“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.”

Despite the ongoing war and its effects on Israel’s younger population, an Israeli team won first place at the international robotics competition in Houston, Texas, at the end of April, for the first time in twenty years.

This competition is run by a non-profit organization called FIRST which strives to expose students to STEM-related subjects through different robotics competitions. With the support and sponsorship of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, FIRST Israel offers children programming from when they are in primary school to when they attend high school through which they can learn about robotics as part of a team and community.

These programs – FIRST LEGO League Challenge for primary school students and FIRST Robotics Competition for high school students – also provide a platform for kids to learn about core values such as teamwork, the importance of the process of learning, and inclusion.

In the time it takes to read this article, several people in the United States will likely experience a heart attack — according to the CDC, someone in the US suffers from one every 40 seconds.

That morbid statistic highlights the importance of coronary artery disease detection methods, and companies developing them.

One such company is Israeli startup AccuLine, which recently secured $4.2 million in seed funding for the development and commercialisation of its CORA (Coronary Artery Risk Assessment) system, designed to improve the early detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), a leading cause of heart attacks.

CORA detects two bio-signals in the heart’s electrical activity, providing insights into coronary artery health. The system uses artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms to analyse this data, identifying patterns that may indicate CAD.

The CORA assessment improves upon current CAD diagnostic tools by means of a noninvasive, radiation-free test that evaluates three vital signs — the heart’s electrical activity, oxygen saturation levels and respiratory phase — in four minutes.

The system is designed to be operated by medical staff in various healthcare settings, with immediate results. By potentially replacing some existing stress test examinations, CORA could reduce medical expenses while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.

AccuLine, based in Petah Tikva, estimates the market potential for the technology at $7 billion annually in the United States.

The company has conducted two clinical studies in Israel to validate CORA’s diagnostic capabilities. The first involved 100 participants, while the second, larger study included 300 participants across seven medical centers. A third study is planned for next year in the US to seek US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

“Diagnosing patients at very early stages of risk for CAD without invasive testing will add value to patients, healthcare systems, doctors and insurance organisations,” said AccuLine cofounder and CEO Moshe Barel.

“This test has the potential to save millions of lives a year and save hundreds of millions of dollars for healthcare systems on unnecessary tests or expensive treatments for patients after a heart attack, including rehabilitation and medication.”

“Stay positive,” we’re told when suffering from an illness. It’s easy to dismiss such comments as platitudes from well-meaning friends. But Technion scientists have demonstrated that activation of the brain’s reward system can boost recovery from a heart attack. Establishing the connection between the two can potentially lead to therapeutic avenues for intervention.

“It’s time that both researchers and clinicians take the link between psychology and physiology seriously,” said Technion Associate Professor Asya Rolls, a psychoneuroimmunologist and pioneer in mind-body interactions.

Scientists have previously shown that the emotional state can influence the course of disease following a heart attack. But until now, the underlying physiological mechanisms were not well understood.

Prof. Rolls worked with renowned cardiac researcher Professor Lior Gepstein and Hedva Haykin, Ph.D. ’23, in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine to manipulate the area of the brain responsible for inducing positive emotion and motivation in heart-diseased mice. The stimulation resulted in a favorable immune response that helped heal cardiac scarring, increased blood vessel formation, and improved cardiac performance. Their work, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, found that these beneficial effects on the heart are mediated in part by the secretion of C3, a protein of the body’s “complement system,” which is the front line of defense for the immune system.

Since there are many non-invasive methods for stimulating the reward system in humans, such as drugs, biofeedback, and focused ultrasound, the team’s discovery could have meaningful future implications for the treatment of heart attacks.

“You can call something psychosomatic, but in the end, it’s somatic,” said Prof. Rolls. “How long can we ignore what is there?”

Prof. Asya Rolls is part of a growing group of scientists who are mapping out the brain’s control over the body’s immune system responses. Her earlier research has made inroads into understanding and treating autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease, and has even shown that triggering the brain’s reward system can stop tumor growth in mice.

Prof. Lior Gepstein is the director of the Cardiology Department at Rambam Health Care Campus and an academic staff member in the Technion’s Faculty of Medicine. His diverse research has explored the generation of heart tissue from human embryonic stem cells, treatment for cardiac arrythmias, and the development of a biological pacemaker.

Dr. Hevda Haykin recently completed her doctoral studies under the supervision of Profs. Rolls and Gepstein, and was awarded the Israel Heart Society’s J.J. Kellerman Young Investigator Award for 2024.

Maayan Kinsbursky, a graduate of the advanced degree program in industrial design at the Technion, has won the international Red Dot Design Award for her master’s project. The award ceremony will take place in Singapore on October 10, and the project will subsequently be exhibited at the Red Dot Design Museum, also in Singapore. The project was supervised by Assistant Professor Yoav Sterman, former innovation manager at Nike, and a faculty member in the industrial design program headed by Prof. Ezri Tarazi, in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.

Kinsbursky’s project, U·Bra, is an innovative bra designed for women who have undergone a mastectomy and cannot have reconstruction surgery. These women often opt for a silicone prosthesis inserted into a special bra, which can cause excessive sweating, rashes, pressure, and shoulder pain. Additionally, the prosthesis can create an asymmetrical appearance and may cause discomfort and embarrassment due to the fear of it shifting or falling out.

The U·Bra

In Kinsbursky’s research, the bra and prosthesis were designed as an integrated unit, customized for women who have had a mastectomy. The customization is based on 3D scanning, design processing, and 3D printing using a unique method developed at the Technion. The resulting product is a soft, airy, lightweight textile item that is tailored to the specific user.

Kinsbursky, who grew up in the Golan Heights, completed her bachelor’s degree in industrial design at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and pursued her master’s degree at the Technion. The award-winning project was realized at the Technion using innovative printing technology developed in the CodedMatter Laboratory led by Asst. Prof. Sterman. As she is currently on maternity leave, Kinsbursky’s lab team is continuing the pilot program, fitting bras for twenty women who have undergone mastectomies.

The Red Dot Design Awards, considered to be the “Oscars of the design world,” aim to promote excellence in design. The awards are given in three categories and Kinsbursky won in the Design Concept category. The project was selected to participate in the Technion’s “Science Accelerators” program, generously supported by the Hitman Foundation and the Bernstein Foundation.

Photo credits: Haim Zinger, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning Photography Lab (Maayan and Yoav). Reut Degani (Bra).

Maayan Kinsbursky, a graduate of the advanced degree program in industrial design at the Technion, has won the international Red Dot Design Award for her master’s project. The award ceremony will take place in Singapore on October 10, and the project will subsequently be exhibited at the Red Dot Design Museum, also in Singapore. The project was supervised by Assistant Professor Yoav Sterman, former innovation manager at Nike, and a faculty member in the industrial design program headed by Prof. Ezri Tarazi, in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.

Proteins are important biological compounds that can form amyloid structures, which have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, where the accumulation of abnormal amyloid aggregates (plaques) disrupts brain function. Our current research examined whether we should be concerned over the formation of amyloids in processed food, and it reveals positive aspects to this question in the context of their digestive fate.

From L to R: Prof. Meytal Landau, Alon Romano, Gil Rafael

Amyloid structures, it turns out, lead to a slow breakdown of the protein progenitors in the digestive system and promote positive changes in the colon. In fact, these changes resemble those of “regular” dietary fibers found in fruits and whole grains. Moreover, the bacteria in our gut prefer amyloids over “naked” undigested proteins, which may lead to negative effects such as adverse fermentation in the intestines.

Graphical abstract: Left – Amyloid consumption in food, and their journey through the digestive system. Right – Creation of amyloids from eggs and whey protein

Proteins are essential components in body structure and function, and it is now clear that proper protein consumption is important for human health and can even affect various behaviors such as appetite, hunger, and fatigue. Against this background, extensive efforts are being made to develop diverse protein-rich nutritional solutions for those who seek to tone down consumption of animal products. This is the backdrop for the positive findings emerging from the research published in Food Hydrocolloids.

The researchers focused on proteins from eggs and dairy to show case that protein-amyloids formed in processed foods may:

  1. Gradually break down in the upper digestive system, potentially promoting slower and more controlled absorption of proteins into the body.
  1. Assist in preserving the microbial diversity in the intestines; in particular, it was found that they maintain a low ratio between two important bacterial communities (Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes). This ratio indicates the health of the gur microbiota, whereas an unbalanced diet encourages an increase in this ratio which has been correlated with increased risk of disease (obesity, diabetes, and cancer).

From a wider viewpoint, the research demonstrates the inherent potential in food processing to enhance potential to promote health. According to Prof. Lesmes: “Today, we know how to precisely control and formulate foods and to estimate through models developed in my lab, how different food components will be digested in the body of different consumers. Together with innovative research tools, this scientific approach will help us understand the fate of proteins and innovative food components in the bodies of different consumers and may even facilitate development of personalized dietary choices. I believe that this research opens up new avenues for understanding the potential of “smartly” processed food to expand human nutrition sources and improve health.”

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion. The authors also thank the Smoler Proteomics Center at the Technion and Dana Benjamin from the Koren Lab at Bar Ilan University.

Even before the establishment of the State of Israel, faculty, students, and alumni of the Technion helped develop and manage water resources in a desert land. They contributed to the national water carrier that brought water from the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in the north to the drylands in the south. They improved technologies for water treatment, desalination, and drip irrigation. These efforts have turned Israel from a water-deficient to a water-abundant country.  

Today, Israel leads the world in water reclamation, recycling more than 90% of its wastewater for use in agriculture and industry. No longer reliant on the Kinneret, Israel’s five desalination plants provide the bulk of the country’s drinking water. Complex systems carry diverse water types from diverse water sources for diverse water needs. 

But far from resting on its laurels, improving the sustainability and quality of water and water management facilities remains a major priority for Israel and for the Technion. The University established the Stephen and Nancy Grand Water Research Institute (GWRI) in 1993 to address these challenges through science, technology, engineering, and policy development.  

The GWRI comprises more than 40 researchers from various faculties, including civil, environmental, mechanical, and chemical engineering, as well as chemistry, biotechnology, and more. They publish about 200 papers a year on topics from water resource management to aquaculture systems to feed a burgeoning world population. While its focus is on the needs of Israel, it is also very much involved internationally. 

“One-third of the world’s population lives under water scarcity conditions,” said Professor Eran Friedler, director of the GWRI and the Henry Goldberg Academic Chair in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is also a Technion alumnus, having received a Ph.D. in environmental engineering in 1994.  

FROM LEFT: PROF. DAVID BRODAY; PROF. ERAN FRIEDLER; ILAN KATZ, CEO AND CTO OF H2OLL; AND LIRON HOUBER, STUDENT.

“The number will only increase due to population growth, urbanization, and climate change. And this can lead to political instability and refugees,” Prof. Friedler added. 

And that’s the reason he co-invented a system that produces clean water from the air with a colleague, Professor David Broday. Their atmospheric water generator harvests air moisture by an innovative continuous liquid desiccant system. Energy is only invested when condensing the vapor into liquid water. It even works in desert regions and can run on solar energy. They founded a startup, H2OLL, to commercialize the product. 

Prof. Friedler’s area of expertise in developing alternative water resources and improving delivery systems extends to research on wastewater reuse and methodologies to harvest rainwater. He is looking into ways to store rainwater in tanks that can be released when the water flow in drainage pipes is low. This rainwater can be used in toilets, washing machines, and dishwashers. And with some treatment, it could be used for drinking water. 

“With climate change, rain events are going to be more severe. If we can store the water through harvesting, we can reduce the amount of drainage water in cities while supplying water to various uses.” 

Other GWRI researchers are working on ways to reduce the environmental impact in water treatment and desalination. Some are working on organic methods to remove pollutants. 

“Even at the end of the traditional treatment process, there are still pollutants in very small concentrations that are not removed,” said Professor Yael Dubowski. “Residues of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products — we don’t know enough about the problems they could cause when water containing them is used for agriculture.” 

PROF. YAEL DUBOWSKI USES VACUUM-ULTRAVIOLET VERY SHORT WAVELENGTH RADIATION TO REMOVE POLLUTANTS IN WATER WITHOUT CHEMICALS.

Prof. Dubowski has investigated a chemical-free advanced oxidation process that is based solely on ultraviolet light. Such radiation breaks the water molecules and generates the radicals needed for pollutants’ oxidation. It holds promise for an additional step in the water treatment process. 

Associate Professor Adi Radian is studying the natural, positive processes that occur in the environment to breakdown pollutants. She wants to mimic them to improve remediation in engineered systems. 

“Clay minerals are plentiful, cheap, natural, nontoxic, and have huge surface areas,” she explained. “Clay is often used to soak up spills and bad smells — think cat litter.” Prof. Radian is working on changing the chemistry of clay to make it adsorb (bring to the surface) rather than absorb pollutants. Depending on the properties of the pollutant, she can change the properties of the clay.  

ASSOC. PROF. ADI RADIAN HAS DEVELOPED A WAY TO REMOVE TOXIC PFAS (PERFLUOROALKYL AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES) LIKE TEFLON AND OTHER NONSTICK MATERIALS FROM WATER.

She has already had great success with removing “forever chemicals” from water systems. These are toxic substances like Teflon and other nonstick materials that repel water. Using iron oxide coated-clay together with cyclodextrin polymers, she was able to remove 90% of them from contaminated water in just minutes. 

Since Israel has been using desalinated water for drinking and reclaimed wastewater for agriculture in greater quantities and longer than any other country, Profs. Friedler, Dubowski, and Radian, and other Technion researchers are sure to play a major role in solving the world’s water scarcity problems. They acknowledge that the key is finding environmentally sustainable and affordable means to do it.  

In the late 1970s, when no one thought it could be possible, Dov Raviv, a Technion alumnus, had a fantastical idea for a defensive weapon that could intercept and shoot down long-range incoming missiles. The idea developed into what would become the Arrow Antimissile System, the world’s first missile defense platform, and what would protect Israel from Iran’s missile barrage on April 13, 2024.
Dov Raviv was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1937. Had he stayed there he was destined to become a tradesman. Fortunately, his family emigrated to Israel in 1947. He initially trained as a locksmith in Israel, but his mother wanted more for her son. After all, he was now living in the Promised Land. So, Dov enrolled at the Technion, unsure what field of study to pursue.
“My father said, ‘why don’t you learn how to make airplanes,’” Dov said. His father, who sold and bought luggage and other travel items, didn’t suggest the field because he believed Dov showed some kind of special acuity for aerospace or engineering, but “just because he liked airplanes. So that’s what I did.”
The Technion has the only faculty of aerospace engineering in Israel. At the time, Moshe Arens, a U.S.-trained aeronautical engineer, was one of its earliest faculty members. “Moshe Arens was very inspiring,” said Dov. “He was an excellent teacher and he drove me.” After leaving the Technion in 1965, Arens served as minister of defense for Israel three times and as ambassador to the United States.
Dov obtained a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1959, and went to work for MLM, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). He excelled at all tasks and brought many new ideas to the company. While at MLM, he was also an officer in the Israeli air force in charge of ballistic missile trajectories.
He was promoted to director of MLM in 1978, overseeing 180 employees and transforming it from IAE’s manufacturing plant into an arm for engineering systems and production with 1,100 employees by the time he retired in 1992. During this timeframe, he began development on the Arrow interceptor missile and launcher he had envisioned with a team of all Technion graduates.

THE ARROW 1 TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR WAS SUCCESSFULLY TESTED IN 1990.

The air force didn’t believe a device to intercept missiles was possible. But Dov didn’t give up. “I pushed it so much until people started listening. I had a reputation for getting things done,” he explained. But funding was lacking.

In 1984, a delegation from the United States Air Force visited IAI and Dov was asked to present projects in development. Six months later, U.S. Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson, an aeronautical engineer and astronaut, requested a proposal to support the Arrow experiment. Gen. Abrahamson was the director of the new Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), known as the Star Wars Program, to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system for the U.S.

“I submitted a proposal for $150 million. They couldn’t believe it could be done with so little money and they funded it, I believe, as an exercise to see if it could really be done. In the end, we did it with a lot less.”

In 1986, a formal agreement between the U.S. and Israel was signed to co-fund a multi-billion-dollar Arrow program, and in 1988, SDIO placed an order with IAE for the Arrow 1 technology demonstrator. Arrow 1 was successfully tested in 1990. The Gulf War in 1991 was the impetus for further development of the Arrow. Arrow 2 became the world’s first operational defense system against missiles in 2000.

Arrow 3 — also led by a team of Technion alumni — became operational in 2017. It is capable of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nuclear, chemical, or biological warheads as far as 1,500 miles away during the space-flight portion of their trajectory. Both Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 were used to intercept the long-range ballistic missile barrage from Iran in April.

Dov Raviv, who lives in Rishon LeZion, a suburb just south of Tel Aviv, reflected on his journey. “I would have been a pretty good locksmith. I was the youngest and best in the class.” No doubt. It’s lucky for Israel that his mother wanted him to get a higher education and his father liked airplanes.

No idea is too big in Start-Up Nation, and resilience and motivation are what make Israel’s bustling tech economy so successful. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Omer Schneider, former CEO and co-founder of cybersecurity company CyberX, about his time at the Technion and how he took his big idea all the way to an acquisition deal with the largest tech company in the world.

His dedication to his work in every stage of life gave him the confidence to believe in himself and make an impact on millions of people throughout his career. Omer’s story is also a great lesson: if you think you’ve already shot for the stars, you can shoot even higher.

Michael: You’ve had quite an impressive career already, building a company from the ground up and then selling it to the biggest tech company in the world. I’m intrigued by what that process looked like, but I thought we could first go all the way back to the beginning and talk a bit about your time at the Technion. 

Omer: It’s been quite the journey, but it actually started well before my time at the Technion. My story begins with the computer my parents gave me as a kid. Eventually, I used that computer to teach myself how to code in high school. Additionally, half of my family attended the Technion, and the university was very much a family legacy for us. Growing up, I knew that I wanted to continue that legacy and was eager to start my studies in Haifa.

Michael: Was pursuing computer science a no-brainer?

Omer: I hadn’t decided to focus on computer science or any other specific field before I started at the Technion. Honestly, at that age, I thought I could best contribute to my community as an army engineer. I applied to and was accepted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engineering academic reserve program where my education at the Technion prepared me for my future career in the military. Ultimately, my childhood fascination with computers drew me to computer science. I wanted to learn about the intersection of hardware and software, looking at computer systems at-large.

Michael: What role did the Technion play in your transition into the IDF after graduation?

Omer: With my Technion degree, I was eventually drafted into an elite cybersecurity unit in the army (Matzov). At the time, Israel was building out its national cybersecurity initiative, and I was a founding member of the Israel National Cyber Security Bureau. My early years at the Technion laid the groundwork for my success in this program that essentially established Israel’s cybersecurity infrastructure from the ground up. I refined my skills at setting and accomplishing challenging goals within a rigorous environment while I was in university, and I brought these strategies with me after graduation. I was so invested in the project that I decided to stay in the army an additional two years beyond my required six years of service.

Michael: It sounds like you made quite the impact on your community during those years in the IDF. I can imagine that making the decision to leave was a difficult one.

Omer: Yes, I definitely didn’t take the decision lightly. However, I felt like I had made my mark in an important way, and I wanted to explore what it was like to make an impact in the private sector. Much of my motivation was driven by my curiosity. I wanted to know what it would be like to have my own company and start a new challenge like nothing I had ever faced. My business partner, Nir Giller, and I saw the digital world changing before our eyes and found a gap in the cybersecurity market at the time. We believed that we could build something quite large to fill it, and shortly after I left the IDF in late 2012, we launched CyberX.

Michael: It’s quite a feat to build a company of CyberX’s magnitude in just a few years. Can you expand on CyberX’s mission?

Omer: When I left the army, I had a hunch that the world was about to become much more connected than it had been, even in the early 2010s. From my previous experience, I knew that many of our critical infrastructure networks were missing key monitoring and detection capabilities to prevent attacks. Those systems were only going to expand, so the security risk was becoming more and more urgent, which is where CyberX came in. We specialized in OT (Operational Technology) and IoT (“Internet of Things”) security. We developed unique technology that provided real-time visibility into industrial networks used in energy utilities, water purification plants, oil and gas refineries, chemical plants, manufacturing, healthcare, and other facilities that use equipment from many different suppliers such as Schneider Electric and Rockwell Automation. Our platform used patented behavioral analytics to analyze industrial network protocols in order to detect attacks, understand their root cause, assess risk, and identify vulnerabilities in this very complex equipment.

After a few years of establishing a strong reputation across several industries, we were working with three of the top ten utility companies in the US, three of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies, and multiple Fortune 500 companies, and in more than 30 countries worldwide.

Michael: No wonder Microsoft was interested in your work! 

Omer: It was definitely a surprise, but at the time, I can proudly say that we had grown to be a leader in the space and raised close to $50 million. Our next step was already on the horizon, and then Microsoft appeared!

Michael: I’m sure that this was an important milestone for you, especially having grown up in Start-Up Nation. At the same time, I know you closed the deal during the pandemic, which sounds like a massive logistical hurdle.

Omer: We were ecstatic about the opportunity, but yes, working on the deal through the pandemic added an extra layer of complexity. The world was changing every day, the stock market was unpredictable, and we had to conduct all negotiations on Teams. Fortunately, Microsoft was committed to the process, and finally, after several months of paperwork and discussions, we closed the deal in June 2020.

Michael: Wow, that must have been an incredible whirlwind. I’m always curious what a start-up founder does after a successful exit. Personally, I would choose a long vacation, but something tells me you aren’t finished quite yet.

Omer: You’re right, I stayed with the Microsoft team for two years after the deal as a director on the IoT security team as we continued to grow the business inside Microsoft. Since then, I’ve stayed active in the tech world and done some investing. I’ve also enjoyed spending time with my wife and four kids here in the Boston area. I’m a long-distance runner as well, so I’m always training, and I’ve done an Iron Man triathlon and several marathons.

Michael: It never ceases to amaze me hearing from Technion graduates about how much tenacity they have in every aspect of their lives! What is your next move now that you’ve left Microsoft?

Omer: I learned from my time at CyberX that I love to be the guy who makes things happen, and I’m certainly not finished leaving my mark on the tech world. I’m working on a new company – Cetu with a new partner, Kfir Gollan. Something big is in the works, even bigger than CyberX in my opinion – I just can’t say much about it yet. The company will focus on the intersection of security and data!

Michael: You have quite the resume for making big impacts, so I don’t doubt that your expectations are correct. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about your career so far and your time at the Technion!

Going from development on Israel’s world famous Iron Dome missile defense system to maximizing energy usage might sound a little odd, but to Ron Halpern, chief commercial officer at mPrest, the software company behind the platform, the transition was a natural one.

“Iron Dome essentially is a real-time distributed asset optimisation system; the assets happened to be interceptors,” Halpern tells NoCamels.

mPrest used the principles behind Iron Dome to create the mDERMS energy management system (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Having developed the command and control system for Iron Dome, the 20-year-old, Petah Tikva-based company “went on an Internet of Things journey,” as Halpern puts it, and decided to apply the principles used to create the missile defense software to making electricity plants more efficient and sustainable. 

“Fundamentally, from an architectural perspective, we’re continuing to do the same thing,” he says.  “We do asset health management as performance management in the electric grid.”  

mPrest used its optimization technology to create a new distributed energy resource management system (DERMS). These systems are designed to maximize efficiency on a power grid through both the supplier (referred to in the industry as “front of the meter”) and the consumer (known as “behind the meter”). 

“We’re creating a single picture, a single view, a single process – the virtual process – and we’re analyzing that process and optimizing that process,” Halpern says. 

The company’s unique platform, known as mDERMS, manages all aspects of a power grid’s performance, integrating with existing software such as analytics and hardware such as sensors and providing a bottom-up image of the infrastructure for the operators and a detailed breakdown of their energy consumption for users. 

Illustrative: mDERMS presents a bottom-up presentation of a power grid’s performance (Unsplash)

mDERMS also integrates power from those users who supply the grid with clean energy they have themselves produced through wind, hydro or solar power on their property. These independent energy producers band together to form consortiums in order to sell a substantial amount of power to utility companies, rather than the negligible amounts they produce individually. 

These consortiums are known as virtual power plants (VPPs) and the power they provide supplements the grid, making it more sustainable. 

What sets mPrest apart, Halpern says, is its holistic AI-driven approach – merging the clean energy from the VPPs, optimization of resources and advanced storage capabilities to create what he calls “a dynamic and efficient energy ecosystem.” 

The main target function of the mDERMS is to ensure that from an operational perspective, everything is optimized, he explains. 

The software can put together a plan to dilute energy consumption across a longer period of time so that there is not a peak of demand at certain hours, such as when people come home from work. 

This is known as “peak shifting,” Halpern says, and also involves the utility company charging less at certain times in order to encourage more usage at those hours. 

Mass use of energy-heavy assets such as air conditioning units can put great stress on a power grid (Pexels)

“Everyone comes home in the summer and turns on their air conditioner, they want the house to be cold,” he says. 

“[But] instead of cooling the air conditioner at 6pm, let me start cooling at 5pm and then by 6pm it’ll be cold; I’ll turn it off or adjust the thermostat so that I won’t have a peak at 6pm when it’s inconvenient for the utility.”  

The same is true in winter, when water heaters go on as people arrive home and want to shower. By switching on heaters earlier in the day, people still have hot water but do not place such strain on the grid. 

And when the supplier is under high stress, mDERMS has the ability to tap into renewable power provided the VPPs, which is stored in batteries off the grid. 

In Israel, Halpern says, the government is promoting external power storage and VPPs – primarily based on solar power due to the country’s Mediterranean/desert climate, with long summers and mild winters.

mDERMS draws on renewable energy to alleviate pressure on a power grid in peak hours (Pexels)

mPrest has already worked with the state-owned Israel Electric Corporation to optimize its performance and recently signed an agreement with the EDF Renewables Israel, the local subsidiary of an international developer and operator of renewable power plants. 

But, Halpern says, the majority of its business is on the international level, where both the distribution and the VPP technology is in demand. 

Utility companies want grid stability and the ability to offer better services to their customers, he says, so they need a system such as mDERMS. 

“From a utility’s perspective, the main priority is to keep the lights on,” he says.