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- Written by Technion Spokesperson's Office
Technion Ranked #1 Europe in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Over the years, the Technion has established itself as a leading academic institution in AI. It is currently ranked 15th in the world, with 100 faculty members engaged in areas across the AI spectrum.
The Technion's efforts to advance the field of artificial intelligence have positioned it among the world’s leaders in AI research and development. CSRankings, the leading metrics-based ranking of top computer science institutions around the world, has ranked the Technion #1 in the field of artificial intelligence in Europe (and of course, in Israel), and 15th worldwide. In the subfield of machine learning, the Technion is ranked 11th worldwide. The data used to compile the rankings is from 2016 to 2021.
One of the innovations that is part of the framework of the Technion’s AI prowess is the Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems (MLIS) research center, which aggregates all AI-related activities.
Today, 46 Technion researchers are engaged in core AI research areas, and more than 100 researchers are in AI-related fields: health and medicine, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, industrial robotics, cybersecurity, natural language processing, FinTech, human-machine interaction, and others. Two leading AI researchers co-direct MLIS: Professor Shie Mannor of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor Assaf Schuster of the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science.
According to Prof. Mannor, "for years the Technion has maintained its position as the leading research institute in Israel and Europe in core AI areas. The Technion has a unique ecosystem that includes tens of researchers from various faculties, research centers, and a number of undergraduate and graduate programs in the field."
"All fields of science, technology, and engineering at the Technion have been upgraded in recent years, applying Technion knowledge in AI fields," said Prof. Schuster, "Most include components based on information processing and machine learning. Furthermore, the Technion views the dissemination of its acquired knowledge as a mission of national importance for commercial sector. In that regard, the Technion operates in close cooperation with the technology sector in Northern Israel and within its partnership with the prestigious EuroTech Universities Alliance. These partnerships in Israel and worldwide link AI research at the Technion to the vanguard of activity in this field."
The MLIS center strives toward four main goals: (1) establishing the Technion as a top-5 university in the field of AI worldwide; (2) pooling resources, recruiting researchers, and students from all Technion departments to advance and conduct joint research in the field; (3) connecting Technion researchers with relevant parties in the industry, especially technology companies and other organizations that generate Big Data; (4) Establishing close research collaboration with other prominent research institutes in the AI field in Israel and worldwide.
In May 2021, the Technion entered a long-term collaboration with American software giant PTC, under which the company will transfer its Haifa research campus to the Technion, to advance joint research in AI and manufacturing technology. PTC joins several other organizations that collaborate with the Technion in these fields, among them the technological universities of Lausanne (Switzerland), Eindhoven (Netherlands), Munich (Germany), and the Paris Polytechnique (France) in Europe, as well as Cornell Tech, home of the Jacobs Technion-Corrnell Institute, Waterloo University, and Carnegie Mellon University, which operates the largest center for AI and robotics in the United States.
Photos credit Technion
Doron Shaham-marcus (Technion Dropbox)
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- Written by Silvia
The Jewish community in Bulgaria and the State of Israel mark today Sunday, July 18, 9 years since the deadly bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the airport in Burgas
The Jewish community in Bulgaria and the State of Israel mark today Sunday, July 18, 9 years since the deadly bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the airport in Burgas.
The attack killed, five Israelis including and their Bulgarian bus driver, and more than 35 were injured.
The Honorary Consul of Israel in Bulgaria, Orlin Mandov, was among the initiators of the construction of the monument in memory of those killed in the attack.
Orlin is a former fighter pilot in the Bulgarian Air Force.
Orlin's father, also a fighter pilot, was considered one of the most famous fighter pilots in Bulgaria.
Consul Orlin has visited these days the monument and met there with Anton Andonov, director of the Border Police at Burgas Airport who on the day of the attack helped rescue the wounded from the bloody bus.
On the left side of the image: The Honorary Consul of Israel in Bulgaria, Orlin Mandov and, on its right: Anton Andonov, director of the Border Police at Burgas Airport.
Photo Golan Yossifon
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- Written by Israel Ministry of Defense
Israeli and German Defense Ministries Sign Agreement to Equip the German Military with the TROPHY APS
The Israel Ministry of Defense and the German Federal Ministry of Defense signed a government-to-government agreement to supply Rafael’s TROPHY active protection system to the German military, for their fleet of LEOPARD 2 tanks. The program was led by the Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), in the Ministry of Defense and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Defense Minister, Benny Gantz: “Once again, we see the appreciation that leading security institutions around the world have for Israel's innovation and technology. Like any development of the Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), the TROPHY is first and foremost a life-saving measure. It is the product of Israel’s groundbreaking defense industry, which is crucial to strengthening the state’s security. Germany’s expression of confidence in an Israeli system emphasizes the important relationship and close cooperation between our countries and highlights the strength of Israel’s industries.”
The agreement was signed by the Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Eshel, and by an official in the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service-Support. It includes the provision of systems for a company of tanks, interceptors, and spare parts as well as operational and technical training. The systems will be delivered over the next several years.
Head of the Directorate of Research and Development in the DDR&D, Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem: “This is a significant agreement, which further deepens the excellent relations between our countries. We thank the German Ministry of Defense for its expression of confidence in our defense establishment and in Israel’s industries. We are confident that the system will maximize the protection and capabilities of Germany’s MBTs.
” Head of the Combat Division of the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, Colonel Jürgen Schmidt: "We are looking forward to use the very well-established Israeli TROPHY System for the protection of our Main Battle Tank LEOPARD 2. We would like to thank the Ministry of Defense of the State of ISRAEL for its excellent cooperation with respect to advanced active protection systems for the benefit of German troops.
" EVP and Head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Systems Division, Dr. Ran Gozali: “Germany is joining a group of nations who have chosen the TROPHY APS to protect their troops and assets from the ever-increasing threat of anti-armor warfare. We are thankful to the German government for joining other user nations and for their confidence in our system and our experience, and we look forward to working with KMW.”
Background Information:The TROPHY system produced by Rafael, is considered among the world’s most effective active protection systems, securing armored vehicles from a range of anti-tank missiles and rocket fire. It is a combat-proven mechanism that has been operational in the IDF for many years, and is integrated in the Merkava Mark IV and Namer APCs. Its capabilities have been demonstrated in numerous military operations and has saved the lives of countless IDF soldiers.
Video: https://we.tl/t-saoztnjk7t?src=dnl
Image Credit: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann
Video Credit: Rafael
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- Written by UTA Tel Aviv University
New technological development is expected to revolutionize the field of skin cancer diagnosis
For the first time, an optical technology will make possible
an automatic and immediate melanoma diagnosis,
saving many patients' lives
- This innovative technology, which is based on special optical fibers, can distinguish between a benign lesion on the skin and a malignant one, using a non-invasive, immediate, and automatic process.
- The technology can also distinguish between types of skin cancer, such as melanoma, a life-threatening type of cancer, and malignancies that are not as dangerous.
- The technology was used successfully on about one hundred patients at a major hospital in Israel.
For the first time, melanoma can be diagnosed automatically in real time. An innovative optical technology that can distinguish between different types of cancer -- melanoma, which is considered extremely deadly - has been developed in the laboratory of Professor Abraham Katzir, from the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences at Tel Aviv University. The diagnosis is rapid, non-invasive, and causes no pain to the patient. This technology was tried successfully on about one hundred patients in a major hospital in Israel. The findings were published in the Journal Medical Physics.
Professor Katzir says that in the case of melanoma, immediate diagnosis can save lives. He goes on to explain that when a suspicious lesion is found on the skin, during a routine examination, it is removed in a minor surgical procedure and sent to a laboratory for testing. A pathologist diagnoses the lesion and determines whether it is melanoma. In most cases where melanoma is discovered early, when it is still superficial and less than one-millimeter-thick and it is removed, the patient recovers. Late diagnosis, when the melanoma is more than one-millimeter-thick, significantly reduces the chances of recovery and is life-threatening.
"The idea that guided us in developing the technology was that in the visible range, there are various substances, having various colors, which are not characteristic of each substance. On the other hand, in the infrared region, various substances have different ‘colors’ of a sort, depending on the chemical makeup of each substance," says Professor Katzir. "Therefore, we figured that with the help of devices that can identify these ’colors’, healthy skin and each of the benign and malignant lesions would have different ’colors’ which would enable us to identify melanoma."
Professor Katzir's research group developed special optical fibers that are transparent in the infrared. The group, in collaboration with physicists Professor Yosef Raichlin of Ariel University, Dr. Max Platkov of the Negev Nuclear Research Center, and Svetlana Bassov of Professor Katzir's group, developed a system, based on these fibers, which is suitable for the requirements of evaluating skin. The researchers connected one end of this type of fiber to a device that measures the ’colors’ in the infrared, and touched the other end lightly, for several seconds, to a lesion on a patient's skin. The fiber made it possible to check the ’color’ of the lesion right away.
According to Professor Katzir, clinical trials were carried out on suspicious lesions in about one hundred patients. With the help of the new system, physicists performed measurements of the ’color’ of each lesion, before it was removed and sent to a pathology laboratory. The researchers showed that all of the lesions that were determined by pathologists as being of a certain type, such as melanoma, had a characteristic ’color’ in the infrared. Each lesion of a different type had a different ’color’.
"This technology gives us a kind of 'fingerprint' that makes a clear diagnosis of the various lesions possible, by measuring their characteristic ’colors’, says Professor Katzir. "In this way, lesions can be diagnosed using a non-invasive optical method, and the physician and the patient receive the results automatically and immediately. This is unlike the test that is routinely used, which involves surgery, and the pathological diagnosis takes a long time." Following the success of the study, the researchers plan to confirm the evaluation method on hundreds of patients.
In conclusion, Professor Katzir says: "Melanoma is a life-threatening cancer, so it is very important to diagnose it early on, when it is still superficial. The innovative system will enable every dermatologist to determine the character of a suspicious lesion automatically, and particularly if it is melanoma. This system has the potential to cause a dramatic change in the field of diagnosing and treating skin cancer, and perhaps other types of cancer as well. The challenge will be to make this technology, which is still expensive, something that will be used in every hospital or clinic."
Photo (Prof. Katzir using the technology) credit: Tel Aviv University.
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- Written by Israel Tourism Ministry
.Tourism Ministers discuss possibility of receiving vaccinated tourists starting in March
Israel and Greece signed a bilateral agreement on tourism cooperation today (Monday) in Jerusalem, providing hope to an industry which has come to a standstill because of the COVID crisis. Israeli Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen told Greek Minister Harry Theoharis that she looked forward to welcoming Greek and other visitors to Israel, as it continues to vaccinate its population and position itself as a healthy post-COVID destination.
Following a working meeting between the ministers, they signed an agreement to strengthen the cooperation in the fields of research and training in the field of tourism, as well as to promote joined packages and initiatives between the tourism industries in both countries.
"Signing an agreement on international tourism when the skies are closed and vacations seem far away is a beacon of hope: it is a reminder to those working in the entire industry that we are working to make sure they reopen as soon as possible," Farkash-Hacohen said. "Like always, tourism is a two-way street. Any, and all agreement must be mutual, allowing the citizens of both countries the same positive experiences trips and vacations can provide."
Israel's Minister called on tourists to visit Israel. "I want to take this opportunity to encourage Greek people, and everyone else: make Israel your post-COVID destination. Israel has something for everyone: the Snow capped Hermon and Negev Desert; Modern Tel Aviv and Ancient Jerusalem; Family vacations, backpacking trips and religious experiences – we have them all."
"Israel is leading the world in the efforts to vaccinate its population against the pandemic. This means Israel will also be a safe and healthy destination," Farkash-Hacohen concluded. "After a year of limited travel and a lot of stress, avacation is in order - and I am certain Israel can provide you with the perfect experience."
Greek Minister Theoharis stated: "It is of great satisfaction that we concluded the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism between Greece and Israel. This Agreement is part of the strategic plan of the Greek Government and aims to enhance significant partnerships with countries of the wider Mediterranean region. Apart from the ties of friendship, Greece shares with Israel the same belief, that tourism is a central lever for development, in a modern, sustainable, and profitable orientation. Let's also not forget that for our country, the tourism market of Israel is particularly important. In 2019, we hosted around 715,000 Israeli visitors. This number has ranked Israel as the 9th country in terms of tourist arrivals for Greece".
Photo credit: Miri Shmuelevitz
