Yael Hanein is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Tel Aviv University. In the past she conducted research at the Weizmann Institute (MSc and PhD in Physics), Princeton University (visiting student at the lab of Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Dan Tsui), and at the University of Washington (Postdoc in Electrical Engineering and Physics). Her research field is neuro-engineering and her main passions are developing wearable electronic technology and bionic vision.
Her research group has pioneered the use of nanomaterials for neuro applications and in 2012 she received a prestigious personal grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to study nanomaterials for neuro stimulation applications. Prof. Hanein has co-authored over 60 scientific publications, and delivered numerous scientific talks worldwide and many popular presentations at schools, bars, and kindergartens, as well as at high profile events such as Science Foo Camp, the World Economic Forum meetings, Falling Walls in Berlin, and Solve for X (organized by Google-X).
Her academic activity has received extensive media attention. In 2006 she was named in the list of the 40 most promising Israelis under 40 (The Marker), in 2012 she was included in the list of the 50 most influential women in Israel (Lady Globes), and in 2013 she was included in the list of the most innovative people in Israel (The Marker).
In 2009 she joined an international group of young researchers who founded the Global Young Academy and served on its first executive committee. In 2012 she was appointed to the Israel Young Academy by the Israel Academy and served for two years as the first head of its executive committee.
Prof. Hanein has extensive connections with the industry, conducting sponsored research and joint projects. In 2009 she joined Rainbow Medical to help establish NanoRetina, a startup company developing artificial vision (based on NR proprietary IP).
She is the co-founder of Tel Aviv University Micro and Nano Central Facilities (MNCF). In this capacity she led a ten-year effort, transforming MNCF into an industry-compatible prototyping fab with eight full-time highly trained employees, over 40 industrial users, and over 2.5 million NIS in annual revenue from academic and industrial users. Since 2012 she has been the head of Tel Aviv University Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, steering Tel Aviv University activities in Nanoscience and Nanotechnlogy.
In 2013 she embarked on a new endeavor, co-directing XIN. XIN is a joint research center of Tel Aviv University and the elite Chinese university, Tsinghua, in Beijing. XIN focuses on young researchers and is supporting outstanding research projects geared towards innovation that benefits society. XIN’s first effort is to develop Things for the Internet of Things.
