Technion UK – Out of this world trip to Israel

A group from the United Kingdom representing Technion UK have just finished their first trip to Israel in more than two years.

Amongst the many people they met and places they visited, one of the start-ups that they went to was Space Pharma. 

Space Pharma Is an Israeli Start Up that is connected to the Technion. Their mission is to leverage their miniaturised microgravity lab technology, enabling unprecedented possibilities to develop new drugs in Space. All this at a fraction of the cost, with higher success rates than experiements conducted with traditional research methods. They are aiming to bring a positive impact on millions of lives here on Earth.

They are currently launching three experiments in Space, one of which is completely connected to the Technion and is aimed at growing meat products from animal cells but outside the body of an animal.

Their space program, Aleph Zero, is part of their mission to produce quality, delicious meat, independent of climate or availability of natural resources.  Coping with fast-changing temperatures, limited access to natural resources and zero gravity conditions, drives efficiency in their processes. In space, they can develop closed-loop systems with zero waste and zero emissions. Knowledge from these explorations and technologies developed in space are then implemented in their sustainability and operational practices on Earth.

Of the three founders behind the Israeli company behind autonomous tractors, two are alumni of the Israel Institute of Technology

As the International Day of Forests approaches (Monday, March 21), two alumni of the Technion are revolutionising the agricultural industry.

Founded in 2017 by Yair Shahar and Aviram Shmueli, along with Ben Alfi, Blue White Robotics started as a platform that connects autonomous systems to real-world applications.

Hoping to create a “cohesive” experience across farming operations, its smart tractors are designed to improve farm productivity, precision and worker safety. It comes amid a growing disruption within the industry as farmers continue to reap the benefits of smart technology, especially with the world’s growing demand for food in mind.

The ultimate solution for the company is for permanent crops, which usually means trees, shrubs or anything that can last several seasons, instead of being replanted after each harvest.

The current focus is California, due to its being the main market to suffer from labour shortages and increasing costs, although the company has also started projects in Israel.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Forests is “Forests and sustainable production and consumption.”

Intel CPU
Intel CPU

Tower Semiconductor, which has two Technion alumni as directors, has been valued at roughly $3.6 billion

The U.S. microchip behemoth is close to a deal of almost $6 billion to buy Tower Semiconductor, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal.

The Israeli company, whose shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market, makes semiconductors and circuits used in the automotive, mobile, medical and aerospace industries and operates manufacturing facilities in Israel, California, Texas and Japan.

Kalman Kaufman, Director and Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Michal Vakrat Wolkin, also Director, both hold degrees from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

This deal follows a long line of other global imprints Technion has left on the high-tech world, such as ISMLL, the world’s first autonomous traffic management platform and VoiceItt, an innovative speech impairment app.

With a market value of almost $200 billion, Intel has plans to invest at least $20 billion in new chip-making capacity due to a global shortage that has hampered the production of everything from smartphones to cars.

A deal is expected imminently.

Now Dr Hodaya Oliel is speaking out about her incredible journey and how the Israel Institute of Technology helped her fulfil her dreams

A Technion alumnus has become the first person in Israel with cerebral palsy to graduate with a medical degree.

Dr Hodaya Oliel, who’s currently a resident in the Pediatrics Bet department at the Shamir Medical Center, “always wanted to be a doctor” and views her countless surgeries as a child and teenager as God’s way of showing her “what it’s like to be a child who is hospitalised.”

Now 27, she was born prematurely at just 27 weeks and spent three months in the NICU. Being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at just six months, she lost some motor function in her legs, but her cognitive function was, fortunately, unaffected.

“It was never easy, but I remember being so curious about everything I saw, even the operating room”, she told the Jerusalem Post. “These experiences are what spurred me to succeed in high school and while I was studying for my psychometric exam. I didn’t make any backup plans for if I didn’t succeed. That was not an option.

“Everyone needs to live with the lot they were given, and not give up on their dreams when the going gets tough. These dreams are worth fighting for. There were so many moments when I felt like giving up, but my dream was too important, so I kept trudging through the hard times. Reaching my goal was what kept me going.”

“I really love the Technion and truly appreciate everyone there, many of whom are good people who helped me overcome all the difficulties I faced. I do not take any of this for granted for even one second.”

She plans to specialise in paediatric neurology so that she can help both children and families struggling with the same condition. 

The Israeli Institute of Technology continues to be at the forefront of groundbreaking solutions to help protect our planet – both inside and outside the university

A growing number of impressive Israeli startups – borne out of Technion minds – are making improvements in several different areas of the environment:

  • SkyX – which develops autonomous aircraft that scan large areas of land to analyse data on infrastructure projects – was co-founded by Technion alumni
  • Luminescent – which delivers greener solutions to generate heat and electricity – has a Technion lecturer on its team
  • H2Pro – which generates hydrogen and oxygen in a cheaper and less harmful way – was founded by leading hydrogen experts from the university
  • Asterra (formerly Utilis) – which uses technology to detect leaks, saving billions of gallons of water – has as its VP yet another Technion alumnus
  • Most of the team behind Breezometer – which aims to monitor air quality and help improve people’s health – graduated from the Institute
  • Chakratec – which offers kinetic energy storage technologies to fast-charging stations for electric cars – has as its CEO a Technion alumnus

Meanwhile, another Israeli startup is behind the concept of enabling buildings to create their own energy amid soaring electricity consumption worldwide.

TurboGen – whose President and CEO, Yaron Gilboa, is a Technion alumnus – has introduced small, lightweight, easy-to-use and efficient microturbines that can generate electricity, heat and cooling.

They can replace traditional boilers and air conditioners across residential buildings, hospitals, offices, and hotels using natural gas.

While a standard generator usually reaches 35-40% efficiency, “the prototype we built at our lab in Petah Tikva will reach 90% efficiency”, according to Gilboa.

“The advantages of the system are lowering electricity and heating costs in buildings, providing resistance to power outages and reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by replacing the boiler,” he is reported to have said.

“This technology can also lower real estate and rental prices of apartments and offices.”

Looking to the future, he hopes to utilise solar dishes to power the turbines, meaning the system “could run 100% on renewable green resources.”

A group of Israeli smart mobility companies – at least a quarter of which have come from Technion – has collaborated with a consortium of other bodies to overhaul road transport

Twenty firms have joined up with government-transport bodies, local authorities, municipalities and universities to form a private-public consortium that will tackle traffic congestion, road accidents, infrastructure and air pollution across Israel, and at least five of them are the products of Technion alumni.

Nexar, Moovit, Waycare, NoTraffic, Cognata and Blue White Robotics are all part of the ISMLL consortium (Israel Smart Mobility Living Lab), which hopes to share anonymous data via third-party apps, traffic cameras, drones and road sensors to accelerate transport innovation. The world’s first autonomous traffic management platform also plans to install thermal road cameras that will help with poor vision and Bluetooth sensors that will help monitor public transport usage.

The aggregated data will both process and provide insights to make other changes, such as altering the timing of traffic lights and adding more buses and/or bus routes.

ISMLL – which is backed by a group of 10 government ministries and received a $1 million investment – was co-founded by Eran Shir, the co-founder and CEO of AI road safety company, Nexar – and also a Technion alumnus. 

Traffic congestion is a major problem in Israel – both in terms of rate and cost – and was predicted to get much worse in a 2019 OECD report. According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries cause an estimated 1.35 million deaths annually – about one person every 25 seconds.

Between cell-grown steaks and cow-free milk, professors and graduates from the Israeli Institute of Technology are cooking up a new way forward

A whole host of innovative food companies changing the way we treat animals are the products of leading Technion minds.

Aleph Farms – the first company to grow steaks directly from the cells of cows – was co-founded by Technion Professor, Shulamit Levenberg, SavorEat, a company that produces 3D-printed burger patties via a robot chef using ingredient cartridges has as its VP a Technion alumnus and Itay Dana, another Technion alumnus, works as Head of Product Innovation at SuperMeat.

A recent investment round of $105 million went to Aleph Farms, which they say will help execute large-scale global commercialization and portfolio expansion into new types of animal protein and product lines.

Cell-based meat involves growing actual meat from cell cultures taken from a live animal and SuperMeat uses the same process to apply to chicken.

Meanwhile, food-tech innovator – Imagindairy – which develops real milk in the lab without harming animals, is making huge strides in a market that wants something better than plant-based milks. 

Co-founded by Technion alumnus, Dr. Eyal Afergan, it cultivates milk proteins from animal cells, meaning the nutritional value, taste, smell and texture is the same as cow’s milk but without causing any suffering to the animal. This startup has also raised $1.5 million in funding.

Several Technion professors and graduates are responsible for oncological developments that are on course to transform the way cancer is caught, diagnosed and treated

A startup that has developed a blood test to predict how well cancer patients will react to treatment is planning to collaborate with the NHS in setting up clinical trials, while a technology to help pathologists detect cancer has been given an FDA ‘breakthrough’ nod.

OncoHost – the company behind the blood test that Prof. Yuval Shaked of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology has created – is the result of a decade’s research. The trials will focus on patients diagnosed with advanced stages of melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer and will join the company’s existing trials using diagnostic platform PROphet, which uses AI to predict patient response to immunotherapy. The result is a personalised treatment plan that will help provide clinicians with potential combination strategies to overcome treatment resistance.The Israeli startup also plans to open additional clinical trial sites around the world to expand its research to other cancers.

Changing the way cancer is detected is also being revolutionised, thanks to Ibex Medical Analytics – the maker of an AI-based cancer diagnostic software. Its Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Daphna Laifenfeld, spent time researching personalised medicine during her tenure at the Technion. 

The startup has received a breakthrough device designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will help expedite the clinical review and regulatory approval of its technology. In receiving this, its potential to help pathologists both detect and diagnose cancer has been formally acknowledged.

The software is already used in labs worldwide as part of everyday clinical practice, as well as continually demonstrating its positive outcomes in clinical studies. 

Meanwhile, Prof. Marcelle Machluf – yet another Technion professor – has made it her life’s work to create a medicine delivery system that can defeat cancer. The co-founder and inventor of NanoGhost – a technology that targets cancer cells with modified adult stem cells loaded with medicine – is also the faculty dean of Biotechnology & Food Engineering at the Technion, and it was here that she started the research that led to NanoGhost in 2010.

NanoGhost – which has already raised $5 million – is showing promising progress, with clinical trials aimed by 2023.

An artificial molecule that could slow down the development of Alzheimer’s disease has been developed

A team of Israeli scientists from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology has paved the way for better treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Professor Galia Maayan, along with doctoral student Anastasia Behar from the Faculty of Chemistry at the university, collaborated with Professor Christelle Hureau of The French National Centre for Scientific Research in discovering a molecule that can break down the build-up of copper in the brain that can cause disease.

An accumulation of copper has long been known to cause degenerative illnesses, like Alzheimer’s, due to its ability in preventing toxic proteins from leaving the brain.

The molecule – named P3 – that they have created works to bind the copper ions together and extract them. Vitally, it manages to do this without simultaneously binding zinc ions, which are needed for normal brain functioning.

Despite early promising results, the team have made it clear that they plan to take “the base” and ‘further develop’ it into something even better.

Their findings were published in the weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal, Andewandte Chemie.

The innovative breakthrough coincided with Breast Cancer Awareness Month and is the result of years of research

A groundbreaking treatment for breast cancer has been developed by researchers at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

The study – led by Professor Avi Schroeder and Maya Kaduri, a PhD student at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering – is based on the finding that cancer cells recruit the nerve cells around them to both stimulate and spread the disease. As a result, they have developed a treatment that targets the tumour through the nerve cells by injecting anaesthetic into the bloodstream to paralyse the communication between the nerve and cancer cells. 

Early results – tested on mice – have proven a significant inhibition of tumour development and mastitis to the lungs, brain and bone marrow, and the researchers believe it could have real-world implications for the treatment of breast cancer in humans.

Prof. Schroeder has years of experience developing innovative cancer treatments, using technologies that transport drugs to tumours without damaging healthy tissue.

“We know how to create the exact size of particles needed, and that is critical because it’s the key to penetrating the tumour,” Kaduri said. “The anesthetising particles we developed move through the bloodstream without penetrating healthy tissue.” 

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, with approximately 11,500 women and 85 men in the UK dying from the disease each year.