TEL AVIV, Israel, January 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

During its meeting last month, held in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Board of Governors of the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation approved $7.3 million in funding for eight new projects between U.S. and Israeli companies. In addition to the grants from BIRD, the projects will access private sector funding, boosting the total value of all projects to approximately $20.4 million.

The BIRD Foundation promotes collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies in various technological fields for the purpose of joint product development. In addition to providing conditional grants of up to $1 million for approved projects, the Foundation assists by working with companies to identify potential strategic partners and facilitate introductions.

Projects submitted to the BIRD Foundation are reviewed by evaluators appointed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Israel Innovation Authority.

The eight projects, approved by the Board of Governors, are in addition to the 974 projects, which the BIRD Foundation has approved for funding during its 41-year history. To date, BIRD's total investment in joint projects has been nearly $350 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion.

The projects approved include:

• 4Cast Systems (Petach Tikva, Israel) and Adelos Inc. ( Polson, MT) will develop an Upstream - Advanced Pipeline Disaster Prevention System.
• Compedia Software & Hardware Development Ltd. ( Ramat Gan, Israel) and Samaritan ' s Purse ( Boone, NC) will develop VolunteerVR - Virtual Reality Skills and Empowerment Tools for Disaster Relief Volunteers.
• HackerU Ltd. ( Ramat Gan, Israel) and JustCode I nc. (NY, NY) will develop Cyber Security and Coding Assessment Platform for Measuring and Enhancing Cyber Readiness and Tech Talent Competency.
• Juganu ( Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel) and Just Greens LLC ( Newark, NJ) will develop a Tunable White Spectrum SMART LED Based Fixture for Automated Horticulture Processes.
• Leviticus-Cardio Ltd. (Petach Tikva, Israel) and Jarvik Heart Inc. (NY, NY) will develop the Wireless Jarvik 2000® LVAD.
• Mitos Medical Ltd (Netanya, Israel) and FiberTech Medical Inc. ( Baltimore, Maryland) will design and manufacture a Surround Vision Scope.
• MS Tech Ltd. (Herzliya Pituach, Israel) and Tekwave Solutions Inc. ( Alpharetta, GA) will develop a Rapid Field Analysis of Chlorates, Perchlorates, Fentanyl and Synthetic Opioids using HF-QCM Nanotechnology Detection Sensors.
• Somatix Technologies Ltd. (Ra'anana, Israel) and Catholic Senior Housing and Health Care Services, Inc. ( Bethlehem, PA) will develop a Digital Health System, SafeBeing - 'Aging in Place' Lifestyle with Exceptional Peace of Mind.

Dr. Phillip Singerman, Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and co-Chairman of BIRD's Board of Governors, said: "It's satisfying to see how varied are the projects submitted to the BIRD Foundation with diversity in sectors, size of U.S. companies and their geographical location, enhancing BIRD's impact, for mutual benefit of the U.S. and Israel. Originally designed in the 1970's to enable mature U.S. companies to help the emerging Israeli technology community, 41 years later the BIRD Foundation is enabling Israel's now mature technology sector to join forces with U.S. companies to compete in the new global market of the 21st century."

Dr. Amiram Appelbaum, Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority and co-Chairman of BIRD's Board of Governors, said: "The U.S. is one of Israel's major partner for innovation. We are proud that our collaboration with the BIRD Foundation has seen such spectacular successes over the decades which resulted in groundbreaking technological innovations offered by both Israeli and U.S. grantees. We are confident their innovative solutions in the varying fields will prove vital for the population worldwide. We are also calling on additional companies to submit their innovations for this program and be instrumental in finding the solution that will provide cutting edge solutions to the global challenges we are all facing."

Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, said: "We are proud to wrap up a great year of expanding U.S.-Israel cooperation, supported by the BIRD Foundation. Consistent with BIRD's mission, the selected projects reflect a high level of innovation, as well as the convergence of economic and social impact."

The deadline for submission of Executive Summaries for the next BIRD cycle is March 6, 2019. Approval of projects will take place in June 2019.

Contact:
Limor Nakar-Vincent
Deputy Executive Director of Business Development & BIRD Energy
BIRD Foundation
Limorn@birdf.com

SOURCE The BIRD Foundation