ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question:  Aside from the mission to the moon, what is SpaceIL’s main activity?

The Artian is an innovation and creativity training company that, while rooted in the art world, explores the influence of art and design on business, innovation, entrepreneurship and technology.  Last week its founder, Nir Hindi, told us about the organization and its activities, and this week we are speaking with three of the young innovators who presented their work at The Artian’s recent event in Madrid, which was titled Thinking Different: In Art, Science and Entrepreneurship:  The Israeli Model.

Ayelet Carmi is a painter and installation artist. She graduated from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, and has won the Prize for the Encouragement of Creativity and Honorary Award and also the Culture and Art Minister Prize for 2017. Carmi has presented solo exhibitions at various art galleries throughout Israel and she has also participated in many group exhibitions at leading institutions including Tel Aviv Museum, Ramat Gan Museum, Alexander Ochs Gallery in Berlin and more.  Carmi’s work is greatly influenced by scientific research, such as that of Leonardo da Vinci in the field of aviation.

Dr. Ayelet McKyton is a neuroscientist researching the visual system in the human brain. Since she completed her Ph.D., concerning the healthy visual brain, McKyton has dedicated her time to researching various diseases involving visual deficiencies. In Ethiopia, she has studied the limits of visual restoration in congenitally blind children treated in late childhood. In Israel, she uses novel methods of analyzing MRI data to reveal the basis of neuro-degenerative diseases concerning visual loss.

McKyton and Carmi have collaborated in a special exhibition presenting the works of scientists and artists.

Diego Saikin is an Argentinian-Israeli engineer with broad multidisciplinary experience. He got his B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Ben-Gurion University.

Saikin is a member of SpaceIL, the Israeli non-profit organization which was responsible for launching “Beresheet”, the first private lunar mission in history.

In this program, we are speaking with all three of these innovators about their work, and the relationship between art, science and entrepreneurship.