Young faculty prize winners at the conference
Young faculty prize winners at the conference

33rd Umbrella Conference on Energy

Umbrella Conference, Attended by Technion Scientists, Closes After Successful Deliberations in Germany

The 33rd Umbrella Conference on Energy Conversion and Storage took place this week in Germany, with the participation of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, the Jülich Research Institute and RWTH Aachen University.  

The Umbrella Conference was held at the Jülich Research Institute in Germany, in cooperation with the Technion, Jülich Research Institute and RWTH Aachen University in Germany. The aim of the conference was to promote scientific cooperation and joint research among the three institutions. This is the second year which focuses on energy conversion and energy storage, coordinated with the Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP).

The meetings were attended by more than 60 researchers from the three universities, with the highlight being the awarding of prizes to three leading researchers in the field of energy. The prize is awarded annually to young faculty members, and this year is awarded for their achievements in energy research.

The 2019 winners were:

Lior Kornblum of the Technion, for the development of a unique combination of thin layers for energy transformation; Dr. Xiaoyan Yin of the Jülich Research Institute and Francisco Guzman of the Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering at the University of Aachen.

Prof. Wayne Kaplan, the Technion’s executive vice president for research, said at the conference: “This is a significant collaboration of 33 years, with excellent connections among the three institutions, each with its own uniqueness and each contributing to the other with knowledge and skills.”

As part of the program, in the winter the ‘Winter School’ was held in collaboration with the Russel Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI), and this was attended by some 140 doctoral students and lecturers. Organizers are now focussing on the ‘Spring School’ in Germany in the spring of 2020, which has aroused interest around the world. In the next two years, the activity will focus on the life sciences and the connection between Big Data and neuroscience. “The Technion is very proud of the Umbrella partnership that is bringing science and engineering to new heights,” says Prof. Kaplan.