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Fromt

hePresid

ent

Sea 2 Sky p.3

Mini Robot p.2

T h e J e w i s h N e w Y e a r i s

traditionally a time for individual and

national reflectionan opportunity

to translate our vision into action and

deeds for the coming year.

Technion is recognized as a key

strategic asset for Israel, providing

knowledge and personnel vital for

the countrys academic and research

institutions and for a strong economy.

Our vision is to be among the worlds top 10 scientific and

technological research universities, and to that end, we

continue to invest in new cutting-edge areas of education

and research; to enlist the next generation of talented

researchers and teachers as faculty members; and to attract

the best students from Israel and abroad to pursue studies in

our eighteen faculties of engineering, science, management,

architecture, and medicine.

Technions mission will only be realized through the active

and devoted involvement of our academic community

faculty, students, and support staff; our partnership with our

wonderful alumni and friends in Israel and abroad; and a

strong commitment to higher education by the government

of Israel. The Technion is encouraged by the recent

recommendations of the government-appointed Shochat

committee which includes an important set of proposals

aimed to strengthen and reform the public funding of higher

education. We urge the government to adopt a New Years

resolution to fully implement these proposals, since Israels

universities will be unable to meet the challenges ahead and

maintain a high level of performance without a significant

increase in government funding.

This year Israel celebrates 60 years of sovereignty

and independence. No other institution of learning has

contributed as much to Israels success as has Technion

through basic and applied research, technological

developments, and outstanding graduates, who have shaped

Israels modern industry and in particular its world-leading

high-tech sector which continues to amaze the technological

world with its vitality and innovation. Much of Israels

future is directly linked to Technions ability to meet the

countrys ongoing needs. Indeed, the words of Israels first

prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, remain as relevant today

as in 1948, widening the scope of the Technions research

activities is an inestimable benefit to the current and future

technological development of Israel.

We welcome the New Year with confidence and hope,

and wish Technions faculty, students, staff, and friends

around the world a year marked by happiness, prosperity,

and peace.

Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig

Under the Sea pp.6-7

Nano Recruits p.5

Summer Science p.8

A True FriendByAmAndA JAffe-KAtz

World-renowned nano-

technology expert Sir

Richard Friend, Cavendish

Professor of Physics at

Cambridge University,

was the keynote speaker

at the symposium, New

Era of Nano Devices, at

the inauguration of the

Zisapel Nanoelectronics

Center in May 2007. Friend, knighted by the Queen in

2003 for services to Physics, pioneered the study of organic

polymers and revolut ionized scientists understanding ofthe electronic properties of molecular semiconductors. His

research is central to the development of flat panel displays

and innovative foldable screens. Sir Richard shared some of

his nanotechnology insights withFOCUS.

WATerTAlksByAmAndA JAffe-KAtz

Water connects, water doesnt divide, said Dr Andrs Szllsi-Nagy,

Director of UNESCOs Division of Water, to the research members of

the joint Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli Project (PJIP) who convened at

Technions Grand Water Research Institute (GWRI) in September 2007.

The S in UNESCO stands for science. You may feel like you are

making a small step but it is a giant contribution, he continued.

Water connects, water doesnt divide.

The summary meeting, chaired by Prof. Emeritus Josef Hagin,

covered four years of research with the support of USAID-MERC

U.S. Agency for International Development Middle East RegionalCooperation Program. Even during periods of tension in the region, the

intrepid researchers pursued their scientific goals without interruption.

They met regularly in Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

The project is exceptional in every way, said Dr Adam Reinhart, the

decodingThe deepByAmAndA JAffe-KAtz

Published in Nature in September 2007, new recruit Dr Debbie Lindell andcolleagues from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) were the first

to record whole-genome expression of both a bacterium host and infecting

virus over the course of infection. The researchers investigated the marine

cyanobacteriumProchlorococcusas hostand the phage P-SSP7, in the role of

uninvited guest.

Viruses turn their hosts into viral production factories.

The viral (phage) genome was linearly transcribed over the course of infection,

lasting eight hours. The scientists noted that genes acquired by the phage from

its hosts, including the photosynthesis genes and genes responsible for making

DNA building blocks, were all transcribed at the same time, together with DNA

continued on Page 6...YosiShrem

YosiShrem

I n t e r n e t : h p : / / w w w . f o c u s . c h i o . a c . i l

tchioIsal Isiu of tchology, Divisio of Public Affais & rsouc Dvlopm, Ocob 2007

Interview on Page 4...continued on Page 3...

Dr Debbie Lindellexplores how a marinebacterium and infectingvirus coexist.

Year by year, through war and peace, challenges ofimmigration and innovation, Technion has been 60 timesIsraels devoted partner. Technion is delighted to greet theacademic year with this diamond salute to celebrate 60years since the establishment of the State.

ZisapelNanoelectronicsCenter

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T e c h n i o n F o c u s o c T o b e r 2 0 0 72

i n n o v a T i o n

Modern AlcheMyViewpointBy ShlomomAitAl

Ancient alchemists thought everything was made of four elements

earth, air, fire, water. For centuries, they tried to turn base metals into

goldand failed.

Modern alchemists tried to use earth, air, fire, and water to

turn black tar into gold (oil)and succeeded. These 21st century

alchemists are Israeli. They are modern-era halutzim (pioneers) who

spent years in frigid twenty-below weather in northern Alberta on a

mission. The result may in the long run radically dilute the enormousstrategic threat Arab oil enjoys, in Israels and the Wests favor.

In the 1950s, the visionary David Ben-Gurion saw that Israel had

no oil but lots of sunshine. So he asked Dr Zvi Tabor, who ran the National Physical Lab, to

develop solar-powered water heaters. Today Israelis enjoy cheap hot showers as a result.

A young French-educated new immigrant in the lab, Lucien (Yehuda) Bronicki, was then

asked to design a turbine that could make electricity from solar-heated water. His small,

tough turbines became the key product of his Yavne-based start-up company, Ormat, today

a world leader in geothermal energy and low-maintenance turbines. Bronicki still runs the

company with his wife, Dita. They own 27 percent of Ormat Industries Ltd. shares. In March

2007, they established the Bronica Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at Technion in

the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management.

In September 2007, Dita and Yehuda appointed their son Yoram Bronicki as president of

Ormat.

Some experts say tar sands hold up to six trillion barrels of the worlds oil, half of all the

remaining oil in the world, most of it in Alberta and Venezuela. But how do you get fluid

gold from stuff that, according to Yoram Bronicki, at room temperature, is as fluid as a

highway?

Ormat sent Yoram, an engineer, to Cold Lake, Alberta, 300 km northeast of Edmonton,

as the head of a team. Their Mission Impossible task: find a commercially viable way

to produce oil from the Athabasca tar sands, in sub-zero weather. The stakes were high.

Canadian tar sands hold proven oil reserves of at least 175 b. barrels, second only to Saudi

Arabias 262 b. barrels, and by itself enough to supply all the worlds oil consumption for

five whole years. In September 2007, the price of oil reached $82/bbl., before dropping back

to around $80.

In Cold Lake and in Yavne, Yoram and his team invented OrCrude, an ingenious 3-

stage process that uses fire and water (steam), air and earth (tar) to separate and upgrade the

wheat (high-grade oil) from the chaff (low-grade bitumen). Bronickis team demonstrated

how to use some of the tar itself for energy to help turn the rest into fluid oil. Israeli ex-

soldiers, joined by Canadians, built and operated a pilot plant. Today a commercial plant is

being built.

Think global, act local, we teach managers. While in Cold Lake, Yoram learned to act

localto skate and to play hockey. Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky had an uncanny

ability on the ice to be in the right place at the right time. So do Israels global halutzim.

Wherever there are business opportunities in the world, you will find Israelis. The new

generation of pioneers will continue to make Israel an important global player.

Shlomo Maital is Professor Emeritus at the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, andserves as academic director of the Technion Institute of Management (TIM).

business byTes

bioMedicAl MAnnDuring its first six months of activity the Alfred E. Mann Institute for

Biomedical Development at the Technion (AMIT) has been intensely

active in research and development of its first project and in exploring

new Technion innovations, which hold significant promise. The board

of directors approved the move of the first projecta gastro-intestinalimaging deviceto phase II and phase I funding was approved for a

new tissue adhesive for wound closure and a new cardioprotective drug.

AMIT was established in December 2006 to support the development

and commercialization of innovative biomedical technologies from the

Technion and is supported by a $100M endowment from the Alfred E.

Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering. Mann intends to establish

up to 12 Institutes in the United States, with AMIT the only one abroad.

peer prizesPeerMobility took second place in BizTEC07, Technions annual

entrepreneurship challenge. PeerMobility aims to implement a proximity-

based communication middleware for BlueTooth and WiFi-enabled cellular

phones. The PeerMobility team includes Vadim Drabkin, Gabi Kliot, and

Prof. Roy Friedman from Technions Faculty of Computer Science.

In the framework of their doctoral dissertations supervised by Friedman,the two students, together with Alon Karma, also developed WiPeer, the

free software that connects computers without the need for an intermediary

or Internet access. Since it was published, tens of thousands of users have

downloaded WiPeer from the Internet.

chinese MedicineAs part of the initiative to rebuild Taizhou in Jiangsu Province as a

Medical City to boost Chinas pharmaceutical industry and establish ahigh-tech industrial park, representatives sought out Rappaport Faculty of

Medicines Prof. Moussa Youdim. In a June 2007 visit to Technion, the

Chinese professionals expressed an interest in collaboration with Youdim,

professor of pharmacology.

In October 2007, some 50 renowned international scientists came to

Technion to celebrate Youdims 45 years in science. Colleagues and

scientific collaborators from Israel, Europe, and North America discussed

the latest research and clinical achievements in the 2-day symposium,

Recent Therapeutic Advances in Parkinsons and Alzheimers Diseases.

PeerMobility team (l-r) Gabi Kliot, Vadim Drabkin and Prof. Roy Friedman

Prof. Moussa Youdim (second from right) with Chinese professionals fromTaizhou Medical City.

Worlds sMAllesTThe worlds smallest autonomous robotwith a diameter of one millimeter

designed to travel through the bloodstream and deliver drugs has been created

at Technion. Oded Salomon, a research engineer in the Faculty of Mechanical

Engineerings Kahn Medical Robotics Laboratory, conceived the tiny robot

together with Prof. Moshe Shoham and Dr Nir Schwalb, a Technion alum of

the lab and now a lecturer at the Ariel University Center. Their miniature

submarine can negotiate the inner walls of blood vessels using tiny arms

which will allow it to withstand blood pressure. The robot is powered by an

external magnetic field allowing it to be controlled for an unlimited amount

of time during medical procedures. A possible

application could be for brachytherapy

(short distance radiation therapy) which is

commonly used to treat prostate cancer and

cancers of the head and neck.

Salomon said, This accomplishment of

miniaturization is without precedent, as is the

ability to control the robots activity for unlimited

periods of time, for any medical procedure. We hope

this discovery can be used to improve the quality of

care for diseases and many other conditions.

YoavBachar

YoavBachar

The bitumen-rich tar sands of Alberta, Canada

SuncorEnergyInc.

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T e c h n i o n F o c u s o c T o b e r 2 0 0 7

n e w s

honors

silicone sAvvyProf. Yitzhak Apeloig, Technion president and

member of the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry,

was awarded the 2007 WACKER Silicone Award

in recognition of his pioneering theoretical and

experimental work in organosilicon chemistry. Apeloigis the first Israeli scientist to win this prizean

important international accolade in the field. Thanks

to his work on quantum chemistry, Yitzhak Apeloig has

made an extraordinary contribution to the fundamental

understanding of organosilicon chemistry, said Wacker

Chemies CEO, Dr Peter-Alexander Wacker.

QuAnTuM leApsPhysics Prof. Moti Segev

received the 2007 EPS

Quantum Electronics Prize,

one of the top international

awards in the field. The

Q u a n t u m E l e c t r o n i c s

and Optics division of

the European Physica lSociety awards two such prizes bienniallyone

for fundamental and one for applied aspects. Segev

accepted the prize for applied aspects in Munich in June

2007, for his outstanding and pioneering contributions

in the field of light propagation in nonlinear media, in

particular regarding spatial solitons in photorefractive

materials, incoherent solitons, and nonlinear waves in

periodic structures. Earlier that same month, Segev

received the Hershel Rich Technion Innovation Award.

young invesTigATorDr Hossam Haick of the Wolfson Faculty of

Chemical Engineering received the 2007 Bergmann

Memorial Research Award from the United States-

Israel BinationaI Science Foundation (BSF). Eligibleinvestigators are recipients of newly awarded BSF

grants who earned their doctoral degrees within the

past five years , are not more than 35 years old on

the date of submission, and whose project is of high

scientific quality.

kingoFThe roAdTransportation Minister Shaul Mofaz appointed

Prof. Joseph Prashker from the Faculty of Civil and

Environmental Engineering as Chief Scientist of the

Ministry of Transport and Road Safety in May 2007.

Prashker, a former head of the Transportation Research

Institute at Technion, is an expert in transportation

planning and engineering.

hArvey 2 beOn March 17, 2008, Technion will award the 2007

Harvey Prize to Prof. Michael Grtzel, who directs the

Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at the Ecole

Polytechnique de Lausanne, and to Prof. Stephen

E. Harris, Professor of Electrical Engineering and

Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University.

The prestigious Harvey Prize, created as a bridge of

goodwill between Israel and the nations of the world, is

awarded annually to outstanding international scholars

and scientists. It is considered a good predictor of the

Nobel Prize, with 10 of its 63 recipients to date also

winning the Nobel.

(l-r) Wacker President & CEO Dr Peter-AlexanderWacker, Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig, and Dr Christoph vonPlotho, president of Wacker Silicones

verTicAl FlighTvicToryA Technion Aerospace Engineering team at the 2007 Annual AHS/Industry/NASA Student Design

Competition brought home top honors for the winning undergraduate project, Waterspout, a helicopter

launched from a submarine. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the sponsor of the 24th competition, challenged

participants to design an advanced deployable compact rotorcraft, capable of operating from a submersible

vehicle, in support of Special Operations Forces.

The Technion group, who teamed with Pennsylvania State University, comprised Mor Gilad, Lior Shani,

Avida Schneller, Igor Teller, Elad Sinai, Rony Hachmon, and Avichai Elimelech, advised by Prof. Omri Rand,

dean, and Chen Friedman, research engineer. The Technion students planned Waterspouts mechanical deck,

blade-folding mechanism, the submarine-helicopter interface, sealingsolutions, and performed water-stability analysis.

This kind of project is a very important ingredient in the students

education process, explains Rand. For them, it is a great opportunity

to integrate all the various subjects that they have studied over four

years. It is the first time they are given a description of what an aerial

vehicle should do, and they have to produce a detailed design solution

from scratch.

Winning the first place in this competition puts our students and

education system in the top league worldwide, which makes us very

proud, the dean says.

The rotorcrafta no-pilot helicopterhad to be operable in all

global weather conditions, including arctic, maritime, tropical, and typical desert conditions. Uniquely,Waterspout is completely impermeable to water and can float in a rough sea. The autonomous vehicle takes

off vertically and can make a 260 km nonstop flight to deploy or collect crew, even if injured.

The innovative design allows the vehicle to exit through the submarines existing missile-silo hatch, while

in periscope depth of 15 meters. The winning entry also features stealth technology.

AHS InternationalThe Vertical Flight Society is a professional society founded in 1943 that representsthe interests of the worldwide vertical flight industry. http://www.vtol.org

projects USAID scientific coordinator for the last four years. Most of our projects are exceptional, but this is

so even by our standards. Prof. Hagin is incrediblethere should be 20 of him in every university! Technions

scientific capacity is fantastic, and we are always hunting for more proposals from Technion, he continued.

Prof. Emeritus Uri Shamir, the founding director of

GWRI, gave an overview of the PJIP from its inception

in 1995 as an initiative by him and supported by a

foundation active in Israel with initial funds from the

British Technion Society, and later by the Beracha

Foundation and most significantly by USAID. We

first met in Amman on November 19, 1995, Shamir

said. We never lost the drive and expectation that the

project is a platform for scientific progress and regional

cooperation.

The project demonstrated the necessity for advanced

tertiary membrane treatment of wastewater before it

can be reused or discharged to the environment. Several

types of secondary wastewater treatment produced

treated wastewater for the membrane system including constructed wetland (CW); stabilization and oxidation

ponds; and activated sludge. Introduction of membrane systems for wastewater purification on a larger scale

will considerably improve the regions irrigation water balance and environment.

A senior member of the Palestine Research Group (PRG) spoke about the efficacy of CW in secondary

wastewater treatment, recommending it as pre-treatment, particularly suitable for rural areas as little

maintenance is required. He also spoke warmly of his appreciation for the cooperation from MERC and

GWRI, and especially thanked Hagin.

Lets hope for continuation of the project in

the future, said Prof. Raphael Semiat, director

of GWRI. Semiat, who also heads the Rabin

Desalination Laboratory, gave a review of

membrane systems. I was at that first meetingin Amman. We didnt know what would happen.

I talked about membranesothers thought it too

expensive, but now we see that membranes can

contribute.

Membrane fouling was the main problem faced

by the Jordanian researchers at the National

Center for Agricultural Research and Technology

Transfer (NCARTT). They tested membrane

cleaning protocols at a pilot plant and concluded

that, since the price of reclaimed water is quite

expensive, it is not economical for small-scale

agriculture. However, they decided to use

this water on greenhouse crops to grow very

beautiful flowers, Hagin confirmed.

WATer ...continued from Page 1

Dr Woroud Awad ofAl Quds Universitydiscusses wastewatertreatment and reuse.

Participants in the joint Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli Project (PJIP) from Technions Grand Water ResearchInstitute; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Volcani Institute; Palestinian Research Group; Al Quds University;National Center for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer (Jordan)

Yosi

Shrem

Prof.CarlosDosoretz

Confocal microscopy picture of bio-filmon nano-filtration membrane

Waterspout winning design

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super clusTerByAmAndA JAffe-KAtz

With the advent of new research fields such as

nanotechnology, the need for high performance computing

has become more acute. Requisite resources include large

memory, high floating point computing speed, and high

data throughput. A new, advanced supercluster computer

purc hased by the Rus se ll Ber ri e Nanotechnology

Institute (RBNI)dubbed NANCOwill meet these

requirements.

We are looking for ways to improve performance,

says Dr Anne Weill-Zrahia, a well-known expert in

parallel computing, in her 4-hour NANCO introductorycourse offered to all Technion students, faculty and staff

as well as potential users from outside the Technion.

The RBNI-sponsored July 2007 workshop covered the

basics of parallel computing and orientation on NANCO,

job submission, and basic MPI (a language permitting

the writing of parallel codes). Participants came from

Chemical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering,

Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and

Biology.

Performance issues include concurrency, the ability

to perform actions simultaneously; scalability, where

performance is not impaired by increasing the number

of processors; and locality, where there is a high ratio of

local memory accesses to remote memory accesses.

NANCO is a batch computing environment, wherein

you create a job that you wish to run (using your codeor a prebuilt application), submit that job to the system

to be scheduled to run at a later time, and get your

results upon completion, says Weill-Zrahia of the Taub

Computer Center. She is in charge of High Performance

Computing (HPC) and her mandate now extends to

parallel programming on NANCO. At the design stage,

she characterized the most popular applications to be

run on the newly acquired supercomputer, the expected

workload, and translated this information into architecture

specifications, system management and software tools for

developers.

We expect there will be dozens of users, says Dr

Joan Adler of the Faculty of Physics and a member

of the academic committee for the supercomputer.

http://phycomp.technion.ac.il/~NANCO/

bAchs reMedyA novel, reusable, nano water purification method

By BArBArA frAnK

Altai Bach already knew that he wanted to do his PhD in water research when, at the end of his

undergraduate studies, he met Chemical Engineering Prof. Raphael Semiat, director of the Grand

Water Research Institute. Bachs interest in understanding processes initially attracted him to

the field of Chemical Engineering, and water research fits in with his overall interest in ecology.

Semiats notion to use nanoparticles to purify wastewater sounded like a fulfilling research

project. Bach explains, It is understood that we need to find novel solutions to water sources. Wastewater

purification is practical, affordable and ecologically friendly

available wastewater should be purified everywhere.

Together with Semiat and Dr Grigory Zelmanov, a researcherin the Rabin Desalination Laboratory, Bach is researching a

new process for wastewater purification good for both industrial

wastewater and partially treated municipal sewage. Their

revolutionary method uses nanoparticles as catalysts to destroy

the organic compounds in wastewater. Most organic materials

are made of carbon and hydrogen. With an oxidizing agent, the

nanoparticles decompose the organic content so what remains is

just carbon dioxide and more water. Importantly, the nanoparticles

can be separated from the water without leaving any residue and

can be used again.

The researchers have actually worked on two different

proc esses, now patented, and are look ing to commercialize

their groundbreaking research. The paper outlining Bachs work

is published in the October 2007 issue of the journal, Water

Research.

Within the published scientific community, Bach says, we are the first to use nanoparticles derived from

different kinds of metals to purify wastewater at affordable low cost. This method is very effective and theoxidation process is greatly speeded up in comparison with existing technologies.

The first stage is to adsorb the organic matter on an adsorbent like active carbon, loaded with the proposed

catalyst. This purifies the water from the dissolved organic matter. The nanoparticles are then put to work with

an oxidant, destroying all the organic compounds and recovering the adsorbent. The water can then be made

suitable for any purpose: from crop irrigation to drinking water, or any other use.

The current industrial process to recover the active carbon filter after it becomes saturated with the organic

material involves a high energy-consuming process (at least 800C), or the filter has to be destroyed. The

proposed technique is simple to operate and consumes no energy, except for pumping the water. The active

carbon filters may be reused in place again and again.

Bach, 30, is married to Orit, a Technion Chemical Engineering graduate now pursuing a career in her field

with the Israeli Air Force.

Research is conducted in the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering, the Grand Water Research Institute, and the Rabin DesalinationLaboratory.

TEM capture of iron nanoparticles with200 ppm concentration. The nanoparticlescatalyze the purification reaction.

YosiShrem

PhD student Altai Bachuses nanoparticles to purify

wastewater.

Q: What is your vision for nanotechnology?

A: Opportunities lie in the convergence of different branches of science. Driven by a need to

create an environment where things happen outside the regular framework, nanotechnology

occurs when chemists need to work with physicists or biologists.

Q: Which fields are important?

A: They are diverse. There have been huge advances in tools and instrumentation. At

Cambridge, we are aiming for new, useful things and a possible goal is large, cheap,

functional structures. One major topic for the future is Energy, which covers issues such as

solar cells, storage, batteries, and silica capacitors .Q: What is Technions standing in the nanotechnology world?

A: Outside of Cambridge, and along with ETH-Zurich, Technion is right there. There is virtually

a buzz about it. Two of Technions young faculty, Prof. Nir Tessleran alumnus of Technion

and Dr Gitti Frey, conducted their postdoctoral research with me at the Cavendish

Laboratory, so I can say that my past experience with Technion graduates is wonderful!

Q: What is the significance of the newly dedicated Zisapel Nanoelectronics

Center?

A: New buildings are a response to a well-articulated vision. This remarkable building is a

visible example of external support and also of the vitality of internal activities. The vision

and desire to do good science has to come first, otherwise smart benefactors dont respond

with bricks and mortar. Technion has a wonderful program of science and engineering.

Q: What will you lecture about today?

A: I call my talk Plastic Electronics and I offer a tour through the science and engineering

of what can be done with polymers which have semiconducting propertiesmaterials that

were not traditionally regarded as part of semiconductors. This raises an interesting question:

Is this nanotechnology?

Q: What does Nano mean to you?

A: For me, nanotechnology is the bringing

together of different areas of science

and engineering to be able to exploit

functionality. This we can define within

a molecule or within a polymer chain

by clever processing that puts it into a

structure which will do something we find

productive. What really makes this field

interesting is the scope for new ways tomake structures.

Q: Can you tell us about your

research into displays?

A: The prototypical semiconducting polymer PPV (polyphenylene vinylene) is the fruit-fly of

light-emitting diodes. It is a highly colored, strongly fluorescent material. With PPV, we are not

constrained to making small devices, closely packed together on a wafer of silicon, but we can

literally paint or print wherever we want. The current challenge is to generalize the concept

of ink from that stuff that leaves marks on paper to functional materials. Ink, therefore, now

means semiconductor, and polymer disposition can be achieved by inkjet printing. A single

pass with a 3-color printer makes a full color display.

Q: What does nanotechnology hold in store for industry?

A: For me, this is practical nanotechnology: if you like, this is functionality bottled up with a

single molecule, or in our case, a polymer chain, allied with novel ways of manufacturing.

Because, in the end, it is manufacturing that makes the differencethats what causes

industries to happen. Far more sophisticated control of structure is absolutely possible, and

that will take the field further into the future.

A True Friend ...continued from Page 1

YoavBachar

Prof. Sir RichardFriend, keynotespeaker at the

New Era ofNano Devicessymposium

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T e c h n i o n F o c u s o c T o b e r 2 0 0 7

The first PhD student in the Norman Seiden

Multidisciplinary Program for Nanoscience and

Nanotechnology is Polina Pine. She is researching

atomistic simulations of single-walled carbon

nanotube oscillators. Carbon nanotubes are long,

thin tubes made from rolled-up single sheets of graphite, and

can be grown in lengths ranging from a few nanometers tohundreds of microns. Experiments at the nanoscale are much

harder to carry out than experiments at longer length scales,

says Pine and she explains that, conversely, simulations at the

nanoscale are much easier to perform than simulations at longer

length scales.

Nan o-Elect ro-Mech ani cal Systems (NE MS) bas ed on

nanotubes have enormous potential in diverse applications,

from ultra-sensitive mass spectrometers that can be used to

detect hazardous molecules, through biological applications at

the level of a single DNA base-pair, to the study of fundamental

questions such as the interaction of a single pair of molecules.

Pines simulations will help scientists understand the underlying

physics of such NEMS.

From nanotubes to novel device applications.

Paulinas project, which paves the road from fundamental

understanding of carbon nanotubes to novel device applications,

is typical of the multidisciplinary nature of the program, says

Prof. Yachin Cohen, program head.

It is a very interesting theme, says Pine. I am specializing

in carbon nanotube sensors. I presented a poster on this at

the June 2007 Summer School on Women-in-nano: Career

Development and Research Trends in Tarragona, Spain. The

European Commission-funded school provided opportunities

for networking, establishing mentoring schemes and promoting

contact among experts from European universities, science

institutions and industry.

Pines toddler daughter accompanied her to Spain, causing

fellow participantswomen students but also male lecturers

to joke that she was already educating the next generation of

women in nano. I was also asked to participate at a Round

Table session on how to achieve a satisfactory work-life

balance. I found it interesting that there is a tradition in Europe

of women in science, and they enjoy a large network of support

there, Pine comments.

With two degrees already from Technionin Biochemistry

and ChemistryPine is now jointly supervised by Dr JoanAdler in the Faculty of Physics and by Dr Yuval Yaish from the

Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Between graduate degrees,

Pine worked at Applied Materials in Rehovot. After completing

her doctorate, she would like to stay in academia.

Pine came alone to Israel from Russia on a special program

for youngsters. I always say, when people ask where I am

from, Technion is my home in Israel.

The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute offers a very

friendly program, Pine says. It gives people from many different

areas the chance to sniff out what is going on in other areas.

It seems that Pine isnt the only one to think so: this years

exclusive enrollment has doubled, and there are to be seven

PhD and 25 MSc students in the program, selected out of

hundreds of applicants.

StorieS ByAmAndA JAffe-KAtz

dr nAno

It is illustrative of the incredible vitality of the Zisapel Nanoelectronics Center,

announced Electrical Engineering Prof. Joseph Salzman in May, inaugurated just

this morning, and already we have notification that the first workshop in the 3-year

training seriesProMiNaSwill be at Technion. This is the first international

recognition of the Zisapel Center.

ProMiNaS (Prototyping in the Micro and the Nano Scale) offers hands-on laboratory

courses in the area of Micro- and Nanotechnology to train young researchers in the

experimental tools needed to close the gap between conventional microelectronics

its technologies and materials, and the novel, exotic and possibly contaminating

materials and systems in nanoelectronics. Financed by the European Union (600,000)

as part of the Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses, the six scheduled

courses plus a final 3-day workshop take place at Technion, the Institute of Photonicsand Nanotechnology (IFN-CNR) in Rome, and the Dpartement de Recherche sur la

Matire Condense, CEA Grenoble, France.

The July 2007 course, held at Technion, addressed Basic Microelectronic Processing.

Participants are early in their research careers, either advanced PhD students,

postdoctoral researchers, or young engineers. The interesting aspect, Salzman says,

is their diversity in background discipline. They come from chemistry departments,

electronics, physics and optics and therefore the course provides some aspects that

are foreign to them, far removed from their previous experience. Selection criteria are

based on excellence, eventual benefit, motivation, and a letter of recommendation.

Other considerations came into play such as maintaining a 50-50 male-female ratio,

and limiting participation to three attendees per country. We received some 60

outstanding applications and chose the 12 best. We expect that half will continue to

become university professors or heads of research labs, says Salzman.

Salzman is in charge of the Zisapel Nanoelectronics and Wolfson Microelectronics

complex. Two years ago, as head of the microelectronics research center, he resolved

that the clean rooms would become a semi-independent unit, known as the MNFU

(Micro Nano Fabrication Unit), with independent budget and management.

Nanotechnology, in Salzmanns view, represents a manufacturing revolution. It is

not merely a case of micro made smaller. Nano is all about innovation: new materials,

methods, and approaches, he says.

Nanotechnology represents a manufacturing revolution.

I believe there is a Nano-Micro-Macro continuum, Salzman says. Assuming you

have some device or object which is the size of a few moleculesvery, very small

and assuming you want to do something to it and measure this, you need contact with

the external world. Even in the nano dimension you have to go through the micro scale

for contact with the outside world.

Each morning the 12-day course started with a 2-hour lecture covering the

theoretical background of that days lab work. Then, participants rotated among

three parallel lab sessions, instructed by Technion PhD students. Each of the many

specialized machines in the MNFU facility represents a discipline in science. Topics

included photolithography for small-scale patterning; carving with the etching

apparatus; metallization; and oxidation. Altogether, the

participants received 25 hours of frontal lectures and 40

hours hands-on in the clean room.

Participants included Felix Martinez, a postdoctoral

scholar from Cartagena, a city on Spains southern coast.

Technion is such a beautiful campus, he said. The smellof the pine trees here reminds me of the Mediterranean.

Other attendees came from Malaysia, Romania, Turkey,

France, Italy, UK, and Germany.

The second ProMiNaS course, held in Rome in October

2007, addressed Single Electron Transistors and Photonic

Crystals. Those participants who had previously attended

the Technion course benefited from the basic skills they had

gained in Clean Room work.

With the diversity, capabilities, and brains we have in our

academic institutions, we must continue this international

collaboration to disseminate the interdisciplinary aspects

of nanotechnology and to educate future engineers and

researchers in the new emerging fields of high technology. It

is our hope that others will follow this effort to materialize

nanotechnology know-how, Salzman concluded.

The nAno generATionYosiShrem

Computational nanoelectronicspioneer, PhD student PolinaPine, unravels her poster oncarbon nanotube sensors.

YoavBachar

International participants atthe ProMiNaS workshop gainhands-on experience at Technions

state-of-the-art clean-rooms inthe Zisapel Nanoelectronics andWolfson Microelectronics facilities.

coMing soon...

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u n d e r T h e s e a

T e c h n i o n F o c u s o c T o b e r 2 0 0 7

replication genes, even though this meant that some were expressed out-of-sequence.

The researchers hypothesize that the bacterial-like genes form a functional module that

help the phage obtain sufficient energy for DNA replication.

A unique finding among phagehost interactions was the up-regulation of about 40

host genesas opposed to total shutdown during infection. Intriguingly, many of these

upregulated genes were transferred to the host from phages.

Lindell explains, These results show that genes transferred between hosts and

phages are expressed in the recipient organism suggesting that on evolutionary scales,

the exchange of genes between host and virus is beneficial to both organisms for life

in the ocean, even though individual infected bacteria may die.I always liked water, the sea, and diving, says Lindell, now a leading researcher

in the field of marine microbial ecology who grew up in Melbourne, Australia. I

am interested in the effects of environmental factors on the physiology of marine

microorganisms and how, in turn, this impacts their population dynamics, diversity

and evolution. Her research focuses on marine cyanobacteriaaquatic bacteria that

photosynthesize (gobble up light for energy).

Cyanobacteria are a major component of the phytoplankton which produce

approximately 50 percent of the worlds oxygen and are the basis of the oceanic food

web, says Lindell. They play an important role in reducing the level of atmospheric

carbon dioxide which they use to make organic carbon, helping to ease the effect of

this gas on global climate change. Without them, the oceansand the worldwould

look quite different.

Without cyanobacteria, the world would look quite different.

Lindell studies the interactions between cyanobacterial hosts and their viruses,

analyzing how these interactions impact cyanobacteria at the ecological, physiological

and evolutionary levels. Viruses cant reproduce outside of another organism, and their

specialty is to turn their cellular

hosts into viral production

factories. While we understand

how this happens in a few

model laboratory hostphage

systems, our understanding of

this process in environmentally

relevant hostvirus systems

is practically nonexistent. I

envisage that Ill be studyingthese interactions over the

next 10 years or so in order to

bet ter unders tand the impact

phages have on the ecology and

evolution of their hosts, she

says.

Lindell joined the Technions

Faculty of Biology in October

2006, after a postdoctoral appointment at MIT. Research carried out by Lindell

and colleagues at MIT and published in PNAS in 2004, showed the existence of

photosynthesis genes in the genomes of several phages that infect Prochlorococcus.

This surprising finding prompted me to change the focus of my research temporarily,

Lindell says. I wanted to know what the phages are doing with those genesdid they

get them from the host? Are they functional in photosynthesis during infection? Do

they confer a fitness advantage to the phage?

This was not just a fluke event. A full 80 percent of cultured cyanobacterial virusesthat we observed have these genes, says Lindell, and viral photosynthesis genes

are extremely abundant in the environment [see accompanying story on Prof. Oded

Bjs research]. While the virus hijacks the cell to ensure its own reproduction, it

seems to need photosynthesis to continue for a little longer. These viral genes are

expressed during infection and may augment photosynthesis during this time, giving

the phage an extra energy boost to enhance its reproduction. This hypothesis still

needs to be tested experimentally.

Hostvirus systems play a significant evolutionary role by facilitating gene transfer

between species. The impact of gene transfer mediated by phages is a hot topic

in microbiology as we are coming to realize the pivotal role phages have played in

shaping the genomes of their hosts, Lindell concludes.

Dr Debbie Lindell is a recipient of the Marie Curie Reintegration Grant from the European Union, theLegacy Heritage Fund grant (Morasha) from the Israel Science Foundation, the Alon Fellowship fromthe Council for Higher Education, and the Technions Mallat Family Fund and Robert J. Shillman CareerAdvancement Chair.

decoding

Prof. Oded Bj of the Faculty of Biology is a world leader in the

burgeoning research discipline of environmental genomics. This exciting

field, also known as microbial ecogenomics or metagenomics, explores

parts of the ocean that were, until recently, hidden from us. Bjs mandate

is, To illuminate the role of microorganisms in the open seas, and to

that end his lab uses innovative molecular biology techniques, along with functional

genomics and bioinformatics.

Recently, Bj has been taking a close look at photosynthesizing genes in a virus

that attack cyanobacteria that live in the sea. These bacterianamed for their blue

color, cyanobtain their energy through photosynthesis. The discovery of such genes

in the genomes of the virus (or phage) that infect these cyanobacteria suggests new

paradigms for the regulation, function and evolution of photosynthesis in the vast

ecosystem of the open sea [see accompanying story on Dr Debbie Lindells research].

Revolutionary findings related to this viral photosynthesis directly from naturalocean samples were published online by Bj in August 2007 in the ISME Journal:

Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology, a new journal issued by the Nature

Publishing Group.

Using environmental genomics we show that about 60 percent of the psbA genes

(photosynthesis genes coding for the D1 protein) in surface waters in the oceans are

of viral origin, said Bj. Furthermore, we show that different viral psbA genes are

expressed in the environment.

To put the significance of this research into perspective, Bj says, Fifty percent

of photosynthesis in the world is done in the sea, and 50 percent of this is done by

cyanobacteria. Bjs research analyzes, directly in the environment, cyanobacteria

of the Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus types, both important contributors to

photosynthetic productivity in the open ocean. Moreover, the large amounts of oxygen

in the atmosphere were likely first created by the activities of ancient cyanobacteria.

To illuminate the role of microorganisms in the open seas.

The most critical protein in photosynthesis, D1, is a scaffold on which everything

sits. It suffers from photo-damage, and requires turnover. We found that some of the

viruses that attack cyanobacteria contain modified D1 protein Bj explains. The

researchers showed that the phage genes are undergoing an independent selection for

distinct D1 proteins. Furthermore, the D1 found in the virus is slightly different from

that of its bacterial host. This anomaly is found on one of the loops, and probably

makes it more stable to degradation.

The Technion team and their colleagues are exploring the changes in the function of

the expressed D1 gene as it passes from the cyanobacteria to the virus and back again.

My hope is to find the role of this photosynthesis protein in the virus, Bj says, to

prove that this process does occur in the oceanand in measurable quantities.

The Technion team includes researchers in the Faculties of Biology, Chemistry, and

DNA linguistics and bioinformatics experts from the Lokey Interdisciplinary Center

for Life Sciences and Engineering. A co-author on the paper is J. Craig Venter, who

held a pivotal role in the Human Genome Project.

Prof. Oded Bj received the 2007 Henry Taub Prize for Academic Excellence for his predominant rolein establishing the new research field of Environmental Genomics.

scienceoFThe oceAnsByAmAndA JAffe-KAtz

Dr Debbie Lindell regularly samples the water inthe Red Sea and will begin a sampling program inthe Mediterranean Sea shortly.

...continued from Page 1

Prof. Oded Bj tests the watersin the Dead Sea.

Phage Fast Facts Virusesthatinfectbacteriaarecalledbacteriophages(phages)

Phagesarethemostabundantbiologicalorganismsintheoceans

Virusescanonlyreproduceinsideahostorganism

Virusesactasareservoirofgenestransferablebetweenspecies

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T e c h n i o n F o c u s o c T o b e r 2 0 0 7 7

iMproveyour iMAgeElectrical Engineering graduate student Tali Treibitz is lucky to be able to combine

work with pleasure. Treibitz is a scuba diving instructor, a skill which turned out tobe a prerequisite for her PhD research on Recovering Visibility in Scattering Media

under Artificial Illumination. Treibitzs research, which is conducted under the

guidance of Dr Yoav Schechner, involves complex diving skills and special equipment:

a camera, light source, a tripod with added weights, and photography accessories, as

well as a lift bag, a unique device used to lift heavy objects from the ocean floor.

Treibitz graduated from the Faculty of Computer Science in 2001 in the Chais

Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students. Later she worked in the high-tech industry,

and traveled abroad for a yeara trip that happily included many scuba divesbefore

she returned to the Technion to start graduate studies.

While searching for a research topic, Treibitz was immediately drawn to research

integrating computer vision, photography and physical effects. When she discovered

Schechners research on creating solutions to imaging problems in scattering media

media containing light scattering particlesshe knew the match had been made. Her

work also has defense-related applications, and can address port and ship inspection,

aerial imaging and more.

A clear picture, with better visibility and contrast.

Treibitzs doctoral research deals with solutions to problems that arise when

imaging in scattering media under artificial illumination. My work is related to vision

though water, haze, or fog, says Treibitz. Her current work is to develop methods for

underwater visibility enhancement. She will soon advance from processing underwater

stills to solving issues related to underwater videos.

Every underwater photo suffers from light scattering and light absorption

problems, Treibitz explains. But in photography that utilizes artificial lightas

opposed to photography under natural illuminationlight scattering problems are

much more severe because of the powerful light source used. Since water is a type of

scattering medium, its particles

scatter light into the camera.These reflections (termed

backscatter) take over the

pictureand we end up seeing

the light beam in the picture,

instead of the imaged object.

She continues, In order to

decrease the influence of the

backscatter in photography, we

use a polarized light source.

First, the picture is partially

cleaned up by mounting a

polarizer on the camera. The

mounted polarizer blocks

part of the partially polarized

backscat ter, whereas reflected

light from the object is lesspo la ri ze d an d th us pa ss es

through the polarizer. We have

developed a way to make the beam disappear in a more significant manner. This is

done by taking two images of the same scene, with two different polarization states,

and then post-processing the image pair. Our approach results in a clear picture, with

better visibility and contrast.

Treibitz presented Instant 3Descatter at the IEEE Computer Society Conference

on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, IEEE CVPR, in 2006. Treibitz and

Schechner have recently started international scientific collaboration with researchers

at the University of Miami and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Dr Yoav Schechner joined the Technions Faculty of Electrical Engineering in 2002 as a Landau Fellow inthe Leaders in Science and Technology Program.

Micro MirAcleHow an invertebrate masters the art of body building

Although the ability to grow a whole new body from a

fragment is typically restricted to simple life forms such

as sponges, worms, and jellyfish, Massive regeneration is

not just confined to low-complexity animals but can take

place in highly evolved animals, too, according to Dr

Ram Reshef of Technions Faculty of Biology.

Investigating the phenomenon in our closest invertebrate relative, thesea squirtBotrylloides leachi, Reshef, his PhD student Yuval Rinkevich,

and colleagues, shed light on the molecular signals underlying the squirts

whole body regeneration (WBR). In a process resembling the early stages

of embryonic development, an adult sea squirt can be reconstructed from

a miniscule blood vessel fragment in as little as 10 days. The results were

published in April 2007 in the journalPLoS Biology.

Stem cells culminate in an entire organism.

The scientists reported the unique way in which the squirt achieves

WBR. When less complex groups regenerate their bodies, they do so

through what we call a blastema, which is a kind of tissue that forms right

at the place where you want to regenerate an organ or body, Reshef said.

The sea squirts, however, did not employ blastemas. Rather, regeneration

began from dozens of tiny compartments loaded with stem cells, which

the researchers dubbed regeneration niches. In mammals, many adult

organs and tissues contain specific stem cells that are involved in repair

and some restricted regeneration abilities, Reshef said. The huge

difference here is that the stem cells culminate in an entire organism.

The researchers found that the addition of retinoic acid (RA, a vitamin

A derivate) regulates diverse developmental aspects in WBR. The sea

squirts WBR process could serve as a new in vivo model system for

regeneration, suggesting that RA signaling may have had ancestral roles

in body restoration events, the scientists concluded.

Sea squirts (also called tunicates after their tough outertunic) are widely distributed in shallow coastal waters,including along Israels Mediterranean coast, as coloniesof genetically identical individuals called zooids.

Backscatter greatly degrades visibili ty: A rawunderwater image taken with artificial illumination.

The result of Tali Treibitzs methodtherestored imaged object, without backscatter.

Tali Treibitz dives with tripodand lift bag in the Red Sea.

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T e c h n i o n F o c u s o c T o b e r 2 0 0 7

ouTreAch

cheMisTry olyMpicsTwo members of the Israeli team,

Assaf Shapira and Itamar Shamai, won

Silver and Bronze medals at this years

International Chemistry Olympics held

in July 2007 in Moscow and attended

by representatives from 72 countries.Coached by members of Technions

Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, four

Israeli participants made it to the

international finals from among the

6,000 first-stage 11th- and 12th-

grade contestants. National winners

earn exemption from their Chemistry

matriculation exams along with a

grade of 100 percent, and free first

year tuition at Technion. The team was

accompanied to the competition by

Prof. Moris Eisen and Dr Iris Barzilai.

suMMer science

In August 2007, 68 students attendedTechnions international 3-week science

and technology summer research

program, SciTechnow in its 16th

year. The 55 international participants

included 11th- and 12th-grade students

from Bulgaria, Canada, Hungary,

Italy, Poland, UK and the USA. The

youngsters chosen are those who have

shown an exceptional interest and

ability in science and technology. They

conduct research projects on campus,

guided by Technion staff. This years

SciTech winning presentations and

posters covered diverse topics such as

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived

Cardiomyocytes, Hand Gesticulation

Recognition, RePresenting the Urban

Image, and Creating 3D Video.

priMe nuMbAThe first campus summer program

in number theory, dubbed TOMBA,

took place in August 2007. The

25 outstanding 9th- to 12th-graders

selected by the academic committee

were divided into groups of three,

each group supervised by a Technion

student. Number theory is a classical

field of mathematics which deals

with the exploration of properties of

the natural numbers with which we

are so familiar: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 The 2-week program also included social

and recreational activities, as well as

advanced lectures by researchers in

number theory, open to the general

publ ic . TOMBA also presents an

opportunity to integrate talented

but socioeconomica lly chall enged

students into the scientific world. Dr

Yossi Cohen, Prof. Moshe Baruch and

Prof. Jack Sonn initiated and organized

TOMBA with the help of the Faculty

of Mathematics.

They are competing for a $5,000

prize from World ORT, which will be

awarded at the end of the camp to the

boy or gir l who solved the grea testnumber of problems in the best way,

but also helped others find solutions.

We are pleased to see that aside from

the studies, a real social experience has

been created and we hope to see them

at the Technion in future years, says

Cohen.

Technion FOCUS is published by the Division of Public Affairs and Resource Development

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa 32000 Israel

Tel: 972-4-829-2578 pard@tx.technion.ac.il www.focus.technion.ac.il

VP Resource Development and External Relations: Prof. Peretz Lavie

Director, Public Affairs and Resource Development: Shimon Arbel

Head, Department of Public Affairs: Yvette Gershon

Editors: Amanda Jaffe-Katz, Barbara Frank Photo Coordinator: Hilda Favel

Design: www.vistaspinner.com

(l-r) Californians Laura Scharff and Aryeh Canter take

samples at the constructed wetlands pilot site to assesshow aquatic plants can reduce industrial contaminants inwastewater.

peopleoFThe bookAn impressive bronze sculpture, Bk t wtt w, stands

tall in Kislak Park at the center of the Technion campusan inspiration

to all students. As can be seen in the photograph, it depicts a book

from which letters in various alphabets emerge. The majestic oeuvre

was dedicated in the presence of the donor, entrepreneur Leonid Raiz,

his wife Alexandra, the world-renowned sculptor Boris Zaborov, and

architects Shaul Kaner and Michael Seltser.

This is a fitting monument to the importance of the book to Jewsthe

People of the Book, said Zaborov who was born in Minsk and, since

1980, lives and works in Paris.Raiz immigrated to the USA in 1980 from the former Soviet Union. He

became involved in the application of computers for design automation

and developed highly successful computerized software for architectural

design that is now used worldwide.

Silver medalist Assaf Shapira does lab work in Moscowat the International Chemistry Olympics. Shapira is a12th-grader at Haifas Hugim High School, where NobelLaureate in Chemistry Technion Distinguished Prof. AaronCiechanover was a student.

Solving mathematical problems: Participants atTechnions Number Theory Summer Camp (TOMBA).

YosiShre

m

ShlomoShoham

GustavoHochman

girlonThe MoonWould you want to return to the moon? 14-year-old Rami asked

former astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to land on the moon

almost exactly 38 years ago. Of course, Armstrong replied, on his

first ever visit to Israel, and asked the youngster if he would like to

come along.

This was one of many moving moments experienced by some 100

youngsters, who came to MadaTechIsrael National Museum of

Science, Technology & Space to get a first-hand glimpse of the man

who made history. In Israel at the invitation of the Direct Investment

House, a relaxed Neil Armstrong, aged 77 and exuding tremendous

vitality, answered a range of personal and professional questions thatwere asked in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Armstrongs advice for

those children who might want to be astronauts one day: A very good

education, particularly in the fields of science and mathematics.

Armstrong visited the Museums display on Ilan Ramon, Israels

first astronaut, who lost his life in the Columbia space shuttle crash.

The exhibit combines Ramons personal items with explanations on

scientific experiments Ramon conducted in spaceone of which was

instigated by a group of school students under Technion supervision.

Asked about the lasting value of space flights, Armstrong explained

that they demonstrate that we humans will not be forever chained to

planet Earth.

Reminiscent of Albert Einsteins 1923 planting of a palm tree here

the original Technion campusArmstrong planted a tree fronting the

Einstein Exhibition Hall.