June 30, 2015, Updated July 6, 2015

Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation has approved $8 million in funding for 10 new projects between American and Israeli companies. In addition to the grants from BIRD, the projects will access private sector funding, boosting the total value of all projects to approximately $19 million.

The 10 projects — in healthcare & wellness, advanced materials, advanced manufacturing technologies, and water innovations – were approved by the Board of Governors at a recent meeting in Washington DC. The BIRD Foundation has approved 910 projects for funding during its 38 year history.BIRDPRLogo2

“The Board of Governors selected ten quality projects covering diverse disciplines, of high priority for the U.S. and Israel, such as Advanced Manufacturing, Water and Digital Healthcare,” said Dr. Phillip Singerman, Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and co-Chairman of BIRD’s Board of Governors. “It’s satisfying to see companies from across the U.S. participating in the BIRD program and cooperating with Israeli companies to innovate and bring both economic and social value.”

BIRD’s total investment in joint projects has been over $300 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion.

“The United States is the leading R&D partner for Israel including various programs funded by the Chief Scientist. The BIRD Foundation continues to be the main vehicle for leveraging the strategic cooperation between the two countries focused on innovation and technology. The success of the Foundation is a solid basis for further expansion of cooperation between the United States, including federal R&D programs as well as programs with US States where the Chief Scientist has cooperation agreements,” said Avi Hasson, Chief Scientist at the Israel Ministry of Economy and co-Chairman of BIRD’s Board of Governors.

The new projects approved include: Compedia  (Ramat Gan, Israel) and AllenComm (Salt Lake City, UT): Advanced just-in-time augmented reality for manufacturing; Fulcrum S.P. Materials (Yavne, Israel) and Graphene Technologies (Novato, CA): Graphene enhanced carbon fiber sizing; Kando (Hadera, Israel) and Water Analytics (Andover, MA): Smart city organic wastewater management system; Life-Beam (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Under Armour (Baltimore, MD): Advanced smart fitness earbuds integrated with bio-sensing technology; mPrest Systems (Petach Tikva, Israel) and New York Power Authority (New York, NY): mPrest-NYPA transformer control system;  OMAT (Jerusalem, Israel) and Fives Machining Systems (Hebron, KY): Multi-objective machining process optimization system; Remedor Biomed (Nazareth Illit, Israel) and Medline Industries (Mundelein, Illinois): An EPO-releasing dressing for diabetic chronic wounds; Senecio (Haifa, Israel) and Dynamic Aviation (Bridgewater,  VA): Mosquito SIT; Telesofia  (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Tribune Content Agency (Chicago, IL): Personalized Wellness Videos; and  WellToDo  (Netanya, Israel) and American Water (Mount Laurel, NJ): Novel Water Treatment System Based on ‎Catalytic Reduction.

“The BIRD Foundation continues in its tradition of promoting joint projects between US and Israeli companies which are multidisciplinary in nature and contain a high level of innovation and knowledge. The Foundation initiates diverse activities to promote partnerships in new areas which are of great importance to both countries,” said Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation.

 

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