Students learned about agritech, fintech, foodtech, cybertech, biomedical tech and how investors choose to invest in emerging technologies.

A special part of the trip was hearing from �鶹���� alumni who, after aliyah, are making significant contributions to Israel’s tech scene. The �鶹���� delegation also enjoyed networking with other Jewish day school students who share their passion about a career in a STEM field.

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The evening opened with a keynote address by Daniel Bendavid, a �鶹���� alumnus who shared his journey as former electrical/control systems engineer and current software engineer at Thirty Madison, a digital health company that specializes in treatments for migraines, seasonal allergies and other medical conditions.

Following Bendavid’s address, students had the opportunity to present their projects to their families, friends and community members. Freshmen and sophomores in �鶹����’s Engineering Track presented their capstone projects, which ranged from lifesaving to lightheartedly pragmatic. For example, “THE FEW” Fire Evacuation Window (by Sam Heller, Nili Bickel, Eliana Weinstein and Hunter London) is a home system that automatically opens a window when carbon monoxide is detected, while “Hotscoops” heated spoon (by Avi Sebrow, Gavriel Teigman and Jared Zimbalist) is designed for scooping ice cream with ease. Each capstone project’s picture, description and team was also featured on the Engineering Symposium 2022 website.

Juniors and seniors showcased projects undertaken as part of their advanced Engineering elective courses. This year, electives included Aerial Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Tikkun Olam Makers. Simultaneously, symposium attendees seeking sports-style entertainment were able to view a robotics competition by �鶹����’s robotics team, the CouGears.

Girls Who Code, an after-school coding club with 40 members, was also represented at the symposium; This year, students learned how to code a snake game using Python Turtle. In addition, Monday’s event featured a new genre of coding projects. This year, �鶹���� embarked on a new initiative: implementing a new Python coding curriculum for all incoming ninth graders. Over the course of the year, students had the opportunity to choose their own projects to work on, with faculty guidance. A number of the freshman coding projects were featured at the symposium, including a zman calculator, a recipe generator and a new Wordle game.

Thanks to Engineering Program Director Rifkie Silverman and Engineering faculty members Travis Merritt and Michael Preston for their invaluable instruction. �鶹����’s student engineers look forward to participating in next week’s CIJE Innovation Day!

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At the annual Engineering Symposium, students got to display and explain their year-long projects, designed to use engineering to fill a human need. This year’s projects included a wildfire detection system; a Braille reader/decoder; a bedtime bear that helps toddlers develop a bedtime routine; a self-stabilizing Gyro Tray to help people with hand tremors (which won the first place CIJE robotics engineering award); and many more! The �鶹���� Engineering Symposium is dedicated by the Maurice and Hester Lowenthal Foundation in memory of Mitzi and Edward Traurig z”l. Prior to the student presentations, attendees had the honor to hear from keynote speaker Dr. Yehudit Abrams, a mechanical engineer, physician and former NASA scientist who founded MonitHer, the first at-home, personal-use monitor for early detection of breast cancer.

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Originally, they printed several different models of designs, but the process was tedious, requiring an 8-hour print to produce just two head bands for face shields. More work would be needed to clean the prints, cut and attach the clear plastic visor and fasten the elastic straps. There had to be another way.

�鶹���� senior and engineering student Jonathan Sarasohn conducted research on other prototype ideas, and found a basic design from GimmeBuilds that did not need any 3D printed components. The design could be made with materials purchased from local stores. Sarasohn—whose brother Daniel, a freshman at �鶹����, also participated in the project—engineered modifications to allow the back strap to be adjusted. With this new design, the �鶹���� team was able to produce 100 face shields in the time it would take to 3D print and assemble two complete units. Sarasohn developed a series of written and visual instructions that he shared on the website Instructables, so that any individuals or organizations who wish to help but do not have access to a 3D printer and laser cutter can participate in the effort to bolster the supply of PPE.

As of May 1, the team of �鶹���� students and faculty members had produced and donated over 270 face shield units to Staten Island University Hospital, the Teaneck and Bergenfield Volunteer Ambulance Corps, River Edge Fire Department and other locations. In addition, they have managed to produce the equipment at an impressively low cost. Originally producing the shields for $1.87 each, they recently managed to reduce the cost to just $1.24 per unit.

“It was meaningful to be able to use the skills I have gained through my four years in �鶹����’s engineering program to work on a project that is beneficial to members of our community,” said Jonathan Sarasohn. “Additionally, this project has provided me an interesting opportunity to learn about scaling production. When we started the project, we were 3D printing a majority of the parts, which caused each shield to be expensive and time-consuming. I was able to use my experience through �鶹���� Engineering to combine aspects of several designs and develop a shield that could be effectively manufactured at scale.”

For Sarah Cohen, a junior at �鶹����, there was also a personal reason to get involved. “Being a part of this process was extremely meaningful to me because unfortunately my grandfather was in a medically induced coma due to Covid and my family was unable to visit him,” she said. “My family and I felt helpless and this project helped me feel as though I was able to contribute and give appreciation to the staff that was taking care of him. Ultimately, we were able to deliver 100 face shields to the Staten Island University Hospital where my grandfather was being taken care of.”

The project is ongoing.

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Not only did the team have to prepare their robot for the competition with a strong mechanical design and reliable code, they produced an over 100-page engineering journal documenting their progress throughout the season. The team presented this as well as spoke about future plans to a panel of judges.

The team was selected as the first choice alliance partner by the second seed team, and went on to win the semifinals before ultimately losing to a strong alliance in the second match of the finals. The CouGears led their alliance, as the only member to participate in all four playoff matches. In addition to their strong on-the-field performance, the judges awarded the CouGears the second place Design Award (recognizing elements of aesthetic as well as function design) and the third place Control Award (recognizing the use of sensors and software to improve robot function during gameplay).

In addition to the judged awards, the CouGears were recognized by fellow teams at the competition for a spirit of gracious professionalism. Throughout the event, the �鶹���� students were always prepared to help other teams and loan them parts if they experienced a failure.

“The robotics team at �鶹���� gives me a unique opportunity to learn new engineering skills from other students in an environment outside of the classroom,” said Eliana Bane ’22. “Throughout these competitions, I have learned more about the intricacies of the engineering process and the idea that many different products can accomplish the same task.”

The team is looking forward to continuing its progress by further developing skills in the CIJE Robotics League as well as the Intramural �鶹���� SumoBot League.

On March 4, not long after the league championship, the CouGears had the exciting opportunity to join �鶹����’s engineering track to hear from an Israeli high school robotics team which, in October, won the silver medal at FIRST Global’s international robotics competition in Dubai. The FIRST Israel team visited �鶹����, described their journey and demonstrated their robot, staying for dinner and a meet-and-greet. During the meet-and-greet, the Israelis and the �鶹���� students got into groups and learned more about each other’s work.

“There was this really cool moment,” said Judah Shankman ’23, “when my teammate Oran and I were testing out our VEX robot to make sure it was working for the Israelis, when one of their supervisors and a couple of guys on their team came over and started assessing some problems and asking some questions. They compete on an international level, with a robot that could’ve been designed by a team of NASA roboticists for all I knew, but they still just wanted to know everything about our robot.”

“It was a really meaningful experience meeting with these Israeli students, similar in age to us, who also do robotics,” added Josh Kaplan ’22. “We helped each other. I had a meaningful conversation with one of the members, and we bonded over robotics. We talked about all the issues we had in robotics and how we overcame them.”

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Engineering and science teacher Mr. Travis Merritt mentored the CouGears, who were one of two yeshiva day school teams to compete in the meet. “I am especially proud of our team, because we are working within a yeshiva schedule, but it’s not a yeshiva league,” said Merritt, noting that the yeshiva school day ends later than most other schools, plus the CouGears of course cannot work on Shabbat. “I cannot emphasize enough what an accomplishment this is.”

Robotics team member Zachary Gold ’20 said that every individual on the team played a part in the victory. “Seeing such a jump from a 15th place finish last year to first and second place finishes this year is incredible,” said Gold, referencing the CouGears’ second place finish at their first qualifying tournament of the year, back in December. “I attribute much of this success to a strong team effort this year. Everyone has a role—from senior to sophomore, from captain to team member.”

Jonathan Sarasohn ’20, who is one of the CouGears captains, agreed. “The most rewarding part of the competition this past Sunday was seeing the result of all of the hard work we have put into our robot over the course of the past few months,” said Sarasohn. “Being part of the �鶹���� CouGears has allowed me to gain real-world engineering experience, and has influenced my decision to study mechanical engineering in college.”

The next stop for the CouGears will be the league tournament.

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Yeshivat �鶹���� students showcased their innovative solutions to these problems—and many others—at �鶹����’s annual Science and Engineering Symposium on May 22. The symposium celebrated yet another outstanding year of engineering at Yeshivat �鶹����. The evening opened with a lecture by Dr. Adi Hanuka, a Technion graduate in electrical engineering who created the diagnostic medical device known as the Eyelid Motion Monitor.

Following the lecture, students exhibited their projects from the past year, in electrical, mechanical and biomedical engineering, molecular biology and bioinformatics, wearable technologies, robotics, coding and 3D design and fabrication from the �鶹���� Fab Lab. Over 250 students participated—from the �鶹���� engineering track; Waksman Student Scholars biology research course; technology and Halacha, 3D design and fabrication and Tikkun Olam Makers electives; honors computer science course, Girls Who Code club and award-winning robotics program. The symposium took place on the heels of CIJE Innovation Day, in which �鶹����’s entire freshman and sophomore engineering track cohorts participated.

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“It was very interesting to see the way that a multibillion dollar tech company, like Google, manages its employees, and how the many different engineering career choices are applied to projects on a larger scale,” Sam Goldberg ’19.

“I was almost afraid to explore computer science because I thought of it as someone sitting behind a computer all day,” said Michal Katz ’19. “After seeing Google, my view of the entire concept has done a complete 180. It just comes to show a young ‘engineer’ that there really is no limit to what we have the potential to accomplish.”

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