Newsletter Issue 8 - May 2018

Students Awards 2018

Student Awards 2018

Awards 2018

Awards

Redefining science in the blockchain era

The notion that dead-ends could be more important than breakthroughs is the core idea of a new startup: Materials.Zone. The company, led by Dr. Assaf Anderson, has developed a platform that extracts raw data from labs, and makes it accessible to other scientists for advancing science and technological innovation. Their next goal is building a blockchain data-bank for trading scientific knowledge.

ALD reactors

Two ALD (atomic layer deposition) reactors were purchased recently by the lab of Dr. Malachi Noked−a researcher at the Department of Chemistry who joined BINA in 2016. These devices enable high-precision production of nano-coatings containing diverse materials, serving as a powerful tool for a range of industrial and research applications.

Gene-repair lab

The team at the lab of Dr. Ayal Hendel, a PI and senior lecturer at BINA, is developing a gene editing technology that could fix damaged or dysfunctional cells. By genetically modifying hematopoietic stem cells, they hope that within a few years they could cure devastating genetic diseases in children such as ‘Bubble-Boy’ disease.

Spitting images

Until recently, BINA’s Charged Particle Microscopy facility has provided high-resolution atomic imaging and analysis of material sciences samples. Now, due to the expertise of Dr. Ayelet Atkins, BINA has added the capacity of sample preparation and analysis of biological specimens. These new methods serve the industrial and scientific community for advancing bio-medicine, including cancer research, as well as semiconductor research and other nanotechnology applications.

New-old companion on the Black Sea coast

In November 2017 a Bar-Ilan University delegation, headed by Prof. Yuval Garini from BINA, flew to Tbilisi, Georgia, to meet with senior representatives of the scientific community. This historic encounter is likely to lead to the first academic collaboration ever to be initiated between the Georgian government and an Israeli University.

Doing her spacewalk

Hadas Nevenzal, a Ph.D. biotechnology student was the first student from BIU to have been selected for the space studies program (SSP)−an experience out of this world.

Newsletter greetings

I am very excited to share with you the spring issue of the BINA newsletter −the first edition since the beginning of my term as Institute Director. In the last few months we were able to obtain a respectable ranking for BINA –between 200 and 300 in the Shanghai Academic Ranking– undoubtedly a testament to BINA’s excellence.