Events

The students met with Michael Kagan, CTO at NVIDIA. Michael talked about his personal journey to the peak of technology and about the computational revolution of the past five years. Michael Kagan is one of Israel's technological leaders, and as CTO of NVIDIA, the microchip and AI global giant, he has a strong influence on the main aspects of contemporary technological development and on the employment of engineers in Israel.

The students met with Daniella Bar-Lev, a PhD student in the Faculty of Computer Science. Daniella received the Gutwirth Scholarship of Excellence and recently won the PCB prize in data sciences and the Blavatnik prize for outstanding Israeli doctoral students in computer science. Daniella is a graduate of the Lapidim program. She completed her BSc in computer science and mathematics at the Technion in 2019, and her MSc in computer science in 2021. Her research interests are algorithms, discrete mathematics, encryption theories, and DNA-based data storage.

a spring semester opening session, the students met with Dr. Orna Berry, PhD, a computer scientist, hi-tech entrepreneur, business executive, and senior manager in the science and technology sector in Israel. Dr. Berry was the first woman in Israel to serve as chief scientist (at Dell) and as head of the industrial R&D administration at the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor. Her roles included vice president and general manager of the EMC excellence centers. She also chaired several other companies, including Lambda Crossing, Riverhead Networks, and Radware, and was a board member at Poalim Equity, Aladdin, Alvarion, and Commtouch. Orna was appointed chair of the Venture Capital Fund Association in Israel, and became part of a one-of-a-kind initiative created by 40 leading figures in the Israeli hi-tech sector, designed to invest in Israeli startup companies as early as during the idea stage. Orna has volunteered in many different ways, including as board member of Kav Mashve (an organization that empowers Arab graduates and helps integrate them into high-quality employment), and won many prizes and much acclamation, including appearing in the WITI (Women in Technology International) Hall of Fame, as one of the "35 most influential and valuable women in technology in 2005". She received the Cyber Protector Award, and in the coming year will receive an honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan University. Orna currently serves as director of technology in the office of the CTO at Google Cloud International.

The students met for a two-part workshop, beginning with a session called The Startup Game in which they learned about the differences between a startup company and a business, the structure and incentives of venture capital funds, and the implications of these definitions. The second part of the workshop, Validation & Filtering, addressed the question of how to determine whether an idea can become a startup, and what to do next. The speaker, Danny Leshem, is a technology entrepreneur and venture capital investor. He co-founded two companies – Kidaro, a company that developed endpoint management systems for large organizations (sold to Microsoft in 2008), and OpenRest, a company that developed online ordering systems for restaurants (sold to Wix in 2014). Today, Danny is an angle investor in diverse startup companies and a co-founder of the INT3 venture capital fund. He helps his portfolio companies develop go-to-market strategies, raise funds, build teams, create products, and more.

The students met with Dr. Dana Drachsler Cohen, a faculty member in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computers at the Technion. She completed her studies in the Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion summa cum laude, is a graduate of the Technion Excellence Program (Rothschild) and Lapidim, and won the Alon Fellowship for young faculty members. Her research focuses on algorithms for guaranteeing reliability and safety of software, particularly using deep learning models. During the event, Dana shared her experiences and spoke with the students about the main questions she has encountered over the course of her career, including: Why choose research? How will I know if research interests me? When is the right time to start research? Is it better to work in the industry first? How do you choose a research topic? How do you choose a supervisor? Can you change your decision over the course of your career? Describe a day in the life of an academic scholar.

The students met with Dr. Mira Shalah Abboud, CEO and co-founder of BeautAI and a Technion graduate, who spoke about her journey, career path, and the connection between research and entrepreneurship. Dr. Shalah Abboud is a computer scientist who specializes in computational geometry and a hi-tech entrepreneur. She began her academic studies at age 15, before she even graduated high school, as part of the Etgar program for excellent students. She then received her BSc with honors from Haifa University, began MSc studies at the Technion, and switched to the direct track for a PhD, supervised by Prof. Gil Barkat from the Faculty of Computer Science. Her PhD thesis, entitled Formulae and Growth Rates of Animals on Cubical and Triangular Lattices, addressed fundamental questions in computational geometry and solved several previously unsolved problems in this field. After completing her PhD at age 25, Mira went to Stanford University for post-doctoral studies and researched representations and modeling of three-dimensional shapes using computer software. Her articles have been presented in conferences and published in leading international journals. After completing her post-doctorate, Mira returned to Israel and founded BeautAI, a beauty-tech startup company that is developing an automatic makeup application machine, and works there today as the CTO. In 2019, Mira was featured on the Forbes magazine 30 Under 30 list.

The students met with Dr. Gil Shamai and Prof. Ron Kimmel, who presented the research they had been working on for seven years on AI-based analysis of pathology images for purposes of diagnosis, prognosis, and selecting optimal cancer treatments. The technology they developed, known as the "computerized pathologist", analyzes the genetic and molecular composition of tissue samples from malignant tumors. The system tests the samples and identifies the genetic mutations that contribute to the tumor's development, as well other indices such as proteins. This enables the technology to determine the unique signature of each tumor, which is the basis for selecting the most suitable form of oncology treatment for the specific patient.

The students met for an opening and introductory session to meet their peers in the program. During the session, the students enjoyed a humorous improvisation workshop, in which they learned and performed physical and mental exercises to maintain high energy levels for the busy, exciting semester ahead.