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The Transparency Principle

The Wolfson Center and the Zisapel Center and CPC to develop together an innovative technology for printing ultra-thin conductors on convex lenses

The Wolfson Microelectronic research and teaching Center in conjunction with the Sara & Moshe Zisapel Nano-Electronics Center at the Technion will develop, together with CPC Hi Technologies Ltd. of Yokneam, technology for printing ultra-thin conductors on transparent curved surfaces. The thickness of the conductors -only 50 microns – will leave the surfaces transparent to short wavelengths.

"This agreement is a highly important step for us, as a center which is a national infrastructure in both the nano and micro fields," says the Head of the Wolfson and Zisapel Centers, Prof. Nir Tessler. "The technology we will develop over the next two years is relevant and applicable to a wide variety of areas and products, and will promote a significant expansion of our activity in the field of printing on rigid and flexible surfaces."

The story began when a security company approached CPC with a request to print ultra-thin metal strips on concave and convex surfaces. "This is actually quite a rare request, because it is usually customary to print conductive metal strips on flat surfaces. The added challenge was that this customer wanted especially thin strips – 50 microns, compared to the 150 microns that CPC manufactures."

CPC approached the management of the Wolfson and Zisapel Centers following previous projects conducted with Technion researchers, and because of its familiarity with the Center's knowledge and equipment. The joint project, launched on October 1, received financing of over NIS 3 million from the MAGNET Program in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

"The project is scheduled to end within two years, which is a very short period of time," says Yakov Schneider, Chief Engineer of the Wolfson Microelectronic Center. "This is why we recruited several 'heavy guns' from the Technion. Four engineers and two technicians will work on the project on a regular basis, but they will of course receive peripheral support from the Center's team."

The project will focus on developing a conducting grid printed on a non-standard surface, such as in the shape of a 'lens'. The grid will protect the device behind the 'lens' from harmful electro-magnetic radiation, but will not impair the transparency of the surface to visible light and to heat radiation.

Contrary to commonly used technology in the field (screen printing), the Center's team suggested that CPC should work using a special mold – as is done when using simple stamps. "It is of course far from simple with the dimensions involved," says Prof. Tessler, "but the basic principle is the same – a mold using which the metal strips will be printed on the concave surface. Unlike regular stamps, our mold is made of soft silicon that is reminiscent of rubber, and instead of ink we have color that is based on silver particles. The product is a grid of very thin, and very accurate silver strips, on the concave surfaces."

The Center assesses that this specific development, which is designed to answer a very specific need, will serve as a basis for many other products. "We are actually developing here an innovative printing technology, that may be used in all fields currently at the forefront – printing of biological molecules for electronic needs, printing of solar cells, nano-metric sensor systems, etc."

National Infrastructure

Prof. Tessler clarifies that the "mandate" of the Wolfson Center extends also to the Zisapel Center and is academic research, "but we perceive it also as a national infrastructure. There is a technological infrastructure here that does not exist anywhere else in the Israeli academia, with high-level clean rooms and advanced know-how, especially in the field of structure manufacturing and treatment of intermediate layers (interfaces).  Keeping all this to ourselves - is simply out of the question. That is why this center is open to anyone who is interested, and we invite researchers and hi-tech companies and anyone who needs our equipment and knowledge. In many cases, we are the ones who initiate contact with the industry, but in this case the industry came to us, and you could say that it is approaching us from places we did not expect. The Center is already interacting regularly with 15 to 20 industrial companies, but a level of cooperation as in the project with CPC is a significant precedent, that is expected to be followed by many other companies."

"We have selected the Wolfson and Zisapel Centers as our partner in this project because the Center's team has developed highly innovative methods for printing in unconventional conditions," explains Ludmila Abezgauz, the technologist in CPC who is in charge of external relations and collaborations. Ludmila has a Ph.D. from the Technion in Biotechnology and Food Engineering, under Prof. Dganit Danino, and is currently working part time, concurrent with her work at CPC, as a researcher in the same lab.

"When we think about the equipment required to realize the project, clearly the Technion's mechanical engineering knowledge will be extremely helpful to us. There was also a geographic consideration – our proximity to the Technion – but this is of course merely a bonus. The decisive consideration was knowledge and technology, and the motivation of the Wolfson and Zisapel Center's people to cooperate with industry in applied research."

Established in Yokneam in 1984, CPC is the first Israeli company to print conductors. At the beginning the company focused on "regular" graphic printing, such as on signs and stickers, and later specialized in printing flexible electronic circuits, switches, light bulbs and sensors, and flexible heating elements.

"The company provides solutions at the development level of systems and assemblies, from the design and concept stage through the feasibility check, mechanical and electronic development, and planning and production of a prototype. With the new company it has purchased in Carmiel, CPC will be able to provide serial production solutions for any complex medical and military system."

"In the present case, our customer requested that we print on a curved, transparent surface, while at the same time substantially decreasing the thickness and density of the conductor. Each of these requirements is far from a simple challenge, and clearly their combination creates a highly complex project."

"With the tools we have at our disposal – screen printing and process printing – these requirements, which include printing conductors at a thickness that does not exceed 50 microns, cannot be filled.  We could develop a basic solution ourselves, but it would not have been suitable for the customer's commercial requirements: commercial production of an inexpensive 'shelf product'. It was clear to us that we would have to rely on raw materials currently existing in the market, and to find a solution that does not require building a new facility."

"Fortunately, our meetings with the Wolfson and Zisapel Centers have led to an agreement, and over the next two years we will work on this project together. This is a highly application-oriented project, which is based on the integration of substantial existing knowledge. This integration creates a whole new technology – printing ultra-thin conductors on a curved surface – which could be used by us in additional projects."

A Thin Film PV Gamechanger

Using the power of the sun and ultrathin films of iron oxide (commonly known as rust), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have found a novel way to split water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen. The findings could also be used to reduce the amount of rare elements that the solar panel industry uses to create the semiconductor material in their second-generation photovoltaic cells. The Technion team's light trapping method could save 90% or more of rare elements like Tellurium and Indium, with no compromise in performance. 

The breakthrough, published this week in Nature Materials, could lead to less expensive, more efficient ways to store solar energy in the form of hydrogen-based fuels. This could be a major step forward in the development of viable replacements for fossil fuels.

'Our approach is the first of its kind,' says lead researcher Associate Prof. Avner Rothschild, of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. 'We have found a way to trap light in ultrathin films of iron oxide that are 5,000 thinner than an office paper. This enables achieving high solar energy conversion efficiency and low materials and production costs. '

Iron oxide is a common semiconductor material, inexpensive to produce, stable in water, and - unlike other semiconductors such as silicon - can oxidize water without itself being oxidated, corroded, or decomposed. But it also presents challenges, the greatest of which was finding a way to overcome its poor electrical transport properties. 'For many years researchers have struggled with the tradeoff between light absorption and the separation and collection of the photogenerated charge carriers before they die out by recombination,' says Prof. Rothschild. 'Our light-trapping scheme overcomes this tradeoff, enabling efficient absorption in ultrathin films wherein the photogenerated charge carriers are collected efficiently. The light is trapped in quarter-wave or even deeper sub-wavelength films on mirror-like back reflector substrates. Interference between forward- and backward-propagating waves enhances the light absorption close to the surface wherein the photogenerated charge carriers are collected before recombination takes place.'

The breakthrough could make possible the design of inexpensive solar cells that combine ultrathin iron oxide photoelectrodes with conventional photovoltaic cells based on silicon or other materials to produce electricity and hydrogen. According to Prof. Rothschild, 'these cells could store solar energy for on demand use, 24 hours per day.' This is in strong contrast to conventional photovoltaic cells, which provide power only when the sun is shining (and not at night or when it is cloudy).

Prof. Avner Rothschild, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Technion.

Israel - an Innovation Hub - Financial Times

In cooperation with Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, the leading business newspaper the Financial Times completed a study to investigate how to support Asian and European companies in harnessing the powerful penchant of leadership in innovation in Israel - giving the advantages of each. No global entrepreneur should miss reading this fascinating, well-researched review!

1. Partnering with a local company
2. Investing in a local company
3. Setting up a corporate venture-capital arm in Israel
4. Establishing incubators in Israel
5. Establishing local R&D centers
6. Acquiring a local start-up

Israel: an innovation gem, in Europe’s backyard

[Financial Times, UK]

By Michael Bloch, Jonathan Kolodny and Dana Maor

Israel is a first-tier innovation hub, second in the world only to Silicon Valley in its concentration of start-up companies. However, it seems as though European companies have yet to get that message. US companies and investment funds currently make the vast majority of all investments in the Israeli market.

Read the full article at the Financial Times (available after free registration).

Imagine Needle-free Blood Tests

In the foreseeable future there’ll be no need to stick needles/syringes into your arm (or other body part) to draw blood for testing if Technion scientists and smart biomedical entrepreneurs have their way. Instead, someone can take an image of your blood, and use this for routine diagnosis.

The Technion team demonstrated a non-invasive technique for imaging blood cells in vivo that could eliminate the need to extract blood from many patients. Their high-resolution Spectrally Encoded Flow Cytometry (SEFC) probe offers primary care physicians the capability to detect directly a wide range of common medical disorders, such as anaemia and bacterial infection, and potentially life threatening conditions, including sepsis, thrombosis and sickle cell crisis.

As well as enabling an immediate medical response to be offered, SEFC could also allow large-scale screening for common blood disorders. Vitally, its ability to directly and continuously visualise blood cells flowing inside patients could also provide an early warning of a medical emergency, such as internal bleeding, in post-operative and critical-care conditions.

SEFC was developed by the Biomedical Optics Laboratory, headed by Dr. Dvir Yelin. Their focus is the application of advanced optics to address some of today’s clinical challenges, particularly the development of non- or minimally-invasive diagnostic tools.

Dr. Dvir Yelin at the Biomedical Optics Lab. Technion.

Here’s a description of the difficulties (and how they were solved) with imaging blood that’s beneath skin from the Aug. 31, 2012 Andor news release.

According to Lior Golan, one of the researchers at the Biomedical Optics Laboratory, two major challenges needed to be solved. “SEFC Images of fast-moving blood cells are acquired from deep under the surface of the skin through tissue that scatters the light. This means that very little light is available and necessitates the use of a spectrometer equipped with a high-speed line camera. The Andor Newton DU970N-BV camera provided our team with a combination of high sensitivity and the required line rate for imaging physiological blood flow. Switching between 2-D image and full vertical binning mode on the Newton camera also made the alignment of the spectrometer very easy and the ability to customise the Labview software development kit to control the camera was very convenient.”

Having demonstrated the clinical potential of SEFC, the team believes that miniaturization of the probe’s optics is feasible to produce a compact, hand-held SEFC probe, free of moving parts and connected to the main system console by just a pair of optical fibers. This would allow the application of SEFC for minimally invasive applications, either as a standalone device or through the instrument channel of an endoscope.

The Patent

MED-0991: In-vivo flow-cytometry  In this invention, a method for imaging the cross section of a vessel for detecting the flow of cells using spectrally encoded imaging was developed. This method provides visual information on the scattering particles, including their size, shape, brightness, as well as their location within the vessel. Such information could significantly increase the accuracy of flow cytometry and provide additional capabilities, such as cell sorting and the modification and destruction of specific cells. Potential applications include in vivo and ex vivo flow cytometry for industrial and clinical applications. For in vivo applications, the compact dimensions and simplicity of the probe, which is approximately 20 x 5 x 5 mm in size with no moving parts, could enable endoscopic flow cytometry in various locations in the body Further information

From Academy to Industry Leadership

The panel – from right to left – Zohar Zisapel, Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, Eyal Waldman and Prof. Peretz Lavie. Photo credit: Hezi Hojesta, Technion Spokesman

Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie hosted a panel on "From Academy to Industry Leadership - Technion Alumni CEOs Session", with Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, President of Intel Israel, Eyal Waldman, CEO of Mellanox, and Zohar Zisapel, President of RAD Data Communications. The panel was held as part of  Israel's main high tech conference hosted by IATI (Israel Advanced Technology Industries), and discussed, among others, the quality of the Israeli engineers compared to their counterparts worldwide, Technion alumni's leading the Israeli high tech industry, and the establishment of the applied science and engineering campus in New York City together with Cornell University.

The CEO of Mellanox, Eyal Waldman, who graduated from the Technion in 1986, answered Prof. Peretz Lavie's question on the Technion's contribution to his career, saying "the Technion shaped the way I think. The fact that the studies connect theory and practical experience is highly significant for later careers. Engineers who are Technion graduates have real experience, which differentiates them from the graduates of other institutions".

The President of Intel Israel, Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, referred to the issue of the quality of Israeli engineers, saying that the Israeli culture creates engineers who are willing to take risks and to face challenges: "from my experience in Intel, there is a high correlation between senior managers and people who served in military command roles and as officers. Moreover, in Israeli culture there is a tendency to doubt authority and disobey hierarchy, which makes Israeli engineers leaders in founding successful start-ups".

The President of RAD Data Communications, Zohar Zisapel, said that the Israeli engineers are the best in the world, but the fact that Israel excels in founding start-up companies, but not large companies, is a problem: "we have to get better at building large companies. At the end of the day, when you sell the start-up, you are selling your birthright for a bowl of stew. If we were to develop large companies in Israel, the contribution to the economy would be far more substantial, both in terms of employment and in terms of the company's long term profit".

Prof. Peretz Lavie talked during the panel discussion about the new cooperation with Cornell University in New York, which selected the Technion out of dozens of top universities worldwide to establish together with it a unique, combined program for the promotion of knowledge intensive industry in New York: "the new research institute will combine academy and industry. Cornell intends to invest in the project two billion dollars, and the Technion will be responsible for building the academic curriculum".

During the panel, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg congratulated the Technion by video on its cornerstone centennial. Among others, Mayor Bloomberg said that he is excited about the cooperation between Cornell and the Technion. He also noted the 11 years anniversary of the Twin Towers terrorist attack, and thanked Israel for its assistance to New York during and after the attack.

The high tech conference opened yesterday with a visit to the Technion's laboratories by dozens of guests from Israel and abroad, and later an event in tribute to the Technion's cornerstone centennial. The conference sessions will continue at the Jerusalem International Convention Center until Wednesday, September 12th.

Among the main speakers at the conference are the President and CEO of eBay, John Donahoe; President of Samsung Semiconductors, Dr. Nam-Sung Woo; CEO of SingTel, Allen Lew; President of Intel Israel, Mooly Eden; President of RAD, Zohar Zisapel;  President of Cadence, Lip-Bu Tan; CEO of Mellanox, Eyal Waldman;  CEO of Y&R, David Sable; and the CEO of Bank Leumi, Rakefet Russak-Aminoach – in addition to a long, illustrious line of senior vice presidents for technology, mergers and acquisitions, from Microsoft, IBM, Google, Citibank, SAP, eBay, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel Lucent, ZTE and others.

New Patents for Social Networks

Social networks have swept the internet scene from other budding concepts and taken center stage in such an overwhelming way, that one is hard pressed nowadays, to find someone who isn’t involved in one network or another. Whether its on Facebook, Twitter, or another venue, people are constantly busy searching out friends, getting, and providing updates, sending messages, and playing games. If you think this whole social scene is  mostly for young people looking to mingle, and that you, as a ’serious’ person, have no time to spend on this fad, you should think again. Chances are, that if you work for a medium, to large size organization, you are probably already spending time on a social network within your organization’s enterprise portal, without even knowing it. 

If you follow colleagues’ birthdays, tag friends in company photos, or even keep your own blog on the enterprise portal, you are most likely a closet intranet addict. Rest assured though, you are not alone. The rise of organizational portals has seen the increased presence of social networking on these portals. The development of enterprise social media tools is on a steady rise. Microsoft’s Sharepoint, and SAP’s NetWeaver, are two good examples of enterprise tools that are constantly getting their social networking features tweaked and enhanced.

Is it all about social opportunities?

The ongoing growth of the enterprise portal market, constantly requires development of new tools, and feature sets for smart data management. With this market in mind, Technion Institute researchers, Prof. Oded Shmueli, and Royi Ronen, have developed a novel concept: a Generic social protocol, that can upgrade data management within a portal’s social networks.

Social Protocols are automation tools for social networks that govern the network’s structure, and the way data is communicated within, and without it.. Social protocols enable all of the connectivity features that make a network social. For example, say you are invited to a party by someone using the Facebook Events feature. When you receive the invitation you are asked whether or not you will be attending, and given the option to answer tentatively, with a ‘maybe’. Since your response is visible to the rest of the invitees, it may affect their responses, and possibly facilitate with the organization of the party. In fact, the social protocol behind ‘Facebook Events’ directly impacts the party’s organization by providing the three options for response.

The Generic Social Protocol

The idea behind the Generic Social Protocol is to create a malleable protocol that can be adapted to the needs of each organizational social network, by allowing users that initiate an event to set the protocol logic rules themselves. In This way, by applying protocol modifiers, an event initiator can have greater control over the behavior of their invitees. Assume for the moment that you wish to recruit several developers using the “one member brings another” method.  An event is initiated by sending an initiation message to any desired set of network members. By applying protocol modifiers, you can define that only developers will enjoy the privilege of forwarding the message to their social network friends outside the company, whereas others can only view the message. In this manner you gain more control over information sharing between your social network participants. A tool such as this is bound to improve an organization’s productivity, streamline it’s work process, and become a meaningful supplement for social networks on enterprise portals. The Generic Social Protocol widens the number of potential participants who are not necessarily directly connected to the event’s initiator and can greatly change decision making, regarding events in any social network.

If you are interested in our novel technology for commercial purposes you are welcome to join the Technion Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program.

EiR program introduces entrepreneurs to the Technion’s research environment, helps them, identify promising technologies, and assists them with the launching of Start-up Company.

The above article is extracted from The Wadi.

The Patent

Social networks interaction protocol
Ref. COM-1197

BACKGROUND

Recently, social networks turn into an automated platform which enables participants to become dynamic users rather than just provide site contents. Social networks applications structure participants intelligent communication by sending automate invitation to friends in the same network and collect different types of given responses. Since these responses can be viewed by all invited friends, they create great impact during decision making regarding the event on large number of participants.However, a better solution of structured communication is a modified interaction protocol that offers a wide range of communication and dissemination options

METHOD

Our methodology provides a platform for structured communication between participants which includes several types of modifiable messages . In every instance of the modified protocol, the participants determine their status regarding a certain event, which can be any happening, physical or virtual. As the protocol instance runs, participants make some of their friends in the network aware of event. Participants who are aware of the event may determine their status regarding this event as 'positive', 'negative' or 'undecided', and their friends can see these decisions. Based on such status decisions, other participants may determine their own status regarding the event. In addition, Since the protocol fits participant's specific needs it enables decisions changing by activating additional protocols during each run of the protocol instance. 

ADVANTAGES

• Enables protocol modifying according to user's definition of protocol
• Enables better decision making regarding events in social network

APPLICATIONS

• Enterprise portal social networks 
• Web 2.0 social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Linked in