The Technion Timeline
Scroll through to see Technion's 100 years of achievements
Professors Uri Sivan, Eran Brown, and Yoav Eishen used DNA sequences to create a conductive thread with a thickness of one thousandth of a human hair. They succeeded in designing a tiny transistor with a conductive component made from a DNA filament. This discovery and its publication made waves in the scientific community and opened up a whole new world of possibilities for tiny electronic devices that can accommodate many more transistors.
“Amos Lapidot was the tenth commander of the Air Force. He was born in Kfar Saba and completed a pilot course with honors in 1954. Later he took part in Operation Kadesh as a pilot, in the Six Day War as a squadron commander, and in the Yom Kippur War as commander of the Hazor base. Between 1982-1987 he headed the Israeli Air Force. During his tenure as president of the Technion, the interdisciplinary research centers at the Technion were expanded, breakthroughs were made in the research of stem cells and the development of biology-based electronic devices, the Henry and…Read More
In 2000, Yoram Palti, our founder and professor emeritus of physiology and biophysics at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, sought to leverage his expertise in biophysics to develop a new way to treat solid tumor cancers that would destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue and avoiding many of the life-altering side effects of existing cancer therapies. He set up a laboratory in his basement to explore the potential of electric fields as a treatment for solid tumors. Professor Palti founded Novocure to provide patients with a new cancer treatment based on his hypothesis, since proven, that alternating electric fields,…Read More
Dov Moran was born in Ramat Gan as Dov Mintz. He was the youngest of two children; his parents were Holocaust survivors born in Poland. Moran earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering with honors at the Technion and became one of the most influential figures in the world associated with the Israeli high-tech industry. In 1989, Moran founded the company “M-Systems” and in November 2000 the company unveiled the disk on key – a new data storing technology in a tiny and portable device. Today it is difficult to imagine life without it. Moran has received a…Read More
About eight months after being acquired by the American chemical company ISP for an amount between 10 to 20 million dollars, the Haifa-based medical research company Finetech is being sold again—this time for 109 million dollars. The buyer is the American generic pharmaceuticals company PRI. The acquisition deal, announced by PRI (which is traded on NASDAQ with a market value of 970 million dollars), is planned to be signed in the coming weeks. As part of the deal, PRI will pay an additional three million dollars for the separation of Finetech from ISP, in addition to the 109 million dollars.…Read More
Yitzhak Apeloig is a chemist, a member of the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry at the Technion. During World War II his family escaped from Poland and settled in Bukhara, where Yitzhak was born. In 1947, when he was a toddler, his family immigrated to the Land of Israel. He earned all his academic degrees at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: a bachelor’s degree in physics and chemistry, a master’s degree in chemistry, and a doctorate in chemistry. He joined the Technion’s academic staff in 1976. His main contribution is the introduction of computational chemistry and the use of theoretical calculations…Read More
The American film actor Christopher Reeve, the Hollywood superhero, came to Israel for a five-day solidarity visit as the guest of Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. In 1995, Reeve fell from his horse during an equestrian competition, and as a result injured his back and was left paralyzed in all four limbs. After the accident, he began working to help people with spinal cord injuries. He supported research into stem cell healing and founded the National Paralysis Research Center. It was stem cell research that brought him to Israel, which is considered a leader in the field. Reeve’s trip included visits…Read More
Prof. Bilha Mannheim was one of the founders of the field of sociology of work in Israel and one of the top professors in this field in Israel. Prof. Mannheim was born in Germany in 1929 and immigrated to Israel with her family in 1936. She joined the Technion in 1959, after returning to Israel from studies in the USA, first in the Department of General Studies and later in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management. In 1984, she was the first woman to serve as dean of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technion. She…Read More
Research Prof. Avram Hershko and Research Prof. Aaron Ciechanover of the Technion are the winners of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They won the prestigious award together with Prof. Irwin Rose from the University of California at Irvine. Profs. Hershko and Ciechanover, from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, are the first researchers to describe the ubiquitin system, which is responsible for breaking down proteins inside the cell, and thereby led to a breakthrough in the study of cancer, degenerative brain diseases, and many other diseases. Their discovery fundamentally changed the scientific understanding of…Read More
luristem was founded in 2001 by Shai Meretzki of the Technion, who made use of a stem cell patent which was developed during his Ph.D. studies at The Rappaport Faculty Of Medicine, Technion, under the supervision of Dr. Shosh Merchav, together with Professors Dov Zipori and Avinoam Kadouri from the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 2003, the NASDAQ-listed shell company A1 Software acquired all shares and patents belonging to Pluristem and changed its name to Pluristem Life Systems.[6][7] In 2007 the name was changed again, this time to Pluristem Therapeutics Inc.[4] Pluristem’s shares are traded on the NASDAQ exchange and…Read More
The Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute was established in 2005 with funding from the Israeli government, the Russell Berrie philanthropic fund, and the Technion, with a total investment of $100 million! The Technion was the first institution in Israel to establish a nanotechnology institute—a term that encompasses research and technologies dealing with systems whose typical size ranges from a few nanometers to tens of nanometers. The institute employs around 150 researchers and has approximately 300 students from 14 different faculties.
Azilect, a medication intended for Parkinson’s disease patients, developed and marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals, according to research by Professor Moussa Youdim from the Faculty of Medicine, was approved for use in Europe and Israel in February 2005. AGN-1135, the racemic form of the drug, was invented by Aspro Nicholas in the early 1970s. Moussa B. H. Youdim identified it as a potential drug for Parkinson’s disease, and working with collaborators at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Israel and the drug company, Teva Pharmaceuticals, identified the R-isomer as the active form of the drug. Teva brought it to market…Read More
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP) is a multi-disciplinary energy research program. The research includes collaborations between the best researchers and scientists in various disciplines within and outside of the Technion and focuses on basic science and engineering problems that must be solved for the advancement of the energy field in Israel and around the world. The program focuses on sustainable energy research, especially in the following areas: fuel cells, rechargeable batteries: the next generation beyond lithium ion, PV, energy systems and life cycle assessment of energy technologies, the water-energy relationship, catalysis, and heat conversion. Since its…Read More
The International Chemistry Olympiad is an annual academic competition for high school students. About 300 students from about 75 countries participate in it each year – four participants from each country. The Olympiad has been held for over 50 years in different countries in the world including: the United States, France, Thailand, Great Britain, Russia, Vietnam, and more. It is usually held in July/August. Israel joined the competition in 2006 and since then the Israeli national team has been training at the Technion. The achievements of the members of the Israeli national team improve year by year even though the…Read More
Just 16 years old and already a student at the Technion! This is Dan Deviri, a student in the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, who began his studies without a matriculation certificate. Dan was accepted into the Archimedes Program, which offers academic education in the subject of chemistry to high school students, changing the lives of most of the girls and boys who join it.
In 2006, businessman Seymour Schulich donated 20 million dollars to the Faculty of Chemistry. This is one of the largest donations the Technion has received since its founding. Following this donation, the name of the faculty was changed to the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry. Schulich, a renowned Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist, believes that the future of the State of Israel lies in a leadership committed to science and technology. He has so far donated about 350 million dollars to various causes, most of them in the fields of higher education and health, in Canada, the United States, and Israel. The…Read More
Cortica is a pioneer in the field of Autonomous AI. Over the past 15 years, we have invested more than $250M to develop a vast portfolio of Autonomous AI technologies that are protected by 300+ patents. We partner with global market leaders to build Autonomous AI companies that have an unfair technological and business advantage in order to address large market opportunities.
AMIT – the Alfred Mann Institute at the Technion, founded by the serial entrepreneur Alfred Mann, is a research institute in life sciences and biomedical engineering, which was established with a fund of one hundred million dollars. The Technion is the first university outside the US chosen by Mann to be part of his vision – the establishment of 12 Alfred Mann Institutes in the world’s leading research centers. Over the years, the institute has grown promising companies such as Sealantis Ltd. (www.sealantis.co.il) and Accellta Ltd. AMIT invests in innovations in the field of medical devices that have the potential…Read More
The association “Engineers Without Borders Israel” works to promote the quality of life of the population in Israel and developing populations around the world, through engineering projects that related to sustainability and environmental quality. The Technion branch, which was the first in Israel, was established in 2008 along with the establishment of “Engineers Without Borders Israel.” Their first project was a biogas project in partnership with a village in Nepal and local associations. In another project in the Negev, the volunteers designed a heat transfer system that can be used during the hours when there is solar radiation, to meet…Read More
There is no Israeli who does not know what Iron Dome is; everyone is deeply grateful to those involved in its creation. Iron Dome is a mobile active air defense system developed and manufactured in Israel, designed to intercept short-range rockets, mortar bombs, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Iron Dome’s leading development team was composed entirely of Technion alumni. The success of the system in trials and the plan to put it into operational use were reported for the first time in 2009. The Iron Dome system was an operational success and became synonymous with Israel’s unique technological achievements. The developers…Read More
Peretz Lavie served as the president of the Technion from 2009 to October 2019. Lavie is a psychologist, a researcher of the physiology and pathology of sleep. When elected for a third term Lavie said: “I consider the position of president of the Technion to be the most important mission in my academic life. I will continue to work with all my might for the development and prosperity of the magnificent institution that we are all so proud of.” During Prof. Lavie’s tenure, the Technion achieved impressive achievements, chief among them the recruitment of over 200 new faculty members. “Excellent…Read More
Sealantis develops innovative products based on a proprietary platform of alga-mimetic tissue adhesives, for a variety of applications and clinical needs in surgical adhesion, leakage control, adhesion-prevention and drug delivery. The Sealantis adhesive technology mimics the underwater adherence mechanism of algae, providing it with a superior ability to stick to tissues and grafts even in a wet environment. The adhesives are bioresorbable (degrade in the body) and do not contain proteins (thus eliminate potential immunogenic and allergic risks). Sealantis product pipeline is focused on the following products, demonstrated to be safe, biocompatible, and easy to use, and cost-effective: Gastrointestinal (GI)…Read More
Microbot Medical was founded by thought leaders in surgical robotics with a proven track record of building companies. Their vision is to pave the way to the next generation of surgical robotics by transforming robots from large pieces of capital equipment to accessible, single-use robotic systems. The LIBERTY Robotic System is the first iteration of our goal to re-think how robotic systems can change health care, but we continue to stay focused on how the ecosystem around robotics can be re-imagined and evolve.