We are very glad to invite you to participate in the Biomedical Engineering Conference, the annual meeting of the Israel Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (ISMBE), will take place on February 25-26, 2020 in Haifa’s Congress Center.
This conference provides a unique meeting place for the leading biomedical engineering scientists, from Israel and abroad, medical doctors and industry leaders, who will present their latest scientific and technological advances. 
It is a highly multidisciplinary conference that focuses on the various disciplines of biomedical engineering, including medical instrumentation, imaging, nano-medicine, tissue engineering, synthetic biology, neuro-engineering, drug release, etc. 
This is the 8th time this conference is given, and we are expecting more than 700 participants. This year, we will continue with the extended format of the conference duration which will be two days, and will host 15-16 oral presentation sessions. In addition, this year, world-renowned scientists from abroad will give several keynote lectures. Furthermore, this year, we will open a special popular biomedical engineering science session.

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: December 20, 2019
Author notification: January 10, 2020
Early registration deadline: February 1, 2020

See you in Haifa in February 25-26, 2020.

Sincerely,

Prof. Meital Zilberman, ISMBE President
Prof. Daphne Weihs, ISMBE President Elect
Prof. Tamir Tuller, Conference Chair

~~

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR
Monday, January 15, 2020 at 14:00
Wolfson Building of Mechanical Engineering, Room 206

Co-conversion of Recycled paper sludge (RPS) to bioethanol and Crystalline Nano Cellulose (CNC) via ozone-based processes

Roi Peretz
PhD Student of Prof. Hadas Mamane

In Israel, more than 1 million tons of paper and cardboard wastes are generated annually, yet only 20% are being recycled, mostly in “Hadera Paper” mill. The waste generated from the recycling process of paper and cardboard results in 31,000 tons of recycled paper sludge (RPS) that is very rich in cellulose fibers (75% dry weight), currently being disposed of in landfills. The high cellulose fiber content makes this waste an ideal source for cellulose-based applications. Efficient means for cellulose recovery and conversion from RPS were examined – by characterization of the RPS, testing and optimization of novel ozonation-based pretreatments and processes, and production of two valuable products: bioethanol and cellulose nano crystals (CNC). CNC serves as a key component in many industrial applications as building blocks, for developing materials including thin films, nanocomposites, biomedicines, water treatment and smart materials. In addition, the RPS remains could be used for sorption of contaminants in water. Results show that up to 35% of the total RPS can be converted to sugars, yielding a total of 15 gr/L of ethanol.  Alternatively, CNC could be produced from the RPS, using weak, recyclable maleic acid hydrolysis. The acid was successfully recovered for repeated use, allowing reduction of acid  costs and generated waste streams. Although the total CNC yield remained relatively low, it demonstrated that ozone can increase the yield, due to it high ability for lignin removal. This research contributes to the waste-to-fuel concept in Israel and globally using RPS, especially given the growing amount of recycled paper, and the amounts of solid-waste being landfilled, following green chemistry and circular economy concepts.

~~

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR
Monday, December 16, 2019 at 14:00
Wolfson Building of Mechanical Engineering, Room 206

Cubic Equations of State and nucleation inception in boiling due to rapid heating
Yarden Amsalem
MSc student of Dr. Tali Bar-Kohany and Prof. Slava Krylov

This study deals with the onset of isobaric boiling for a superheated liquid due to moderate to high heating rates (1.e5.. 1.e9  K/s).
In real liquids, namely liquids that are not specially treated for the removal of possible nucleation sites (such as dissolved gasses, suspended particles etc.), a high level of superheating may be obtained using high heating rates such that the liquid’s nucleation temperature is substantially higher than its saturation temperature; it can reach up to the thermodynamic stability threshold (spinodal).
Prediction of superheat levels and nucleation temperatures under these conditions as a function of temperature change rate has not been possible with analytic tools available today. Despite the fact that the equilibrium boiling temperature (saturation temperature) and the thermodynamic threshold temperature are known for every liquid (although the certainty of the later is less than that of the former) there still lies a difficulty in predicting a liquid’s onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) point within the metastable region.
In the course of this study, 167 data points from relevant (rapid, isobaric) experiments were collected. The experiments were carried out under a pressure of one atmosphere using different liquids: polar (i.e. water, methanol and ethanol) and nonpolar (i.e. heptane and toluene).
A thermodynamic analysis was carried out by using classical thermodynamic potentials while adapting them for use in kinetic processes (quasi-steady). The analysis allowed for the development of a simple correlation which predicts the onset of nucleation boiling conditions for different liquids as a function of their temperature change rate or of the solid interface which heats them. The correlation’s only required inputs are the saturation temperature and the homogenous boiling temperature, both of which are well known quantities.
Owing to its simple mathematical nature, the correlation can be easily applied as a sub-model to any of the existing CFD codes.