian federal governments are seeking technologies to build better border crossings, Pawl says.

In addition, Michigan is building a 40-mile autonomous vehicle lane between Detroit and Ann Arbor, “which will be essentially the road of the future and provide hundreds of other opportunities for Israeli companies to insert their technology.”

Wireless V2X technology developed in Israel alerts motorists and two-wheel vehicle riders to each other’s presence.

An affordable device that alerts cyclists and scooter riders to the danger of unseen motorists could prevent many accidents globally, says Israel-based Autotalks.

The company uses V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technology to connect two-wheelers with other road users and warn them of each other’s presence.

The device, called ZooZ 2, gives a visual warning to two-wheel riders if a vehicle is approaching an intersection and could hit them. It also alerts them to drivers indicating a right turn who may be in their blind spot, and cars that jump a red light.

Drivers who have the device are likewise alerted to the two-wheeler. ZooZ 2 uses wireless technology so it can reliably detect two-wheelers even if the line of sight is obstructed.

The company says three quarters of bike and scooter accidents are caused by drivers failing to notice the two-wheeler – and it’s almost always the two-wheeler that comes off worse.

“Autotalks regards all road accidents as preventable, and those accidents involving bikes and scooters deserve special attention,” said founder and CTO Onn Haran.

“We’re committed to making our new micromobility safety device available immediately in order to save the lives of two-wheeler riders around the globe.”

Cyclists and scooter riders fit the device to their handlebars at a cost of $50 to $100 or it can come integrated on high-end models. ZooZ 2 currently communicates only with the 10% of cars that are V2X-enabled, but the technology is to be included in most new vehicles launched in 2025/26.

The first version of the ZooZ micromobility device was launched in September 2021. Autotalks says the updated version is undergoing validation tests by four manufacturers of bikes or their components, and by two vehicle manufacturers.

Autotalks showcased the ZooZ 2 device last week at the Velo-City Conference, the world cycling summit, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The plug-and-play device uses software provided by US-based V2X specialist Commsignia and has been tested successfully by the European consortium Project SECUR (Safety Enhancement through Connected Users on the Road).

Autotalks has already produced similar technology for motorcycles and says the first motorcycle manufacturer will incorporate it into mass-produced models in Europe in 2024.

Israeli researchers from the Technion are developing a solution that addresses the shortages in seasonal harvesters: robots that pick fruit for us.

Throughout history, early summer has often signaled the time to harvest. Harvesting, of course, has evolved considerably. As opposed to ancient times when mobilizing the whole community was necessary to fully harvest grain, there are sophisticated machines nowadays run by just a few individual operators that quickly navigate through fields and efficiently process many acres at a time.

However, in the case of fruits, there is still a need for a great deal of manual labor throughout the harvesting process today, but workers are in short supply. The farming labor and resource shortage is reported in many countries across the world including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Brazil. Unharvested produce leads to a loss of food quality and spurs enormous economic losses, a fact that will become more evident and problematic as the world population continues to increase. 

In a new Israeli study, researchers from the Technion developed a ground mobile robot that could drastically advance fruit agriculture and harvesting. The robot, whose development was led by Associate Professor Amir Degani from the Technion’s Environmental, Water, and Agriculture Engineering Department, will have the capability to use one or multiple small-sized drones to perform the operations required in orchards much more accurately and cheaper than the methods used by farmers today.

The study was recently presented at the “Water and Environmental Engineering in the Face of Climate Change” conference of the Environmental, Water, and Agriculture Engineering Department at the Technion’s Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. 

The Need for Better Fruit-Picking Robotics

The gap between the number of seasonal laborers and the volume of work is expected to significantly expand as the world population continues to grow. By 2050 there are expected to be more than 9 billion people in the world, and in order to feed them all it will be necessary to increase the volume of food production anywhere from 35-60 percent (unless the whole world switches to a plant-based diet). 

One might expect though that with such a highly populated world there would be no shortage of working personnel, but sadly this is not the case.

“People have been moving from villages to cities for decades – and fewer people want to engage in manual labor,” Degani explains. “It’s seen in construction and agriculture, and it happens everywhere – including in countries with very large populations, like India and China. In India, for example, harvesting coconut is a very important task – but fewer and fewer people want to work in that field.”

According to him, the problem also exists in Israel. “As in many Western countries, there are quite a few years in Israel where apples fall to the ground because no one is there to pick them in time.”

Degani believes the solution to these problems lies in robots that know how to pick fruits. 

“Just as automation has solved many of the problems that plagued field crops, like using machines such as combine harvesters, once we adapt this strategy to plantations farmers will be able to better streamline and reduce the uncertainty that currently surrounds the acquisition of skilled seasonal labor for specific times of the year,” he says.

It is important to note that automating harvests should be approached differently than those used for field crops, which involve rough, large, and overly expensive machines. 

“In field crops, massive harvesting is carried out all over the area––usually indiscriminately,” says Degani. “Picking edible fruit should be gentle and selective. The fruits should be picked one by one and handled carefully.”

Interestingly, he claims that the robotic arms currently used in factories, which have a large range of motion and accurate precision capabilities that humans can only dream of, are not suitable for the task. 

“Although these robotic arms know how to perform a pre-planned operation, their sensing and decision making capabilities are limited and are not suitable for agriculture,” he says. “Agriculture is a more difficult world. Agriculture takes place in an uncertain environment with fluctuating changes in light and outdoor conditions, so the robot must have complex sensing and decision making capabilities.” According to him, the robot should not be too expensive of an alternative because otherwise many farmers will not be able to afford it.

Call in Air Support

Degani and his team began to approach the challenge of the harvesting robot’s development by first addressing its maneuverability in the orchard, a task more complicated than it sounds.

“In order for the robot to patrol and weave through all the trees and detect pests or ripe apples, for example, it must know where it exactly is,” Degani explains. The orchard environment is relatively homogeneous from a ground point of view, with most of the trees looking about the same and the GPS reception not being particularly reliable.

This obstacle gave rise to the idea of establishing a connection between a ground mobile robot and a drone. The researchers found that when utilizing the perspective of a low-flying drone, the top-view observation of the orchard provides a unique signature of every tree formed by the shape of its canopy. The first study on the subject was published in the robotics and automation section of the IEEE magazine. 

Currently, researchers are working on additional ways in which the farming robot can use small drones to perform the operations required for harvesting orchards. First, they demonstrated that a drone could hover around a tree, creating a detailed three-dimensional image of each of the trees in the area. These are needed to make the harvesting process more efficient and reflect more modern model of precision agriculture.

“The meaning of ‘precision agriculture’ is that instead of making decisions on issues relating to things like fertilization, irrigation, thinning, pest management, or harvesting at the entire field level, we will look at the agricultural plot at a higher resolution and make such decisions down to the individual tree level,” explains Degani.

This will make it possible to increase the volume of produce, by providing the best conditions for each individual tree, and beyond that, save the use of resources such as water, fertilizer, and potentially dangerous pesticides.

Degani believes the solution lies in the capabilities of a ground mobile robot that knows how to navigate around the wood, perform precise mechanical operations, and even pollinate flowers––another separate project currently under development in the laboratory.

A Shift From Human to Robot?

Today, Degani’s studies are in the prototype stage, and they demonstrate possibilities for future development. In any case, there are already several automation attempts in the fruit harvesting industry represented by Israeli companies such as FFRobotics, a robot equipped with the ability to emulate human hand-picking, and Tevel Aerobotics Technologies, which developed a flying harvester that is scheduled to enter its pilot phase in the coming year.

Beyond that, not only is the identity of the harvester expected to shift from human to robot – but the structure of the orchard itself is also speculated to change.

“The way we engineer and grow trees will change, and they will be designed in a way that is right for robotic harvesting,” Degani explains. “Even today you can see in the world apple orchards that look almost like a two-dimensional wall on which fruit grows. This is not genetic engineering but mechanical engineering operations designed to make the orchard grow as efficiently as possible.” The new orchard structure allows for denser planting and is designed to enable easier harvesting for both humans and robots alike. Studies are currently underway to determine the most efficient configuration, in preparation for an era in which robots will enter the agricultural landscape.

In the end, according to Degani, everything is aimed at becoming more efficient simply because we have no other choice. 

“Even in modern agriculture, the farmer will be very important, but he will need much fewer working hands,” he says. “Like quite a few things, the data will be at the center, to help him make informed decisions, and the robots will carry out the tasks in the field. This is what will direct the efficiency so that we can reach a sufficient crop target that will feed all humans,” he says.

“Because there will be less land, less resources, and less manpower over time, there is a need to find a solution. Otherwise, fruits like apples will be accessible only to the very rich,” Degani concludes.

Funding will be used to support more than a dozen studies

A new university grant program in Israel with a budget of over $1 million will support researchers in their quest for new food technologies.

The ministries of Agriculture and Innovation, Science and Technology initiated the program with an emphasis on alternative proteins.

The ministries launched a call for proposals last Thursday, in collaboration with the Good Food Institute (GFI) Israel, a non-profit organization that seeks to promote research and innovation in food technology.

The food technology sector is a broad field that includes nutrition, packaging, food safety, processing systems, new ingredients and alternative proteins. These include plant-based meat, dairy and egg substitutes, dairy products, cultured meat and seafood, insect proteins, and fermentation products and processes.

Many of the technologies used in this field are based on academic research. 

The technologies of two major Israeli cultured meat companies, Aleph Farms and Future Meat, are based on bioengineering research developed by their respective co-founders, Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion – the Israel Institute of Technology – and Professor Yaakov Nahmias of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

Both are leading academics in the field of tissue engineering.

Ministry funding will support a dozen university studies offering science and technology solutions in the areas of cultured meat, fermentation processes and plant-based substitutes. 

These studies can be aimed at improving the final product or the production process itself, the ministries said.

What if the cracked screen of your mobile phone or the solar panels providing energy to a satellite could self-repair?

These kinds of robots and electronics are not only a matter of science fiction — where self-aware machines can heal themselves — but of real interest for scientists and technology developers. Researchers from Technion, say self-repairing electronics may be possible and have the tech to prove it.

As the use of technology intensifies, electronics that have longer life spans become more valuable and essential for critical operations. The technology we use every day — smartphones, laptops, or tablets — has a very limited life span. These short life cycles are mostly due to electronic damage and normal degradation of electronic parts, including lithium batteries. From the government to the private tech industry, electronic damage can have significant consequences. For example, a study from the Electrostatic Discharge Association estimated that industries could lose up to £4 billion per year due to electrostatic electronic damage alone. By 2022, with an ever-expanding global cloud powered by endless servers, the risks are even higher.

Smoke, fire, water, dust, corrosion, temperature variations, radiation, mechanical shock, impact, contact failure, and thermal stress … there are numerous ways in which electronics can be damaged (via LiveWire). On the other hand, other technologies like NASA space technology or commercial satellites, which cannot be accessed for maintenance or repairs, require longer life spans but still depend on electronics susceptible to damage. Self-healing electronics, while still a dream, could become the “holy tech grail.”

A research group led by Professor Yehonadav Bekenstein from the Faculty of Materials Sciences and Engineering and the Solid-State Institute at Technion was studying perovskite nanoparticles for their potential to provide a green alternative to toxic lead materials used heavily in electronics. In doing so, they found something unexpected.

The team found on a microscopic level that the nanocrystals moved a hole (damage) through the areas of a structure to self-heal. Surprised by this, the researchers drew up a code to analyze microscopic videos and understand the dynamics and movements within the crystal. The researchers realized that the damaged area, or hole, formed on the surface of the nanoparticles, then moved to energetically stable areas inside, and was finally “spontaneously ejected” out. Researchers explained that through this self-healing process, the nanocrystals essentially reverted back to being undamaged (per Technion). 

Researchers at the Technion believe that this discovery is a key step toward understanding the processes by which these nanoparticles can heal themselves. The team also thinks that perovskite nanoparticles should be used in solar panels and other electronic devices.

Netafim analysis shows corn grown with drip irrigation releases 53% fewer carbon emissions compared to flood-irrigated corn.

Corn is the third largest plant-based food source in the world and the most important crop in the United States, where 1.2 billion metric tons of corn were produced last year.

Corn is also cultivated in China, South America, India, Ukraine and across Europe, as food for both humans and livestock, as a biofuel and as a crude material for industrial purposes.

Now, results of a Life Cycle Analysis study show that the environmental impact of all those cornfields is significantly reduced by the use of drip irrigation as opposed to flood or sprinkler irrigation.

The study was conducted by EcoChain during 2020 for Israel’s Netafim, the global leader in sustainable precision irrigation solutions.

Highlights of the study:

  • Corn grown with drip irrigation releases 53 percent fewer carbon emissions compared to flood-irrigated corn and 39% fewer carbon emissions compared to sprinkler irrigation.
  • Drip-irrigated corn requires 24% less fertilizer than when it is grown with flood irrigation, and nearly 17% less fertilizer than when it is grown with sprinkler irrigation.
  • Drip-irrigated corn produces 45% more per kilograms per hectare when compared to flood, and 23% more when compared to sprinklers.

An earlier study showed that rice grown using Netafim’s drip irrigation technology out-produces conventional paddy rice farming, uses 70% less water, and diminishes methane emissions to almost zero.

“We’ve been showing the world how to grow more with less for nearly 60 years and our pioneering technology is now critical to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” said Netafim Global Chief Sustainability Officer John Farner.

“Today, farmers are not only challenged by record-high energy and fertilizer costs, but also increased pressure to reduce their overall environmental footprint, all while producing our global food supply,” said Farner.

“Adoption of precision irrigation for corn, along with other crops around the world, is critical to stabilize farmer livelihoods, reduce the carbon footprint of farming, and ensure a food-secure future.”

With 33 subsidiaries and 17 manufacturing plants worldwide, Netafim offers customized irrigation and fertigation solutions to millions of farmers, from smallholders to large-scale agricultural producers, in over 110 countries.

ILAN founder aims to create warm ties with Israel among the growing Spanish-speaking population.

The Israel Latin America Network (ILAN), established last year by Jewish Mexican-Syrian businessman and philanthropist Isaac Assa, is expanding to the United States, Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala and other countries in Central America.

“Over the last year we directly developed unique connections between the State of Israel and Latin American countries,” said Assa on June 9 at ILAN’s first award ceremony, held in partnership with the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

“Through ILAN, we formed strategic alliances with a number of branches throughout America, which will strengthen the economic, diplomatic and social resilience of the countries,” Assa said.

“In a few years, the Spanish-speaking population in the United States will increase to 100 million people, and therefore strengthening these connections is a supreme goal in the interest of the states and the peoples. With the help of the Israeli brain, the innovation and the local courage, we will be able to make groundbreaking international achievements.”

ILAN presented Shimon Peres Lifetime Awards to internationally prominent Israelis who have promoted relations between Israel and Latin America in the areas of health, quality of environment, economy and technology.

Among the recipients were the Technion’s Prof. Shulamit Levenberg, who developed the technology behind Aleph Farms cultivated steak; Dr Amir Kereshonvich, chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, who with his wife, Hila, set up a volunteer-led initiative to perform complicated brain surgeries on children from the developing world; Henrique Cymerman, an Israeli journalist of Portuguese-Sephardi descent who serves as the Middle East correspondent for a several media outlets and is president of the Chamber of Commerce between Israel-Jordan and the Persian Gulf States; Tato Bigio, founding partner and CEO of UBQ Materials, which converts household waste into recyclable raw materials; and Ella Castelenus, a new immigrant from Mexico who founded Hola – Land, a platform that connects Latin America and Israel, and a partner in Cantera Capital, a fund for enterprises in Israel and Mexico.

The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology signed a historic agreement with Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) this week to promote academic cooperation between the two universities.

This document was said to be the first of its kind to be signed between these two institutions.

An agreement to recognize the academic collaboration was signed by UM6P President Mr. Hicham El Habti, Technion President Professor Uri Sivan, Senior Vice President of the Technion Professor Oded Rabinovitch, and Vice President of Research Professor Koby Rubinstein at a ceremony held at the Technion. The ceremony was chaired by Technion Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development Professor Alon Wolf.

The agreements were reached through the initiation of diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco in December 2020 with the Abraham Accords. 

Technion President Professor. Uri Sivan addressed the delegation and said that their visit to the Technion “reflects a rapid and dramatic historical change in the region. We at the Technion are determined to participate in leading this process and building bridges through education and research. Since the Abraham Accords, we have received delegations from the UAE and Bahrain, countries that none of us ever imagined would come to visit. Both of our institutions – the Technion and UM6P – educate young people and equip them for the future. The cooperation we are establishing here today goes beyond its academic value; it is our duty to the region and to the future of the next generation.”

“Today we are signing a piece of paper,” The President of Morocco’s Mohammed VI University, Mr. Hicham El Habti, said at the ceremony, “but what is more important is what is behind it – the mutual desire for cooperation, which will lead to student and faculty exchange from both institutions. It is an honor to be here at the Technion – and a great responsibility. We are part of a historic era, and we must continue to strengthen ties between Morocco and Israel. As a very young university, we are open to international cooperation and are delighted to establish this relationship with you.”

After the signing, both presidents exchanged gifts. Mr. Hicham El Habti gave the Technion President a book on the history of Moroccan Jewry, and Prof. Sivan gave the UM6P President a glass engraving bearing the symbol of the Technion.

In March, the Technion received a historic visit from a Moroccan delegation led by El Habti.

“There are many similarities between Morocco and Israel,” said Prof. Koby Rubinstein, Executive Vice President for Research of the Technion, “both in the physical terrain and climatic conditions, as well as in our people and interests. This cooperation is important to us and has every reason to be successful.”

“We introduce a novel, customizable three-dimensional interface for producing scalable structures, utilizing real data collected from coral ecosystems,” explains Ph.D. student Natalie Levy.

(April 29, 2022 / JNS) The world’s coral reefs are becoming extinct due to many factors such as global warming and accelerated urbanization in coastal areas, which places tremendous stress on marine life.

“The rapid decline of coral reefs has increased the need for exploring interdisciplinary methods for reef restoration,” explains Natalie Levy, a Ph.D. student at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. “Examining how to conserve the biodiversity of coral reefs is a key issue, but there is also an urgent need to invest in technology that can improve the coral ecosystem and our understanding of the reef environment.”

In a paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researchers from four of Israel’s leading universities highlight a three-dimensional printing method they developed to preserve coral reefs. Their innovation is based on the natural structure of coral reefs off the southern coastal Israeli city of Eilat, but their model is adaptable to other marine environments and may help curb reef devastation plaguing coral ecosystems around the world.

The joint research was led by Professor Oren Levy and Ph.D. student Levy of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University; Professor Ezri Tarazi and Ph.D. student Ofer Berman from the Architecture and Town Planning Faculty at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology; Professor Tali Treibitz and Ph.D. student Matan Yuval from the University of Haifa; and Professor Yossi Loya of Tel Aviv University.

The process begins by scanning underwater photographs of coral reefs. From this visual information, a 3D model of the reef is assembled with maximum accuracy. Thousands of images are photographed and sent to the laboratory to calculate the complex form of the reef and how that form encourages the evolution of reef species diversity.

Next, researchers use a molecular method of collecting environmental genetic information, which provides accurate data on the reef’s organisms. This data is incorporated with other parameters and is fed into a 3D-technology algorithm, making it possible to build a parametric interactive model of the reef. The model can be designed to precisely fit the designated reef environment.

The final stage is the translation and production of a ceramic reef in 3D printing.

The reefs are made of ceramic that is naturally porous underwater, providing the most ideal construction and restoration needs to the affected area or for the establishment of a new reef structure as a foundation for the continuation of life. “Three-dimensional printing with natural material facilitates the production of highly complex and diverse units that is not possible with the usual means of mold production,” says Tarazi.

The process combines 3D-scanning algorithms, together with environmental DNA sampling, and a 3D-printing algorithm that allows in-depth and accurate examination of the data from each reef, as well as tailoring the printed model to a specific reef environment. In addition, data can be refed into the algorithm to check the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the design after it has been implemented, based on information collected in the process.

The workflow of 3D interface, starting with data collection using molecular tools and 3D imaging. Credit: Natalie Levy and Professor Ofer Berman of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University.

“Existing artificial reefs have difficulty replicating the complexity of coral habitats and hosting reef species that mirror natural environments. We introduce a novel, customizable 3D interface for producing scalable structures, utilizing real data collected from coral ecosystems,” explains Levy.

Berman adds that “the use of 3D printing allows for the extensive freedom of action in algorithm-based solutions, as well as the assimilation of sustainable production for the development of large-scale marine rehabilitation.”

This study meets two critical needs to save coral reefs, according to the researchers. The first is the need for innovative solutions that facilitate large-scale restoration that can be adapted to support coral reefs worldwide. The second is the recreation of a natural complexity of the coral reef, both in size and design, that will attract reef species such as fish and invertebrates that support the regrowth of natural coral reefs.

The researchers are currently installing several 3D-printed reefs in the Gulf of Eilat. They believe that the results they obtain will help them apply this innovation to other reef ecosystems around the world.

A new Technion study looks at how marine organisms produce hard tissues from the materials available to them, and under harsh and hostile conditions.

An international research group led by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has recently deciphered the process through which marine organisms develop their hard and durable skeletons.

The wonders of underwater engineering

The study, led by Prof. Boaz Pokroy, doctoral student Nuphar Bianco-Stein and researcher Dr. Alex Kartsman from the Technion Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering conducted the study with the assistance of Dr. Catherine Dejoie from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US.

The researchers focused their efforts on the involvement of magnesium-containing calcite in the biomineralization process – the process by which living organisms produce minerals to harden or stiffen existing tissues. Calcite is a common mineral that constitutes about 4% of the mass of the Earth’s crust.

“Biomineralization processes build structures that surpass artificial products of engineering processes in many aspects, such as strength and resistance to fractures,” Pokroy said.

What can we learn from the starfish?

The researchers found that the deposits of calcite particles in magnesium-poor substances create compression in the organisms’ skeletons that increase their rigidity. This occurs naturally, without the need for mechanical compression used in the production of similar materials in classical synthetic engineering processes.

“We have discovered that this phenomenon occurs in a huge variety of creatures, even creatures from different kingdoms in the animal world, and we estimate that it is even broader than what we have discovered,” Pokroy said. “Therefore, it is likely to be a very general phenomenon.”

The study was supported by an EU grant from the European Research Council.

Nine different organisms were examined, including brittle stars, red algae, starfish, coral and sea urchins. In brittle stars, the crystallization process is used for its calcite lenses, which essentially function as eyes scattered all over their arms.

Red algae, however, use the magnesium-calcite crystals to coat all their cells and increase durability as the algae are subjected to the pressures and physical trauma of shallow waters.

“There is no doubt,” Pokroy concluded, “that we have a lot to learn from these biological processes, and that our findings may lead to improved engineering processes in a variety of areas.”