Eight researchers from the Faculty of Engineering have been awarded ISF grants

Dr. Mor Weiss won a grant for her research, whose goal is to design new zero-knowledge proofs with sublinear communication. Such proofs enable proving a claim without revealing anything except its validity. For example, they can be used to prove that you have enough bitcoins to perform a purchase, without revealing how many bitcoins you have. these proofs have numerous applications, including for anonymity in blockchains.

Dr. Yaara Erez won a grant for her research on mapping and modeling patterns of connectivity in the brain. The researchers will use designated electrodes to record electrophysiological neural signals directly from the cortical surface of the human brain during surgeries. This technology can be used to measure unique signals that have both high temporal (sub-millisecond) and high spatial (<1 cm) resolution, thus allowing to characterize fine-grained properties of the brain network that cannot be identified using other technologies. These properties may serve as a basis for neural interfaces and will be further linked to whole-brain activity patterns that will be measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Dr. Boris Desiatov won a grant for his research on Terahertz (THz) waves, positioned between microwaves and infrared light, offer remarkable potential enabling advanced applications like explosive detection, disease diagnosis, and ultra-fast wireless communication. The research focuses on developing a cutting-edge on-chip nanophotonic system using a thin-film lithium niobate platform to create efficient, compact THz sources and detectors, addressing the current limitations in generating and detecting THz radiation.

Prof. Ofir Weber won a grant for his research which aims to advance volumetric shape correspondence by developing new algorithms for mapping 3D objects. It seeks to create robust, low-distortion mappings, addressing current limitations of surface-based methods and enhancing applications in computer graphics, geometry processing, and computer vision.

Prof. Moti Fridman won a grant for his research which focuses on temporal quantum optics. Over the years, Prof. Fridman’s group has developed innovative tools for measuring ultrafast events. Now they are trying to use these tools to measure quantum events, and utilize the benefits of temporal optics to perform measurements that cannot be performed using other systems.

Prof. Osnat Keren won a grant for her research on reliable and secure power-aware data-movement in SoCs. Embedded systems on a chip (SoCs) are ubiquitous and are found in mission-critical applications. When data are moved in a SoC, power is consumed each time there is a bit transition, and if the storage and movement of data are not handled carefully, they can make the SoC power-hungry. Random errors can make a SoC unreliable. SoC-based devices may also be subject to fault injection attacks, which manifest as errors that can affect many bits. In many applications (such as healthcare, military systems, and wearable devices), power-awareness, reliability, and security are crucial. The aim of this research project is to lay the theoretical foundations for reliable and secure power-aware data-movement in a SoCs.

Prof. Avi Zadok won a grant for his research on optical and mechanical coating methods of standard fibers.

Dr. Nisan Ozana has been awarded a grant for his research on optical brain imaging using an array of gated single-photon detectors (SPADs). His project aims to develop a multi-channel, noninvasive system capable of covering a large area of the human brain for functional neuroimaging by analyzing changes in the temporal-spatial speckle patterns of the gated SPAD array signals. The research seeks to significantly enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity for noninvasive, real-time functional neuroimaging.