|
In 2009, we have devoted special attention to green technologies, and we organized a Cleantech event that took place in Rotterdam on 5 November 2009. Those of you, who participated, would agree that it was a success! During this event, trends and innovations in cleantech were presented; with participants from industry, academics and government, it provided an excellent networking opportunity for everyone interested in CleanTech or high-tech in general.
The event was hosted by Erasmus University Rotterdam. Professor Steven Lamberts was a wonderful host and gave a great welcome speech.
 
Pictured: Prof. Steven Lamberts
The Minister of Science and Technology of Israel – Prof. Daniel Hershkovitz participated in the event. The Ambassador of Israel - Harry Kney-Tal also attended the event. They both gave inspirational speeches on cooperation across borders and cooperation between the Netherlands and Israel in particular.
 
Pictured: the Ambassador of Israel - Harry Kney-Tal and the Minister of Science and Technology of Israel – Prof. Daniel Hershkovitz
Having spoken about cooperation between two great countries, two Memorandums of Understanding were signed between ESE, RSM and the Technion. Prof. Raphi Rom represented the Technion at this signing ceremony:
1. Erasmus School of Economics and the Technion
On behalf of ESE the Dean - Professor Philip Hans Franses signed the MoU and made some encouraging remarks about the future of this cooperation.
 
Pictured: Prof. Raphi Rom, Prof. Philip Hans Franses and Prof. George S. Yip
2. Rotterdam School of Management and the Technion
On behalf of RSM the Dean – Professor George S. Yip sealed the MoU with his signature and expressed his views on why such cooperation is of utmost importance for RSM and for him personally.
 
Pictured: Prof. George S. Yip, Prof. Raphi Rom, Prof. Philip Hans Franses and Henk van Esch (Moderator)
Having signed cooperation agreements between two schools of one of the best universities in Europe and one of the best educational institutes in Israel, the event took yet another turn and focused on presentations of Israeli CleanTech companies.
1. Precede Technologies was the first company to present its concept. Mr. Orni Petrushka represented his company and gave an interesting presentation on how his company makes sure that early-stage ventures are created and nurtured.
 
Pictured: Mr. Orni Petrushka
2. CellEra was the second company to speak and its co-founder and Vice-president of R&D – Dr. Dario R. Dekel gave an attention-grabbing presentation on how his company set a mission to dramatically reduce the cost of fuel cells and unlock their potential for massive market penetration.
 
Pictured: Dr. Dario R. Dekel
3. PML was the last Israeli CleanTech company to present and Dr. Meir Teichner, the CEO of the company, managed to mesmerize guests of the event with his topic of Partical Monitoring Technologies.
 
Pictured: Dr. Meir Teichner
After presentations of three Israeli companies, Mr. Klaas van der Burgh – Account manager and Specialist in Technical Innovation at ABN Amro, talked about state sponsored loans for innovation.
 
Pictured: Mr. Klaas van der Burg, ABN Amro
After the networking break, Mr. Wiert-Jan de Raaf from the Rotterdam Climate Initiative expressed his ideas and presented a very ambitious climate program that is currently being implemented in Rotterdam. The objective of RCI is the most ambitious in the Netherlands: to diminish CO2 emissions by 50% by 2025. RCI is a cooperation platform where authorities, organizations, businesses and civilians work together to achieve the same goals.
 
Pictured: Mr. Wiert-Jan de Raaf
Besides presentations and inspirational speeches mentioned above, the CleanTech Event offered networking possibilities for its participants, moreover, there was also a round table discussion about CleanTech Opportunities during difficult crisis times.
After the round table discussion, Prof. Raphael Rom – VP of Resource Development and External Relations at the Technion, gave a short presentation about the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.
 
Pictured:Prof. Raphael Rom
The presentation of Prof. Rom was followed by the keynote speaker of the Event – Prof, Yair Ein-Eli who talked about Technion’s portable power sources research.
Prof. Ein-Eli has more than 70 publications in peer-review Journals and 10 patents. Current research projects of Prof. Ein-Eli involve: Advanced materials for portable power sources (Li-ion batteries, alkaline, metal-air cells and PEM fuel cells); Electrochemical behavior, electrodepositing and chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of copper interconnects; Electrochemical behavior of silicon; Water advance oxidation technology.
 
Pictured: Prof. Yair Ein-Eli
The event was concluded by Mr. Kobi Kurtz – the Chairman of the Technion Society of the Netherlands, who talked about the mission and main goals of the Society.
 
Pictured: Mr. Kobi Kurtz
This was a truly inspirational event and we hope that it serves as a push-start for many cooperations and projects!
This event would not be possible without our sponsors and collaborators; therefore we would like to thank Erasmus University Rotterdam, ABN Amro, Vink & Partners and KPMG for their contribution to the event!
If you have any comments or require any additional information on the event, you are very welcome to contact us. |
