Israel Prize recipient’s Aussie connection
THE Technion – Israel Institute of Technology professor who played a critical role in making a joint project with the University of Sydney a reality has been awarded the prestigious Israel Prize.
THE Technion – Israel Institute of Technology professor who played a critical role in making a joint project with the University of Sydney a reality has been awarded the prestigious Israel Prize.
Distinguished Professor Moti Segev will be officially presented with the Israel Prize in Physics at a state ceremony on Yom Ha’atzmaut.
Regarded as Israel’s highest honour, the Israel Prize is awarded to Israeli citizens or organisations who have displayed excellence in their fields or have contributed strongly to the State of Israel.
In awarding the honour, the Israel Prize committee said: “Professor Segev is a pioneering physicist in the field of optics and lasers. His innovative contributions are a source of inspiration and his scientific work is quoted in thousands of scientific articles.”
Technion Australia (NSW) Executive Director Ken Lander congratulated Professor Segev on being awarded the prize.
“The awarding of the Israel Prize in Physics to Distinguished Professor Segev is the most recent in a long list of honours recognising his unique contribution to physics and in particular optics and photonics,” he said.
“This award not only honours Professor Segev, it also once again demonstrates the Technion’s leadership and standing as one of the world’s foremost universities.”
The participation of Professor Segev was a critical factor in bringing together the Technion-Sydney University-NSW government photonics research project to design the computer chip of the future, which was launched by NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner last month.
“Technion Australia is extremely proud that a scientist of his calibre has seen the importance of this collaboration and is investing his time and energy to bring it to fruition,” Lander said.
“From the outset he has been enthusiastic and despite a very full and extensive research portfolio was keen to include the Australian collaboration in his program.”
The collaboration will take three years with a budget of $680,000, of which the NSW government has committed $300,000 – the first time an Australian government has funded a joint project with an Israeli university.
Professor Segev will be presented with the Israel Prize in the presence of Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Supreme Court president Asher Grunis.
GARETH NARUNSKY with JPOST.COM
Moti Segev
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