The Faculty of Engineering’s Annual Conference

The Faculty of Engineering’s annual conference was held on September 24-25, and was a resounding success. Despite the current state of affairs, the ongoing war, and the fact that many members of the faculty are on reserve duty, turnout was impressive. Some 150 senior and junior faculty members, administrative staff, and graduate and postgraduate students. Dr. Tamar Goldzak Mizrahi, Dr. Nisan Ozana, Prof. Ran Gelles, Prof. Orit Shefi and Faculty Administrative Coordinator Shimrit Ben Aharon were on the planning committee. Like any successful conference, there was a healthy mix of business and pleasure.

On the pleasure side, the conference began with a light breakfast after which the attendants split into groups and chose to participate in volunteer avocado picking at Nachshonim, or various sports activities: laser tag, ATV rides, motor scooter rides, or bow-and-arrow launching, followed by a visit to the Hasmonean Heritage Museum in Modi’in. The groups then joined for lunch at Kafit restaurant, after which they set out to Yehuda Hotel in Jerusalem, for the business portion of the conference: Two academic sessions in which new academic faculty members and advanced degree students presented their researches; four sessions in total were held throughout the conference, by Dr. Michal Yemini, Dr. Amir Weiss, Dr. Dor Atzmon, and Dr. Hila Chalutz-Ben Gal, who gave captivating lectures about new and diverse fields of research being conducted at the Faculty.

In the afternoon, attendants enjoyed a guest lecture by Prof. Yossi Oren of Ben Gurion University, titled “Lies we tell ourselves about the structure of computers.” This was followed by a poster presentation where research students presented posters detailing their research. The guidelines were very strict: one slide, one minute. The poster session was held after dinner, with a round of beer and light snacks, and faculty members were free to approach the young researchers, learn about their projects, and initiate collaborations. Poster winners were chosen by the organizing committee and declared at the closing of the conference. Then came a pub quiz which, alongside general trivia, included surprise questions about the outgoing Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Ze’ev Zalevsky. Zalevsky was honored with a video in which members of the Faculty – academic and administrative staff, as well as students – expressed their appreciation. He was also presented with a gift: a three-dimensional laser-etching – a tribute to his work.

The second day began with a morning jjog (for those interested). After breakfast, participants went on a competitive navigation challenge through Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood. They then returned to the hotel for lunch and a triple lecture session: first to speak was Prof. Zalevsky, who summarized his term as Dean; next was Judoka Yael Arad, Israel’s first Olympic medalist and current Chair of Israel’s Olympic Committee; and finally, members of the academic staff and student representatives. The conference concluded with a toast in celebration of the New Year and announcing the poster winners:

Itay Merlin of Prof. Alex Fish’s research group, “SpaceCAM: A 16nm FinFET low-power soft-error tolerant TCAM design for space communication applications”

Yuval Harari of Dr. Leonid Yavitz’s research group: “OCCAM: An error Oblivious CAM”

Vika Tarle of Dr. Nisan Ozana’s lab: “Multimodal SCOS and EEG measurements”

Shiri Katzir of Prof. Rachela Popovtzer’s lab: “Breakthroughs in Pregnancy Care: Treating Diseases While Protecting the Unborn”

The Faculty of Engineering wishes its students, academic and administrative staff, and all of its guests a fruitful academic year and expresses hope for the safe return of the hostages and soldiers, and the recovery of the wounded.