Article by: Rhonda Spivak
Published: Nov 18, 2024 in the Winnipeg Jewish Review
One of the many innovations developed by The Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa Israel is in the area of food technology, where Technion has developed hamburgers made out of meat, that are not made from animals, “The hamburgers are made from protein grown in a vat, and do not require lots of land to feed animals, and do not involve the slaughtering of cows… Our challenge was how to replicate the cells of animals in a vat,” Prof. Wayne Kaplan, explained to an audience at Shaarey Zedek synagogue at a breakfast meeting ( As an aside, at the breakfast people ate bagels and muffins that were not developed in a vat!). Kaplan, the Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development at the Technion, who gave a very interesting talk, indicated that “We have launched three companies for this non-animal meat, and there’s fish produced in a vat as well…and the Rabbis approve of.”
Kaplan, who began his term in Oct. 2022 and was brought to Winnipeg by Technion Canada, examined how the history of Technion is intertwined with the history of Israel. After noting that Jews were held back from technical education in Europe, the Technion “was established to train engineers” a hundred years ago in order to have the needed skills to build the infrastructure for the nascent state.” We knew we needed engineers to build roads, water lines, schools…,”Kaplan noted, indicating that 16 men and one woman formed the first students of the institute.
According to Kaplan, when France, which had armed Israel, stopped supporting Israel, Technion “became a research university.” The challenge at the time was that “Israel needed night vision equipment and we didn’t have it and couldn’t get it, so Technion developed it” in the 1960’s. Kaplan added “We built ‘clean rooms’ to develop night vision and without this Israel would have been defeated in the 1973 Yom Kippur war. The development of night vision equipment led to a new micro-electronics industry for us.” Kaplan pointed out that Intel Research and Development is “run by Technion grads, almost exclusively.”
As Kaplan who referred to himself as a “nerd” explained, Technion’s impact is due to its interdisciplinary research.” We influence society by developing new science,” and we launch 15 companies per year. He said that when the current war ceases, “we have to continue to reboot Israel with technology, and new companies , which are needed for our economy. Kaplan indicated that when it launches a new company, “there is a generous revenue sharing model”, where the students get 50% of the revenue and the Technion gets 50 % of the revenue. It is important, however, to ensure that not only is a company technology ready but investor ready,” said Kaplan, who is the Karl Stoll Chair in Advanced Materials in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and is affiliated with the Russell Barrie Nanotechnology.
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