ISRAELI AMERICAN LEADERSHIP

VERED COHEN BARZILAY

Founder Director 

Vered Cohen-Barzilay is an Israeli-born social entrepreneur and tenacious advocate for aviation, space, and science education.

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Founder Director of "Out of the Box" Social Enterprise to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in education.

Out of the Box develop and operate innovative courses in STEAM with special focus on Aerospace. 

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Cohen Barzilay serves as a mentor at Space 4 Women, a project of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to promote women's empowerment in space. She also serves as a mentor at Starburst IAI, 8200 Impact Accelerators. 

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Cohen-Barzilay elected by the US department of state as  #FacesofExchange initiative highlight 80 accomplished alumni, their lives, and the impact their exchange program brought to the global community.

Cohen-Barzilay works in a partnership between many stakeholders, including, NASA Ames Research Center, U.S. Embassy Jerusalem, the Israeli Space Agency. Its flagship program, the Science Accelerator received special recognition by the Ministry of education and the municipality of Givatayim in Israel as "A pioneering program, original and visionary in the subject of space education". 

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Vered is also the founder of Novel Rights Human Rights Literature global movement, Founder and former director of Women’s Media Center Israel, a hub for gender equality and social justice in the media industry.

Co-Founder of Chamber of Women Journalists. Elected with her friend to 5th out of 100 most inflectional in the Israeli Media for 2014.

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Cohen Barzilay was a board member for Art for Amnesty, a global project which encourages artists of all disciplines to become involved in the effort to raise awareness for human rights issues.  Art for Amnesty members (U2, YOKO ONO, etc) lends their voices for Amnesty International campaigns.​

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Cohen-Barzilay often invited to appear at hearings of government committees dealing with gender and the media industry.  Ms. Cohen-Barzilay was on the steering committee for the Israel Action Plan for UN Resolution 1325 which be adopted by the Israeli government.

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Dr. JACOB COHEN  

Chief Scientist

NASA Ames Reaserch Center 

Dr. Jacob Cohen is currently the Chief Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center.

In this capacity, Dr. Cohen provides advice and oversight for research programs and serves as the principal Center advisor in the administration of long term, high risk, and creative/inventive research programs. Dr. Cohen evaluates proposals for new programs, keeps abreast of ongoing work, and establishes priorities to assure that Center research programs contribute effectively to national aerospace and scientific objectives. Dr. Cohen serves as the chief advisor to the Center Director on all areas affecting the science at the Center. As part of his interest in the utilization of space and aeronautics for scientific and technology advancements, Dr. Cohen facilitates and develops international, inter agency, academic and commercial collaborations to sustain new research initiatives. Dr. Cohen serves as the Center representative to the Agency Chief Scientist and the NASA Research Council and is the conduit for the Agency Office of the Chief Scientist at the Center. Dr. Cohen received his Doctorate from New York University in the area of molecular evolution. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Ophthalmology Research Laboratories in the area of viral host relationships. Dr. Cohen has held various research and management positions. Dr. Cohen has received various NASA and external awards and honors. Mentoring, teaching and inspiring the next generation of scientists and managers are continuous roles Dr. Cohen pursues.

Mr. SHMULIK BARZILAY

VP Business Development  

Mr. Shmulik Barzilay holds a senior position in the worldwide photonics industry, experienced Executive in Sales Management and Business Development with proven track record in Lasers, sensors, Photonics, Optronics, semiconductors, Metrology and Electro-Optics. Working for lasers instrumentation manufacturers worldwide in the fields of defense, medical, industry, and space.

Mr. Barzilay Holds M.Sc Physics/Geophysics & Planetary Sciences education from Tel Aviv University, and international business negotiations certification from Cambridge University, UK. In conducted researches for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Dr. DIANA LAUFER 

Astronomy & Planetary

Dr. Diana Laufer is the Scientific Director of Givatayim Observatory in Israel, leading education and public astronomy and space education programs.

Dr. Laufer received her Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University in planetary sciences, as a specialist in cometary ices and icy bodies in the solar system. Laufer worked, till last year, as the head of the cometary ice lab at Tel Aviv University, lecturer and Ph.D. research mentor, currently working in a new nanosatellite project.

The most known research project was on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko by the Rosetta mission and member of the Rosetta team scientists. Other research projects focused on cometary activity, icy moons, Mars ices, and Titan’s atmospheric aerosols simulation as a part of Cassini-Huygens space project. In addition to the scientific activity,

Dr. Laufer is involved in many educational projects of the Ministry of Science and was a board member of the Ilan Ramon’s Science Olympiad for Junior High School Students of the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute and MSc mentor at the Rothschild - Weizmann Program for teachers.

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Dr. Diana Laufer is a member of the Israeli Astronomical Association (IAA) and the International Astronomical Union.

Dr. ROY YANIV

Atmosphere and Satellite 

Roy Yaniv, PhD, is a specialist in the fields of atmospheric and planetary sciences.

Dr. Yaniv specialized in Atmospheric physics, remote sensing, and Space weather. Roy's main focus is using airborne remote sensing platforms and ground measurements to understand variabilities in atmospheric and space weather parameters. Dr. Yaniv received his Ph.D. from the School of Geosciences, Tel Aviv University, and finished postdoctoral studies at the R&D center in Ariel University. 

In addition, Dr. Yanivis is actively involved in science education with a special focus on space and planetary sciences. Dr. Yaniv and works as a physics teacher at highschool for the past 7 years. Furthermore, he is working with the educational science center in Weizmman institute of science.