BEERSHEBA, ISRAEL | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York have launched a new research partnership to develop technologies that could protect civilians from earthquakes, explosions, fires, and environmental hazards.
The Israeli-American collaboration, supported by a $500,000 donation from siblings Melisa T. Gerber and David J. Gerber, will bring together researchers and graduate students from the two universities to pursue science and engineering projects with potential humanitarian and commercial applications.
Possible areas of research include buildings engineered to better withstand earthquakes, blasts, and fires; improved glass and windows designed to reduce dangerous shattering; and smart sensors capable of detecting toxic substances and pollutants in air and water.
The partnership is intended to go beyond individual research projects. The universities said they hope to establish a long-term relationship that draws on their respective strengths in engineering and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
โBen-Gurion University has long believed that the most meaningful research improves lives,โ Prof. Raz Jelinek, BGU vice president and dean for research and development, said in announcing the initiative.
โThis partnership with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute combines world-class scientific expertise with a shared commitment to translating discovery into real-world impact.โ
Jelinek said researchers and students from the two institutions would pursue technologies intended to strengthen civilian safety and resilience while addressing challenges extending beyond the two campuses.
Engineering Research With Humanitarian Applications
The research agenda places civilian protection at the centre of the partnership.
One potential area is structural engineering.
Researchers could explore new approaches to designing buildings that remain safer during earthquakes, explosions and fires. Another area involves glass and windows, including technologies that reduce shattering when structures are exposed to extreme forces.
Such advances could have applications in homes, schools, hospitals, public buildings and other civilian infrastructure.
Environmental monitoring is another focus.
Researchers may develop smart sensors capable of identifying toxic substances, pesticides, persistent chemicals and other pollutants in water or air.
The program is expected to support collaborative research between faculty members while also providing opportunities for graduate students.
Funding may support student research, tuition and stipends, with an emphasis on moving promising ideas beyond the laboratory.
The universities also want researchers to consider how early-stage discoveries could eventually become usable products, licensed technologies or commercial ventures.
That approach combines academic research with a model familiar to Israel’s technology sector, where university research has frequently served as the foundation for start-ups and commercially deployed technologies.
$500,000 Gift Connects Israel And New York
The initiative was established through a $500,000 donation from Melisa and David Gerber.
The funding consists of separate $250,000 grants to RPI and Americans for Ben-Gurion University, which supports BGU in the United States.
David Gerber is himself an RPI alumnus.
โRensselaer and Ben-Gurion University bring together remarkable talent and a shared conviction that science, learning, and creativity should serve humanity,โ Gerber said.
โWe hope this fund helps their researchers pursue bold, collaborative work across disciplines and across borders and translate it into real solutions for a safer, more livable world.โ
The donation also establishes the H. Joseph Gerber and Sonia K. Gerber Research Fund, named in memory of the donors’ parents.
The family connection gives the partnership a history stretching from the Holocaust to the early development of Israel’s technology industry.
Holocaust Survivor Became Prolific Inventor
H. Joseph Gerber arrived in the United States as a Holocaust survivor.
According to the universities, he learned English while working full-time before receiving a scholarship to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
While studying at RPI, Gerber developed his first invention.
He eventually became a prolific inventor, accumulating hundreds of patents and founding Gerber Scientific, a company whose computer-controlled manufacturing technologies were used in industries ranging from apparel and printing to electronics.
His work ultimately earned him one of the United States’ highest honours for technological achievement.
In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded Gerber the National Medal of Technology.
Gerber also played a role in the early development of Israel’s technology sector.
In 1968, he travelled to Israel and joined three engineers in Beersheba to help build Beta, described by the universities as one of Israel’s earliest high-tech start-ups.
The venture was particularly significant because it was established in the Negev at a time when the region had little science-based industry.
For David Gerber, that history connects directly with the new collaboration involving Ben-Gurion University.
โIt is not just about the โStartup Nationโ but also the โStartup Negev,โโ he said.
Continuing A Family Connection To Israel
The research fund also honours Sonia K. Gerber, an educator and artist who taught in inner-city schools and travelled to Israel as an Israel Bonds goodwill ambassador.
โThe best way to honor and remember our parents is through continuing their work,โ Melisa Gerber said.
โIn bringing these institutions and these values together, we hope to carry forward something deeply important to both of them.โ
The partnership consequently combines several strands of the Gerber family’s history: Holocaust survival, American education, technological invention, a connection to Israel and a belief in applying science to practical problems.
For BGU, the collaboration also reflects the university’s broader role in developing the Negev as a centre for science and technology.
The university operates major research programs in engineering, biotechnology, nanoscale science, desert studies and other fields from its campuses in southern Israel.
RPI, founded in 1824 in Troy, New York, has a similarly long history in engineering and technological research.
From University Research To Civilian Protection
The new program does not yet represent a single finished technology. Instead, the $500,000 fund provides a framework for Israeli and American researchers to identify projects, combine expertise, and develop potential solutions.
That distinction matters because the technologies described by the universities are prospective research areas rather than products ready for deployment.
The potential applications, however, are deliberately practical.
Buildings that withstand disasters more effectively, windows that produce fewer dangerous fragments, and sensors that identify contaminants sooner could each have direct implications for civilian safety.
The partnership also creates an avenue for Israeli and American graduate students to work across institutions and disciplines while attempting to turn scientific research into technologies with real-world applications.
For Ben-Gurion University, the initiative extends a long-standing effort to connect research in the Negev with global scientific institutions.
For the Gerber family, it brings that work back to Beersheba, where H. Joseph Gerber helped build an early Israeli technology venture nearly six decades ago.
The new collaboration seeks to carry that legacy into another generation, this time with a specific objective: using engineering and science to make civilian life safer.
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