Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition in Israel , 2007

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition in Israel was held in its eighth consecutive year, under the auspices of the Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University, with the support of the Raquel and Manuel Klachky Fund under the academic direction of Professor Gedeon Dagan from the Department of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer.

This year 42 matriculation projects from 28 different schools throughout Israel participated in the competition.  After the initial stage in which the projects were reviewed by Mr. Mordechai Sela, Mr. Eyal Omer and Professor Gedeon Dagan, 11 semifinalists were chosen to compete in the final competition on two different levels:

1. Extended research projects - 7 semifinalists.

2. Limited research project - 4 semifinalists.

The semifinalists were invited to present their projects to the National committee on the 16^th of May 2007 at the Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University.

Each participant was required to prepare a poster summarizing their research, give a 5-minute verbal presentation and to answer questions posed to them by the judges.  The judges committee comprised:  Prof. Avner Adin (Hebrew University), Prof. Akiva Flexer (Tel Aviv University), Dr. Or Goldfarb (Water Commissionary), Prof. Gedeon Dagan, Prof. Yoel Gat (Weizmann Institute of Science), Dr. Yosef Gutman (Mekorot Company),  Mr. Roberto Klachky (Manuel and Raquel Klachky Fund Representative), Mr. Eyal Omer (Tahal Company), Mr. Mordechai Sela, Mr. Shimon Tal (Tal Consulting Company), Dr. Miriam Waldman, Mr. Israel Weisenstern (Ministry of Education) and Mr. Shimon Zuk (Man, Nature and Law Association).

Upon completion of reviewing the 11 individual posters, the judges convened to make their final decision. The award ceremony followed, with the following prominent guests: Ambassador of Sweden - Mr. Robert Rydberg, the Chair of Water Authority - Prof. Uri Shani, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering - Prof. Ehud Heyman, Manuel and Raquel Klachky Fund Representative - Mr. Roberto Klachky and the Ministry of Education Representative - Mr. Shlomo Alon. 

This year the judging committee has decided to grant awards to 4 projects:

The winner in the limited extent projects category, consisted of a diploma and 200$ from the Klachky fund and was awarded to Mor Lifshitz from the Karari Gymnasium for Exact Sciences in Rishon Le Zion for her project titled "The Shafdan" under the direction of Dr. Guy Reshef & Ms. Tamar Basis.

An Honorable Mention, consisting of a diploma, was awarded to Amany Mahamid from Hadidja High-School in Um-El-Phahem for her project titled "Determination of water age in the springs and wells of the mountain aquifer in the Jerusalem area". Advisors: Dr. Elizabeth Fuerto & Dr. Yosef Yehieli.

The second prize, consisted of a diploma and 500$ from the Klachky fund, was awarded to Natali Rogozian, Shani Cohen & Liat Halfon from Hertzlia Technical High-School in Tel-Aviv for their project: Mapping of coastal water bodies by satellite remote sensing " Advisors: Dr. Anna B. Heller, Dr. Roby Stark, Mrs. Daniela Heller, Dr. Noga Stembler.

The first prize, consisted of a diploma, participation at Stockholm World Competition and a full first year scholarship for studying at the faculty was awarded to Mor Gross & Coral Elisha from "Maayan Shahar Education Facility", Kibbutz Ein Shemer for their project titled "Development of a robot for measuring water salinity in desalination plants". Advisors: Mr. Reuven Dinovitch and Mr. Aharon Rezanov. The winning team will be accompanied by their teacher at the international competition.

The speakers at the ceremony were: the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering - Prof. Ehud Heyman, the Chair of Water Authority - Prof. Uri Shani, Ministry of Education Representative - Mr. Shlomo Alon, the Academic Director of SJWPI - Prof. Gedeon Dagan and the Ambassador of Sweden - Mr. Robert Rydberg

The ceremony also included a short film with excerpts from Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competitions in Israel 2000-2006.

A certificate was also presented to HE Mr. Robert Rydberg, the ambassador of Sweden , as a token of appreciation for his continuing support of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize in Israel during his tenure in Israel .

Awards and certificates were presented to the winners.  In addition, certificates of participation were presented to the semi-finalists, competition participants & their schools.