Haredi women help develop space vehicle chip

Two ultra-Orthodox women graduates of the Jerusalem College of Technology’s Lustig Institute in Ramat Gan have helped develop a microchip produced by Verisense, a leading Israeli semiconductordesign company, for a defense industry company that will place it in a space vehicle.

The women, Tehiya Dayan and Lior Halavi, will receive their bachelor of science degrees in software engineering this week.

In recognition of their work, the two received awards from the CEO of Verisense, Pini Lazovik, and the project was chosen as an outstanding development project at the Jerusalem College of Technology.

Dr. Dan Buchnik supervised the project and was involved in the development of algorithms and methods for full coverage of the various modes of the microchip that will be placed in the space vehicle.

The project was designed to ascertain whether designed by Verisense’s generically produced chip can be designed and developed for the simultaneous performance of multiple tasks and to prove that it can be produced for operational use.

According to Lustig institute director Dr. Zvi Ilani, the project is one of many advanced hi-tech projects that place its graduates at the forefront of hi-tech in Israel and around the world.

In addition, Lustig graduate Efrat Roth-Kamintzky received the Exemplary Project Development Prize from El-Op, another company that develops products for the defense industry.

Efrat Hoffman, another graduate, received first prize for excellence in information systems from the Migdal insurance company, and Hadas Tischler won international recognition for her research in the study of computer integration in brain research, the only Israeli research project chosen in the field and one of eight from around the world.

Lustig was established in 1999 as an academic institution for graduates of the haredi girls’ seminary network Beit Ya’acov and offers academic degrees equal to those of the other Jerusalem College of Technology schools, including the Tal Institute for women, whose graduates are mostly modern Orthodox.

Its counterpart for haredi men is the Naveh Institute, whose students study engineering and other subjects in the evening, giving them the the option of pursuing an academic degree while continuing their yeshiva studies. This curriculum enables haredim to acquire the necessary tools to be employed at high levels within the workforce, helping them to support themselves and improve their economic situation while decreasing their dependence on state and other social support.