And in addition: 62 senior managers from China will participate this week in an innovation workshop at the Technion
The Minister of Science, Technology and Space, MK Yaakov Perry, met today (Wednesday) with the Chinese Ambassador, Gao Yanping and the staff of the Chinese Embassy, this against the background of the Prime Minister's recent visit to China and the decision to deepen cooperation with Israel, with an emphasis on the fields of science and technology .
"The Chinese society admires the many achievements of the State of Israel, especially in the fields of science, research, development and technology, and therefore we see all cooperation with you as a real asset for the Chinese people and the people of Israel," the Chinese ambassador stated at the beginning of the meeting. The development of the field of science and technology is a high priority among the Chinese government, and therefore the ambassador emphasized that "the Chinese leadership has set itself the goal of deepening cooperation and scientific ties with Israel"
In light of this, the Minister of Science, Technology and Space, MK Yaakov Perry, proposed to expand the cooperation between the science ministries of the two countries, while increasing the budget intended for joint research in the fields of agricultural biotechnology, nanomaterials, water technology, as well as the development of alternative energies.
The ambassador stated that the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to China planted roots for cooperation in the field of research and development and emphasized the potential inherent in the Chinese market: "We have the largest market in the world and good foundations for science and technology developments, we can generate more jobs, more investments and more developments in both countries together ".
The Minister of Science said at the end of the meeting: "There is an understanding in Israel that the potential inherent in institutionalizing science and technology relations with China can be a real growth engine for the Israeli economy. China's ability to be a broad and sophisticated platform for Israeli research and development achievements"
Israel's ambassador to China, Matan Vilnai, will tomorrow visit the Israeli national team in green construction, which is currently in second place, in the prestigious "Solar Decathlon" competition currently taking place in China
Last Friday, August 2, 2013, the prestigious "Solar Decathlon" competition opened in China, in which teams from academic institutions from 20 countries compete for the title of ecological construction champion. This year, for the first time, a team from Israel is participating. This Friday, Israel's ambassador to China, Matan Vilnai, is expected to come to cheer on the team that is currently in second place.
The Israeli team that went to China with an innovative green house, made by Blue and White and led by Shankar, includes students and researchers from Shankar, the academic track, the College of Management, Tel Aviv University and the academic center WICHO Haifa. The Israeli team uses blue and white materials, solutions and technologies from the companies Indan, IZUCAM, FUNDERMAX, SHERA, SIKA, STS, Pythagoras and Kena Kesh. The main achievement: a housing unit that will produce more energy than is needed to live in it.
The competition, which in previous years was held in the USA, and is usually attended by hundreds of thousands of visitors, is being held in China for the first time this year and will last until August 13. The Israeli preparation for the competition began already two years ago, when Dr. Yossi Kuri from the department of interior design, structure and environment in Shenkar, in collaboration with architect Chen Shalita, issued a "call" to form a team of students to participate in the competition.
Dr. Yossi Kuri and Khan Shalita, the academic supervisors of the project, were joined by students studying architecture, environmental studies and design studies from a number of leading institutions. The head of the foreign studies department at Shenkar, Oded Chai, who leads the project as an administrative manager, has also joined the task, and has already received an appeal from a businessman from Zambia who is investigating the possibility of ordering and transporting units of the Israeli ecological home to the Sahara region.
Dr. Yossi Kuri from the Department of Interior Design, Structure and Environment at Shenkar, who leads the group, explains that "this is a very prestigious competition, which is actually the Olympics of green construction. We essentially created a sort of 'Israeli team' in green construction when the Ministry of Infrastructure also joined as a partner in financing the project", alongside the Israeli team, teams from Egypt, Iran and Turkey are also competing.
The Israeli team designed a residential unit with a size of approximately 85 square meters, which is designed in a modular way so that its size can be doubled in the future due to the expansion of the family.
The main message of the Israeli "Green House", behind which stands a huge achievement, is energy independence. The green house will be completely independent in terms of energy - and in fact, will produce more electricity than it will actually consume.
The planning and design of the house was based on the principles of Mediterranean construction, including, among other things, elements such as a shared courtyard planned to be used in the future as a courtyard of several buildings, in order to create an appropriate density of sustainable residences in a "green neighborhood".
As part of the construction of the house, advanced Israeli technologies were used, some of which will be presented to the world for the first time as part of the competition. For example, innovative technology from the Israeli company Pythagoras, which produces window glazing integrated with photovoltaic cells, is integrated into the house, so that you can see through the windows while they generate energy.
The green house reaches new heights of efficiency in insulation and industrialized construction, with the help of thin-walled steel from the Israeli Indan Co.
The solar decathlon competition includes 10 categories in which the different teams compete. The selected teams are required to produce a real building that produces more electricity than is actually needed, achievable in terms of production cost, attractive and beautiful in terms of architectural design and comfortable for living, whose internal conditions are appropriate in terms of health and comfortable in terms of ventilation and temperature, a building that produces energy for self-use that includes cooking, cleaning and entertainment options and, of course, including clean running water - cold and hot.
The Israeli team, as mentioned, is currently in second place. This coming Friday, August 9, the Israeli ambassador to China, Matan Vilnai, will come to visit the competition and to encourage the team. The contest will end on August 13, but the winners will be announced on August 10-11.
Regular updates about the Israeli group and the representative house
62 senior managers from China will participate in an innovation workshop at the Technion this week
62 company managers from China arrived yesterday for a five-day visit to Israel. During the visit, the managers will participate in the workshop Visit to Israel - An In-depth Journey to the World Innovation Factory, which is being held for the first time in Israel. The workshop is held by the Innovation Center in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technion, led by Professor Miriam Erez.
The guests will hear lectures on innovation from experts from the academy, and will conduct visits to the Israeli industry at the following companies: Ishkar, Amiad Water Systems, Biosense Webster, Stratasys, Naan-Dan-Jain and Gilat.
"We are talking about managers and presidents of medium-sized companies from all over China, with a financial turnover of about 10 million dollars," said Professor Miriam Erez, Israel Prize Laureate, who heads the Center for Innovation. "These companies are looking for added value in Israeli technology, and their representatives came to the workshop to learn the secrets of Israeli innovation."
At the Technion, the delegation was welcomed by the Technion's president, Professor Peretz Lavi, who reviewed the Technion's history and its great contribution to Israel's economy to its members. "Globalization is one of the Technion's strategic goals," said Professor Lavie. "In 2009, we opened an international school at the Technion, which receives excellent students from all over the world, among them many Chinese students. We have laboratories in Singapore, and in New York we opened the 'Technion-Cornell Institute for Innovation'. Cooperation with the Chinese people is important to us."
During the visit to Israel, the members of the delegation will meet with the Chinese ambassador to Israel, Mrs. Zhao Yanping, with government representatives and senior businessmen from the country, and with representatives from the Haifa Municipality and the Haifa Economic Company. They will hear lectures by former Minister of Science Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, Professor Shlomo Mittal, former Chief Scientist Dr. Eli Ofer and other entrepreneurs and innovation leaders from the Israeli industry. The workshop is held in collaboration with the Shengjing company from Beijing, which deals in business consulting.
* The news in this cluster is based on press releases from the spokesperson of the Minister of Science, Shenkar College and the Technion
