GREENER,
CLEANER,
BETTER:
Israeli Innovation
in Greentech
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
American University
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GREENER,
CLEANER,
BETTER:
Israeli Innovation
in Greentech
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
American University
From solar-powered water heaters to plug-in electric cars, Israel is making a
big impact as an innovator in green technology and a bold mover towards a
more sustainable society. The Greener, Cleaner, Better symposium features
Israeli environmental innovators, investors, officials and analysts who will
describe ground-breaking solutions Israel has developed in response to its
environmental challenges – a small arid land with no oil, no coal and very
limited water. Please take time to view the student-created displays along the
walls of the conference, depicting the technological innovations and businesses
of some of the stars of Israel Greentech.
The symposium was scheduled to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Tu
B’shevat (the New Year for Trees) which has become Israel’s Earth Day. It is
our hope that attendees will take away a greater understanding and interest in
Israel’s unique approaches to innovation and a renewed commitment to our
collective stewardship of the earth.
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We would like to acknowledge the following sponsors for their generous support for
today’s Symposium:
american university:
»» Environmental Science Program
(College of Arts and Sciences)
»» M.S. in Sustainability Management
Program (KSB)
»» Global Environmental
Politics Program (School of
International Service)
»» School of Public Affairs Center for
Environmental Policy
»» AU Office of Sustainability
other sponsors:
corporate sponsors:
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greener, cleaner, better: israeli innovation in greentech
tuesday, february 7, 2012 - american university
tu b’shevat, jewish new year for trees - israel’s earth day
conference agenda
9:00 a.m.
Registration and Networking
10:00 a.m.
Welcome Remarks Neil Kerwin, President, American University
Laura Cutler, Director, AU Center for Israel Studies
10:15-11:45
a.m.
Business of Greentech Innovation: Case Studies
The
Moderator: AU Professor Erran Carmel, Kogod School of Business
Rafael Coven, Managing Director, Cleantech Group
Sam Feigin, Chair, Israel Business Group, Nixon Peabody LLP
Joshua Bar Lev, Co-founder of Brightsource
Safi Oranski, VP, Panoramic Power
Jon Freedman, VP, GE Power & Water
11:45 a.m.
Box Lunch Pickup
12:00-1:15 p.m.
Keynote Address: “Free from Oil: Breaking the Monopoly
in 2012” Michael Granoff, Head of Oil Independence
Policies, Better Place
1:15-1:30
Break
p.m.
1:30-3:00 p.m.
Beyond the Firm: The Politics and Policies of Israel’s
Green Economy
Moderator: Professor Jeffrey Sosland, AU Washington Semester Program
Andrea Yonah, Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development
(BIRD) Foundation
Jack Gilron, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Rotec & Senior
Scientist and Desalination Specialist, Ben-Gurion University
Eilon Adar, Director of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR),
Ben-Gurion University
Eli Groner, Israel’s Minister for Economic Affairs to the United States
3:00-3:40
p.m.
The
Green Future: The Utopian and the Practical
Moderator: Professor Paul Wapner, School of International Studies Global
Politics Program
Rabbi Fred Sherlinder-Dobb, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Scott Berman, Eco-Sense Student Leader
Allison Gold, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
3:45 p.m.
Closing
Peter Starr, Dean, AU College of Arts and Sciences
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keynote speaker
michael granoff
Michael Granoff has been head of oil independence
policies for Better Place since its founding in
2007. In that capacity, he helps stakeholders of all
types calibrate policies consistent with the Better
Place approach to ending the corrosive effect of
oil dependence on economy, environment and
security. Stakeholders with which Granoff works
include governments on every level, industry, nongovernmental organizations, and current and future
Better Place partners.
Granoff is founder of Maniv Energy Capital, a New
York-based investment group and the first investor in
Better Place. Maniv Energy has several other interests in the alternative energy and
clean technology space, and was instrumental in the founding of Israel Cleantech
Ventures, the first venture fund in Israel with an exclusive focus on cleantech.
In 2004, Granoff became a founding board member of Securing America’s Future
Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based group that works with corporate and retired
military leaders to advocate for policies that contribute to the energy security of
the U.S.
Previous to Maniv Energy, Granoff founded Maniv Bioventures, a $20 million
fund that invested in 10 early-stage life science companies. Politically active for
two decades, Granoff served in two presidential campaigns and several political
organizations, and has served on the boards of half a dozen non-profit institutions.
Mr. Granoff was winner of the 2010 Asper Award for Global Entrepreneurship from
the Brandeis University International School of Business, among other honors. He
holds a B.A. from Tufts University, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management
at Northwestern University, and a J.D. from Northwestern School of Law. Granoff is an
avid marathon runner and, together with his wife, he has four young children.
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greener , cleaner , better:
israeli innovation in greentech
speaker biographies
Eilon Adar is an expert in arid zones hydrology and Middle East
water issues and has been at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
for more than 25 years. Since 2002, he has been the director of
BGU’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at the Jacob
Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research. He is also a professor
in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.
Professor Adar conducts cutting-edge research on groundwater flow systems and
arid basins. He has published numerous papers, lectures extensively worldwide and
takes an active role in helping start-up businesses use innovative water technologies
developed at BGU.
Joshua Bar-Lev was vice president of regulatory affairs and
government relations for Israel-based BrightSource Energy
from its startup until 2011. In that capacity, he managed the
complex federal and state permitting of the largest solar energy
project in the United States. He also managed and achieved
legislative initiatives to incent solar energy, including the federal
investment tax credit, grant, federal loan guarantee program, state property and
sales tax exemptions and reform of federal transmission policies and rules. Joshua
has been a key policy “thought leader” in the renewable energy industry. He was
a founder and Board member of the Large Scale Solar Association (LSA), a trade
association of utility scale solar developers.
Prior to joining BrightSource, Joshua served 28 years with Pacific Gas and Electric
Company (P,G&E), most recently as Chief Counsel. Among many roles, he
served as lead attorney of the company’s proposal to restructure and deregulate its
intrastate gas and electric procurement and transmission business. He is a founder
of the Coalition for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology, a group of
California environmental organizations and renewable energy companies. Joshua
holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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speaker biographies
Scott Berman is a senior at American University majoring
in history with minors in Jewish studies and sociology. He
has been an active member with AU’s undergraduate student
environmental group Eco-Sense. He has worked to help the
campus community become greener and hopes to continue
work on behalf of the environment by studying environmental
policy in graduate school.
Fred Scherlinder Dobb has been Rabbi of Adat Shalom
Reconstructionist
Congregation
(www.adatshalom.net)
in the Washington DC area since 1997, during which
time the synagogue has more than doubled in size, built its
2002 EPA Energy Star Award building, and recently installed a
43kw solar array and a thriving organic garden. A long-time
Jewish environmental educator and activist, Fred has been a layleader with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (www.coejl.org) for
some fifteen years, and while on sabbatical in 2003-04 he became the first rabbi to
join the COEJL staff. Fred is currently the Chairperson of Greater Washington
Interfaith Power and Light (www.gwipl.org), and a co-Chair of Religious Witness
for the Earth. Fred, who writes and speaks widely on the intersection of Judaism
and ecology, received a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in
2009, having written on eco-theology and greening congregations.
Sam Feigin Sam is the Vice Chair of Nixon Peabody’s
Business and Finance Department and Co-Chair of Nixon
Peabody Israel Business. Israel Business facilitates the flow
of business involving Israel-related companies, investors, and
entrepreneurs. He has extensive experience representing Israeli
and other foreign-based companies doing business in the
United States and abroad. He serves as outside general counsel for clients from
start-ups to major international businesses. He has a national and international
network with greatest concentrations in Boston (where he lived and practiced for
10 years), Israel, New York, and Washington, DC, which he leverages daily for
clients. He has long been a trusted advisor to CXOs and boards in connection with
their most sensitive issues including transactions, corporate governance issues and
employment matters. Sam is a native of the Washington area. He earned his J.D.
from The George Washington University National Law Center and his B.A. in
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speaker biographies
Political Science from Yale College. He has spent a great deal of time in Israel and
has worked with Israel-related clients throughout his career. Sam is a co-founder of
the Potomac Israel Business Forum.
Jon Freedman is GE Water & Process Technologies’ Global
Government Relations Leader based in Washington, DC. He
is a recognized expert and frequent speaker on water policies.
He also serves on the Board of Directors of the WateReuse
Association, and chairs its National Legislative Committee,
where he helps set its legislative agenda and leads visits with
government officials to advocate for greater water reuse. Freedman joined GE
more than ten years ago as a Business Development Leader with GE Energy, where
he was responsible for growing GE’s global water business. He initiated what
turned out to be three of the five acquisitions that GE made over a several year
period to create what today is one of the world’s leading advanced water treatment
companies with more than 8,000 employees in 130 countries around the world.
Before joining GE, Freedman worked in various senior leadership roles for Suez
Water, both in the United States and in Paris, France. Freedman earned a BA from
the University of Virginia, a JD from William & Mary Law School, and an MBA in
Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Jack Gilron is a senior scientist at the Zuckerberg Institute for
Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where
he has been on the faculty since 1997. As a member of the
Department of Desalination and Water Treatment, Dr. Gilron
works to promote water treatment technologies including highly
efficient desalination processes. He began his career in the water
treatment field in 1978, working for a water treatment chemicals
company and accumulated 14 years experience in the industry. Dr. Gilron has been
involved in membrane technology since 1982. He has published many articles in
peer reviewed journals and had been awarded 8 patents.
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speaker biographies
Allison Gold is an ORISE (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education) Fellow in U.S. EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans,
and Watersheds. She works on education and outreach for
nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) pollution in the Mississippi
River Basin and develops communications materials for other
high priority Agency topics. Alli graduated from
American
University in May 2010 with a BA in political science and received the university’s
highest honor, the President’s Award. She previously worked at U.S. EPA in
the nonpoint source control branch and published a paper entitled Rainwater
Harvesting: Policies, Programs, and Practices for Water Supply Sustainability for
the American Society of Civil Engineers. She held previous internships at the U.S.
State Department and the Embassy of Israel.
Eli Groner is Israel’s Minister for Economic Affairs to the
United States, a position for which he was confirmed by the
Israeli cabinet. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Groner served
as a special advisor to the Chairman of Tnuva, one of Israel’s
largest food manufacturers and distributors, and as a consultant
at McKinsey & Company, where he served a breadth of Fortune
1000 corporations from around the world. Mr. Groner started his career as a finance
and economics correspondent at The Jerusalem Post. He served in the paratrooper
corps in the Israel Defense Forces from 1989-1992, where he received a citation for
outstanding performance and exemplary leadership. Mr. Groner earned an MBA
from New York University, and a BA in political science from Bar-Ilan University. Tsafrir (Safi) Oranski has been Vice President of US Business
Development and Marketing for Panoramic Power since 2011.
Prior to joining Panoramic Power, he served as the Vice President
for Business Development at Arcadian Networks, a provider of
smart-grid wide area networks to the energy sector - electric,
water, and gas companies. Safi worked at Gilo Ventures, where
he focused on the funds’ portfolio companies, driving various aspects of the business
including marketing, strategy, planning, partnerships and acquisitions. Formerly, Safi
worked at SAP as a marketing manager developing messaging, enablement and go to
market solutions. As an attorney, he worked at the corporate division of one of the
leading law firms in Israel. Safi holds an MBA from Northwester University’s Kellogg
School of Management and an LLB from The Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
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speaker biographies
Andrea Yonah represents the US-Israel Binational Industrial
Research & Development (BIRD) Foundation, and is responsible
for the East Coast of the United States. BIRD is a 35 year old
endowment funded by the Israeli and U.S. governments. The
foundation offers funding of up to $1 million to U.S. and Israeli
companies that jointly develop and commercialize innovative technologies.
Prior to her position with the BIRD Foundation, from June 2002 until April 2010
Andrea served as the executive director of the New Jersey-Israel Commission,
promoting the development of trade, culture and educational exchanges, and
investment between the two states.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Andrea also lived in Israel, during which time
she received her Teaching Certificate and Research Masters in Foreign Language
Education from Tel-Aviv University. In 1991, Ms. Yonah was selected for a
BIRD-funded joint business venture between EduSoft, an Israeli company, and
the American company Berlitz International for which she developed language
learning software targeted towards an international marketplace. Andrea returned to the United States in 1995 to work at Bertlitz’s worldwide
headquarters in Princeton, NJ as part of Berlitz’s Worldwide Marketing Division,
Andrea specialized in marketing and developing interactive media and Internet
applications. Andrea holds a B.A. in Urban Affairs and Political Science from
Barnard College, Colombia University. 11
moderators and other presenters
Erran Carmel, (moderator) is an expert on the globalization of
technology work, especially distributed work and offshoring
of information technology. He is the author of three books
including, just released, “I’m Working While They’re Sleeping.”
In 2002 he co-wrote one of the first reports on the success of
Israel’s tech sector titled: “Silicon Wadi: the forces behind cluster
formation.” He is a professor in the department of Information Technology at the
Kogod School of Business at American University. In 2009 he was also appointed
the International Business Research Professor. In the 1990s he co-founded and led
the program in Management of Global Information Technology. He has been a
Visiting Professor at Israel’s University of Haifa several times. Jeffrey Sosland (moderator) is an Assistant Professor of
International Business and Trade at American University’s
Washington Semester Program. The focus of his research is
the politics of globalization and the political economy of the
Middle East. He has published numerous academic works and
has been an active participant in international conferences, including a book on
water scarcity and the Arab-Israeli conflict, Cooperating Rivals: The Riparian Politics of
the Jordan River Basin. He has served as an adviser to a foreign ambassador, drawn
citations on the OP-ED page of the Wall Street Journal, presented research at
the US State Department, appeared on C-SPAN and testified before the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. He earned his B.A. from Harvard and his Ph.D. from
Georgetown University.
Paul Wapner (moderator) is Professor of Global Environmental
Politics in the School of International Service at American
University. He is the author of the award-winning book,
Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics, and more
recently, Living through the End of Nature: The Future of
American Environmentalism. He is editor of Principled World
Politics, and author of numerous articles addressing international environmental
politics, environmental ethics, sustainable design and environmental activism. He
helped design the Leed-Certified School of International Service building where
today’s event is being held.
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moderators and other presenters
Laura Katz Cutler is Acting Director of the Center for Israel
Studies at American University. She was formerly commercial
banker at Wells Fargo Bank’s San Francisco Corporate Office.
As an active member of the Washington, DC Jewish community
she has been a tireless advocate for Israel and for innovation
in Jewish education. She has served on a number of national
boards, including as past chairman of the board of PANIM: The Institute for
Jewish Leadership and Values. Laura serves on the boards of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Washington and United Jewish Endowment Fund. She holds a M.A. in
international relations from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies.
Richard G. Linowes is Kogod Outstanding Professor of
Undergraduate Programs at the Kogod School of Business at
American University in Washington, D.C. He teaches strategy,
global entrepreneurship and cross-cultural leadership. He
has a D.B.A. from Harvard Business School, M.S. from the
University of Michigan in computer and communication
sciences, and A.B. from Princeton University in cybernetics.
Dr. Linowes’s professional management experience includes several years with
Accenture and executive roles at Goldman Sachs, where he helped plan the firm’s
international expansion and protect itself from risk. Since returning to university
life, he served as an evaluator for the Baldrige National Quality Award and taught
with the director of the Baldrige National Quality program. In 2010 he was visiting
professor at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.
Dr. Linowes’s research focuses on the globalization of management and the
challenges of managing cross-culturally. He develops innovative approaches to
management education and was a Fulbright Scholar for pedagogical innovation.
For ten years Dr. Linowes taught entrepreneurship in Israel.
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A team of students led by Kogod Professor Richard Linowes created wall displays for
the conference profiling 48 of Israel’s most exciting Greentech innovations and the
companies that bring them to the world. They are listed here by industry with their
website contacts. The symposium organizing committee wants to thank members of
the Business Advisory Committee and His Excellency Arun Singh of the Embassy of
India for their keen insights that led to the selection of these companies.
resource
Water
Desalination
Management
Cleanup
Energy
Solar
Production (Bio
Fuels)
Production (Wind)
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companies profiled in displays
Rotec
IDE Technologies
TaKaDu
Hydrospin
Nirosft
CuraPipe
Emefcy
Mapal
Aqwise
Diffusair
rotec-water.com
ide-tech.com
takadu.com
hydrospin.net
nirosoft.com
curapipe.com
emefcy.com
mapal-ge.com
aqwise.com
diffusaire.com
BrightSource
Tigo
Solair Energy
B-Solar
Heliofocus
Arava Power
Kaiima
Evogene
Designer Energy
Focal Energy
Pentalum
IQwind
Variable Wind Solutions
Leviathan Energy
brightsourceenergy.com
tigoenergy.com
solaris-energy.co.il
b-solar.com
heliofocus.com
aravapower.com
kaiima.com
evogene.com
designerenergy.net
focal-energy.com
pentalum.com
iqwind.com
variable-wind.com
leviathanenergy.com
Use your smart phone to read the Quick Read (QR) codes on the wall displays of the Abramson Family
Founder’s Room to access information about 48 of the most exciting Israeli Greentech Companies.
Android: Go to Android Market and download “Barcode Scanner”
iPhone: Go to AppStore and download “QR Reader for iPhone”
Blackberry: Use camera function
resource
Energy
Production (Wave)
Production
(Geothermal)
Storage
Efficiency
Air
Cleanup
Transport
Recycling
Packaging
Waste Management
Construction
Agriculture
companies profiled in displays
S.D.E. Energy
Ormat Industries
sdeseawave.com
ormat.com
Techtium
Cellera
Enstorage
Panoramic Power
Innosave
Greenlet
techtium.net
cellera.biz
enstorageinc.com
panpwr.com
innosave-energy.com
greenlet.net
MegAir
Airbase
Lextran
Better Place
ETVmotors
megair.co.il
myairbase.com
lextran.co.il
betterplace.com
etvmotors.com
TIPA
Melodea
Highcon
Arrow Ecology
tipa-corp.com
melodea.eu
highcon.net
arrowbio.com
Pythagoras Solar
Phoebus
Linum
pythagoras-solar.com
phoebus-energy.co.il
linumsystems.com
Netafim
BotanoCap
Smart! Fertilizer Management
Hishtil
netafim.co.il
botanocap.com
smart-fertilizer.com
hishtil.com
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symposium organizing committee
Keren Waranch, American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Scott Berman, Eco-Sense
Erran Carmel, Kogod School of Business, Information Technology
Laura Cutler, AU Center for Israel Studies
Jason Harris, Embassy of Israel
Dan Jacobs, Kogod School of Business, Sustainability Management Program
Miriam Katz, Embassy of Israel
Kiho Kim, AU’s Department of Environmental Science
Richard Linowes, Kogod School of Business, Entrepreneurship
Jeffrey Sosland, AU Washington Semester Program, International Business
Paul Wapner, SIS Global Environmental Politics Program
business advisory committee
Israel Cleantech Ventures - Glen Schwaber and Ariella Grinberg
Nixon Peabody LLC - Sam Feigin and Mark Kass
Maryland/Israel Development Center - Barry Bogage
U.S. Israel Science and Technology Foundation - Ann Liebshutz and Eve Copeland
Virginia Israel Advisory Board (Office of the Governor) - Ralph Robbins
israel greentech company research team
Professor Richard Linowes
Elana Friedman
Noah Núñez-Gross
John Lacy
Kayla Ma
Michael Milner
Jared Oppenheim
Liran (Lee) Shriki
Chen Vaisburd Carley Wigod
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community partners
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation · Alliance to Save Energy · American
Jewish Committee · American Jewish International Relations Institute · AU
Hillel · Bethesda Central Farm Market · Clean Tech Open · Coalition on the
Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) · Congregation Adas Israel · Congregation
Beth El of Montgomery County · Israel21C · Hasbara Fellowships · Israel in
DC · Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington · Maryland/
Israel Development Center · Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism · The
Associated Sustainability Initiative · The Israel Project · The Jewish Federation of
Greater Washington · The Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies
Virginia Israel Advisory Board · Washington Hebrew Congregation
contacts
Center for Israel Studies
American University
Battelle Tompkins 155
Washington, DC 20016-8072
Tel. 202-885-3780
Email: cutler@american.edu
Web: www.american.edu/cas/israelstudies
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU)
4800 Hampden Lane, Ste 200
Bethesda, MD 20814
Tel. (240) 482-4844
Email: kwaranch@aabgu.org
Web: www.aabgu.org
Embassy of Israel
3514 International Drive, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel. 202-364-5500
Email: info@washington.mfa.gov.il
Web: http://www.israelemb.org/
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