Says in an interview with the website the scientist Nava Seversky Sofer, co-chairman of the conference. Also, large delegations and experts from abroad will arrive. Although at the conference, the place of the Israeli industry in the field of nanotechnology, as well as the academy, which operates six nanotechnology centers in universities, will not fall either.
About 40 startup companies and dozens of projects for commercialization will be presented at the Nano Israel conference that will be held on March 26-27 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv. Since the second conference that took place about a year ago, the field has developed, and many projects that were previously in the initial stages of development have matured into commercialization either through the establishment of Dedicated start-up companies or within the framework of large companies, according to Nava Seversky Sofer, co-chairman of The conference, the prominence of the field of commercialization and the fact that representatives of companies looking for investment in technology will come especially to the conference, indicates the maturity that the field has passed.
This year, over 1,000 participants are expected to attend the conference, including representatives of companies, venture capitalists and investor representatives, researchers and entrepreneurs who will deal in the fields of nanomaterials, energy, environment and water, nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, nanobio and nanomedicine. This time too, first-rate speakers will participate - from Israel and abroad, a start-up of the year will be chosen and innovation in the field will be held.
Once again, the conference will be chaired by three co-chairs - Nava Seversky Sofer, an international consultant in the field of technology commercialization and a founding partner of the International Technology Commercialization Forum (Seversky Sofer was previously a vice president at the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, a managing partner in leading venture capital funds, and the CEO of an implementation company the patents of the Hebrew University). Along with her, Rafi Koriat, responsible for commercial and academic collaborations at the National Committee for Nanotechnology, and the chairman of the scientific committee of the conference - Prof. Rashef Tana from the Weizmann Institute, one of the top scientists in the field, will participate.
"Last year over a thousand people from 36 countries participated, over 200 guests from abroad, including Prof. Andre Geim, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and Charlie Lieber from Harvard, there were large companies such as Siemens, Bayer and more. This year more startup companies will present. I estimate that over 40. There will also be delegations from large multinational companies looking for technologies, as well as from investors who complete the overall picture of the entire field. This year we have a special focus on Asia, which is a rising power and is also important in the fields of nanotechnology. Among other things, the president of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences, Chunli Bai, will come to the conference, this is his first visit to Israel as the president of the academy. He will arrive at the head of a delegation of about a dozen scientists and industrialists and in addition to participating in the conference, a separate event will be held with their participation the day after the closing day that will be specifically dedicated to the issue of Israel and China in the nano field.
Prof. CNR Rao, one of the most senior scientists in India and the chairman of the advisory committee to the Prime Minister of India on issues of science and technology, will present the field as it progresses in India. Japan will arrive and serve as one of the main speakers at the conference, Prof. Sumio Iijima of Japan, who is considered one of From the fathers of the nanotechnology field, the man who discovered the carbon nanotubes will also be the head of the nano field in Korea to be exposed both to action at the scientific level and in terms of the national priorities in these places.
"In addition to the guests from Asia, the head of the OECD's nanotechnology field, Françoise Roure, will also arrive in Israel. The OECD has a policy in the field of nanotechnology, this policy is very important to the member states and Israel has been taking part in it for a long time. Today, when Israel is a member full of - This OECD is becoming more important. The body headed by him is responsible for all standards in the fields of materials and their production methods, and we would like our opinion to be heard in the scientific part as well Tuomo from Finland is the father of Atomic Layer Deposition, one of the basic methods for working in the nano field. In addition, Christos Toukmanis from the European community, who is responsible for the rest of the field of nanotechnology in the seventh research program in which Israel is a partner, will also arrive.
"This year we also have an increased presence of the defense industries that use nanotechnological materials for a variety of uses, including shielding and other materials with special properties. The leading defense companies such as Pelsan, Elbit, the Aerospace Industry and others are also partners in the conference.
In addition to the academic projects, the nano centers will present 12 projects, two from each of the six nano centers. These are projects that are already beyond the academic level, but not yet startup companies.
Demonstrations of nanoscale models and art
This year, for the first time, as part of the Nano Israel conference, a display of models (DEMOS) will be held in the pavilion of Matim R&D - the body of the chief scientist that deals with industrial issues. In the display, about 15 models of nanotechnology-based products will be demonstrated so that you can come and be impressed by them in a more tangible way. Looking for ways to convey the message that this is not just high science but something with real uses in a variety of ways. " explains Severski Sofer. In the same context, the NANO ART competition will also be held this year. Also, about 300 posters of scientific studies will be presented.
As part of the conference, awards will also be given to the outstanding company, the outstanding siege and the young scientist award.
"All the guests of the conference are first class, of the order of magnitude we saw in the two previous conferences. When we started the conference, the ratio was 80:20 in favor of academia, and little by little we are moving in the applied direction without harming the scientific side and the next generation of developments." Summarizes Swarovski Super.
