News

In the past decade, Prof. Avi Zadok's students have won numerous acclaims. Five of them were included on the Rector's Honor Roll. So how exactly does a research group produce this many shining stars?

Prof. Avi Zadok's students at the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University are making a name for themselves. They have won numerous awards and research fellowships, and Prof. Zadok is a proud mentor: "Through the years I have been privileged to work alongside the best of students," he boasts.

Dr. Tomer Lewi, an expert in Nano Photonics and Flat Optics at Bar-Ilan’s University Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, shares his experience with metamaterials and their applications, which may enable the replacement of classic optical elements with flat ones.

The interaction between light and matter is the focus of research for Dr. Tomer Lewi, of Bar-Ilan’s Faculty of Engineering. “I am interested in the interaction between light and metamaterials or quantum materials,” explains Lewi. “Why? Two reasons. Firstly, because it’s interesting on the physical level.  New phenomena arising suddenly, exciting new functions. Secondly, these materials are used to develop a new type of technology called Flat Optics, aiming to replace all the classic optical elements, such as lenses, mirrors, beam splitters and such, with flat elements – nanostructures designed for specific functions.”

17 days. That’s how long it took Prof. Gur Yaari from the Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University to establish a Research Consortium, which includes 20 international groups. The consortium was awarded 9 million Euros from the EU and Canada. In the next few years, Prof. Yaari plans to launch a network of databases for genetic sequences of the immune system.

Prof. Gur Yaari of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University was recently informed that the research consortium he established would receive a “tiny” grant of 9 million Euros from the EU.

Dr. Eliahu Cohen from the Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan describes Quantum Engineering, its significance and applications, and why it is the field to major in. And yes, he is hiring interns!

Dr. Eliahu Cohen of Bar-Ilan University’s Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering predicts that Quantum Engineering, a relatively new discipline, will become the next big thing in the scientific world. “Exploring quantum technologies has become a global trend in the past few years. Large corporations are already turning their attention to the field, and already use quantum-based computers. Google and IBM use these computers too,” says Cohen, 32. “The security industry, considered to be relatively conservative, is highly interested in these technologies. In Israel, this is practically a national mission. Many acknowledge that the first one to succeed in using quantum computers to decipher classic cryptography methods will gain a huge competitive advantage.”

Every year, SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, promotes a few of its members to Fellows.This year, SPIE honors Prof. Dror Fixler of BIU's Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering and director of BIU's Institute of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials (BINA) with this distinction. SPIE Fellows are Members of distinction who have made significant scientific contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics, and imaging. Prof. Fixler is being recognized for his technical achievements and for his service to the general optics community and to SPIE in particular.
Prof. Fixler received his PhD.from the Department of Physics at Bar-Ilan University. He has published over 80 original research papers and holds over 12 issued patents. His research interests include fluorescence measurements (FLIM and anisotropy decay), optical super resolution, high-end electro-optical system engineering and light-tissue interaction. Prof. Fixler received several international awards and organized and presented at over 80 international conferences.

(Pictured from left: Prof. Dror Fixler after lecturing at the SPIE annual conference, with his lab team members PhD candidate Eran Bar Noy and Dr. Ruchira Chakraborty)

Nano eye drops may soon replace eye glasses!

Researchers from Bar Ilan University and Shaare Zedek Medical Center are working with investors to raise $1 million to fund research and development for eye drops they say can correct refractive-related vision problems, thereby potentially making eyeglasses obsolete.

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky , of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan and Prof. Jean Paul Lellouche, of the Chemistry Department at Bar-Ilan University, developed the nanodrops from synthetic nanoparticle solution, along with Dr. David Smadja, a research associate at Bar-Ilan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA) and the Head of the Ophthalmology Research Unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem.

Chen Tzror Azenkot has won the Ministry of Science Scholarship, and continues to aim high

Chen Tsror Azenkot, a PhD candidate at the Bar-Ilan Faculty of Engineering, has been honored with the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology’s Zeev Jabtinsky Scholarship for Engineering and Applicable Scientific Achievements. “It’s a very generours 4-year scholarship,” says the excited 29 year old, “enabling me to focus solely on my research. I never thought I would win. I’m excited and very grateful to my PhD advisor, Prof. Rachela Popovtzer, who always empowers us and believes in us, and keeps pushing us forward.”

he conference, dedicated to biomedical applications of lasers, included about 200 participants hailing from 15 countries, and proved a huge success for the faculty and for Bar-Ian University

Prof. Orit Shefi, of Bar-Ilan’s Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, is featured on the cover of new issue of Nashim (Women) Magazine in Israel. Prof. Shefi who is also a researcher at BIU’s Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, was chosen as Nashim’s ‘cover girl’ thanks to her trailblazing research in regenerating damaged nerve cells. Prof. Shefi and her lab team have recently developed a gel-based component to the nerve system.  Based on that, they designed collagen hydrogel as 3D scaffolds for neuronal regeneration, and developed methods to control collagen matrix structure and collagen fiber orientation.

Reut Plen began working with Prof. Orit Shefi as an undergrad studying in a different faculty. Now, as a graduate student in Bioengineering at the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, their collaborative work has won her a prestigious scholarship.

A new graduate student at BIU’s Faculty of Engineering, Reut Plen can pride herself with a shining start – she has just been awarded the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology’s Scholarship of for Excelling Women in Science. This scholarship, awarded to female graduate students of engineering and exact sciences, aims to encourage women to become researchers in these fields.

The 700 Points Club offers scholarships and academic mentoring by BIU’s Faculty of Engineering’s leading lecturers and by leading industry professionals to excelling students – male and especially female

With the opening of the 2018/9 academic year, the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University launched a program for excelling students – the 700 Points Club, a joint initiative with KLA Tencor Israel. The program is aimed to advance students – especially female – who earned a 700+ grade in the psychometric exam (Israel’s equivalent of the SAT’s, maximum grade – 800). “The percentage of female engineering students is significantly low of that of male students, and not just at Bar-Ilan,” says Dina Yeminy, Administrative Head of the Faculty of Engineering. “We make every effort in encouraging women to choose this field of study. All the students, male and female, accepted into this club, will enjoy a range of benefits and perks, such as scholarships donated by KLA-Tencor, field training alongside industry leaders, and academic mentoring by our world renowned researchers.”

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky, of the Alexander Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University, continues to win international acclaim and prestigious awards. Below is a partial list of the awards and accomplishments he has achieved in 2018 alone. 

The Dr. Horace Furumoto Innovations Professional – Young Investigator Award given by the ASLMS (American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery).

The Asian Advanced Materials Award for the year 2018 given by IAAM in their congress in Singapore due to my outstanding contribution in the field of "Advanced Materials and Technology".

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow Award for demonstrating a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.

The 2018 BIG Innovation Award: The technology Prof. Zalevsky co-invented and took part in developing, and which was commercialized from his lab to the startup Zsquare (microendoscopy) won the 2018 BIG (Business Intelligence Group) Innovation Award.

The SPIE Prism Award for photonic innovation for co-inventing the remote laser based continues bio-monitoring and authentication technology being developed by ContinUse Biometrics.

The Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) Society Fellow Award for contribution in the fields of optical imaging and microscopy.

Best Lecturer Prize in the International ChipEx 2018 conference.

Best Research Work Award given to our paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Israeli Society for Vision and Eye Research:
D. Smadja, M. Lellouche, M. Krauthammer, Y. Harel, A. Abulafia, D. Zadok and Z. Zalevsky, “Nano-drops for correcting refractive errors,”

Dr. Benjamin Zaidel of the Alxenader Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, has won 3rd prize in the Nokia Bell Labs competition, along with Prof. Shlomo Shamai from the Technion, for their submission titled "Sparse Communications: Closing the Gap to the Ultimate Performance Liits". In addition to winning a 25,000$, the three top winners, will enjoy to opportunity of developing their idea in the Bell Labs. 

The Bell Labs Prize is a competition for innovators from participating countries around the globe that seeks to recognize proposals that ‘change the game’ in the field of information and communications technologies by a factor of 10, and provides selected innovators the unique opportunity to collaborate with Bell Labs researchers to help realize their vision. 

Dr. Benjamin Zaidel (standing, second from right) of the Alxenader Kofkin Faculty of Engineering, has been named finalist in the Nokia Bell Labs competition, along with Prof. Shlomo Shamai from the Technion, for their submission titled Sparse Communications: Closing the Gap to the Ultimate Performance Liits. In addition to winning a large some of money, the three top winners, to be announced December 5th, will enjoy to opportunity of developing their idea in the Bell Labs. 

The Bell Labs Prize is a competition for innovators from participating countries around the globe that seeks to recognize proposals that ‘change the game’ in the field of information and communications technologies by a factor of 10, and provides selected innovators the unique opportunity to collaborate with Bell Labs researchers to help realize their vision. 
 

After conducting research at the lab of Prof. Rachela Popovtzer, Dr. Rinat Meir received the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship and is pursuing her postdoc at Columbia University on new nano-biomaterials in drug-delivery. Dr. Meir received a bachelor's and master's degree in chemistry from the Hebrew University, and received her PhD at the lab of Prof. Rachela Popovtzer in the Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University. Meir, together with a multidisciplinary team of scientists, developed a breakthrough theranostic drug-delivery platform, that utilizes nanoparticles) for treating and diagnosing cancer through targeted immunotherapy.