Press Coverage in 2016
Energy Department Announces Five Clean Energy Projects through BIRD Energy Partnership with Israel
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources (MIEW) along with the Israel Innovation Authority today announced $4 million for five newly selected clean energy projects as part of the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Energy program.
Today’s announcement represents the eighth annual selection of BIRD Energy projects, which support President Obama’s efforts to develop low-carbon alternatives to traditional energy resources.
This announcement builds on the robust and ongoing cooperation between the Energy Department and MIEW under the U.S. Israel Energy Dialogue, which brings together experts from both nations to encourage the use of clean energy technologies, foster natural gas regulations that encourage sustainable development, explore the energy-water nexus, and enhance energy cybersecurity.
Watch Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz discussing the program here:
November 10, 2016
www.energy.gov
Online therapeutic gaming platform adds groundbreaking new measurements, controllers and games.
PROVIDENCE, RI (October 28, 2016) – Timocco, an online skills development therapeutic gaming environment for children with special needs using motion-based technology to track movements, is expanding its ability to support more complex hand and wrist movements. The overall investment in the platform development is estimated over $2M, partially supported by the BIRD Foundation, an organization that promotes research and development in industries that mutually benefit Israel and the United States.
The grant, awarded in 2014, has allowed Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Brown University, and Meeting Street to work together to develop and research Timocco’s new cost-effective, web-based therapeutic game platform for children with physical challenges, including those in wheelchairs and with spastic cerebral palsy or other motor and cognitive disabilities.
Click here to read full article
October 28, 2016
www.timocco.com
Honeywell-IAI Tapped for UAV Anti-Collision Project
TEL AVIV – A US-Israel technology foundation has selected a team from Honeywell and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop an anti-collision system aimed at allowing UAVs to operate in civilian airspace.
The joint development project, funded by a $900,000 grant from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD), is slated for flight testing on the IAI Heron-1 UAV in mid-2018, both firms announced on Monday.
According to their July 11 statement, the Honeywell-IAI Sense-and-Avoid (SAA)-equipped Heron prototype will be tested in Israeli airspace following nearly two years of development work conducted in Tel Aviv and multiple locations in the US.
The BIRD grant is worth $900,000, and the project will supplemented with matching funds from both firms, Eitan Yudilevich, the foundation’s executive director, told Defense News.
July 11, 2016
defensenews.com
FDA approves first MRI-guided focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremor
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremor in patients who have not responded to medication. ExAblate Neuro uses magnetic resonance (MR) images taken during the procedure to deliver focused ultrasound to destroy brain tissue in a tiny area thought to be responsible for causing tremors
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xAblate Neuro is manufactured by InSightec in Dallas, Texas.
Funding for the study has been provided by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, BIRD (US-Israel Binational Industry R&D) and INSIGHTEC.
July 11, 2016
Marrone Bio Innovations and Groundwork BioAg Sign Seed Treatment Development Agreement
Key Development Initiative Focused on First Broad-Spectrum Biopesticide and Biostimulant Seed Treatment for Corn, Soybean, and Other Crops
Partial Funding Committed by BIRD Foundation
June 28, 2016, Davis, CA and Moshav Mazor, Israel. Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBII) (MBI) and Groundwork BioAg, Ltd. (GBA) announce a collaboration to create and commercialize the world’s first all-biological comprehensive seed treatment. The treatment is expected to contain a mycorrhizal biostimulant from GBA as well as a bioinsecticide, a bionematicide, and a biofungicide from MBI.
June 28, 2016
http://marronebioinnovations.com
Evogene and Marrone Bio Innovations Disclose Positive Results in Insect Control Collaboration
Novel proteins for activity against target insects being advanced to plant validation
Rehovot, Israel and Davis, California – May 16, 2016 – Evogene Ltd. (NYSE, TASE: EVGN), a leading company for the improvement of crop productivity and economics for food, feed and fuel, and Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. (MBI), (NASDAQ: MBII), a leading global provider of bio-based pest management and plant health products, announced today that they have successfully met an important milestone in their multi-year collaboration focused on discovery and validation of novel genes for insect control.
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The collaboration, initiated in July 2014, and supported by funding from the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, aims to bring to market new insect control solutions – seed traits and bio-insecticides – through leveraging the expertise and distinct assets and capabilities of each party.
May 16, 2016
http://www.evogene.com/
The decline in global oil and gas prices is threatening the renewable energy industry. The United States – the country which triggered the drop in gas prices – is also the country which in 2015 had the greatest solar installation capacity, with more than 7 GW of photovoltaic solar installations constituting approximately 30% of the added electric generating capacity in 2015. The decline in prices for solar systems, supportive governmental policies and the expectation of continued policy support for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, are the main factors which brought about this record in installations. Read the whole article
Dr. Eitan Yudilevich
May 8, 2016
Globes
Click here for the online version (Hebrew)
Click here for the printed version (Hebrew)