EL
ISRAEL
1DicrEsir
Specially compiled by The Jerusalem Post
— $1 EQUALS 2.984 NIS (shekels) - Close Price 12/31/93 —
Economic Activity Up
Economic activity accelerated
during the second half of the
year following a stagnant sec-
ond quarter, the Bank of Is-
rael research division reported
last week.
The bank's "S" or state of
the economy, indicator, re-
flected the trend and rose 0.1
percent last month following
a 1.4 percent jump in October.
From July to November,
the index rose at an average
annual rate of 8.8 percent
compared to the first half of
R.J. KING SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
hile artificial intelli-
gence may seem an
odd pairing of words,
Bernard Nadel, assis-
tant professor at the computer
science department at Wayne
State University in Detroit, is
betting the technology will vast-
ly streamline the design of com-
ponents destined for appliances,
automobiles and space.
Already, Dr. Nadel has ap-
plied artificial intelligence (AI),
where computers are pro-
grammed to simulate the intel-
lect of the human brain, to
search for the most promising
designs for automotive trans-
missions.
Historically, transmissions
and other inventions develop
from the intuition of engineers,
scientists and backyard tinker-
ers. AI takes the role of inven-
tor a step further by replacing
the brain with a high-speed
computer programmed to find
solutions based on given vari-
ables.
As an example of Dr. Nadel's
work, he recently applied AI to
design transmissions for the
Ford Motor Co. Among 136 mil-
lion possible designs, Dr.
Nadel's AI program, which he
calls Trans-Form, narrowed the
field to six transmissions, three
of which are well-known com-
mercial designs including the
famous HydraMatic.
"We ran Trans-Form first to
see if transmissions in use to-
day would be found using AI. It
was a test to see if the program
worked. We found three known
transmissions and another
three that Ford is looking over,"
said Dr. Nadel, who opened In-
telligineering Corp., a comput-
er-aided engineering firm in
Southfield, last year.
"Now we've turned Trans-
Form toward the next genera-
tion of (automatic)
transmissions. These would add
more gears, shift more easily
and provide greater fuel effi-
ciency. In a few days running
on a computer, Trans-Form
found thousands of patentable
new transmissions, and it isn't
done yet."
While any future patents
would remain the property of
Ford, Dr. Nadel said the AI re-
search for the automaker
packed the equiv-
alent of 100-man
years of design
exploration into
several days of
running time on
a high-speed
work station. His
goal is to encour-
age other manu-
facturers to ap-
ply AI to the de-
sign of future
products.
"AI could be
applied to any
kind of design
engineering, in-
cluding air-
craft, helicop-
ters and space
vehicles," said
Dr. Nadel.
"Engineers
spend a great
deal of time
designing new prod-
ucts when much of the work can
be done using AI.
While a number of scientists
are active in AI research, only
a few have applied the technol-
ogy toward practical applica-
tions. Dr. Nadel's relationship
with Ford started in 1989, when
he began teaching classes at the
automaker's education center
in Dearborn, which led to his
current collaboration with re-
searchers at Ford's advanced
transmission design depart-
ment in Livonia.
"It's very gratifying to walk
through Ford's facility in Livo-
nia and find your work is hav-
ing an impact," said Dr. Nadel,
from his fourth-floor office in-
side State Hall on the Wayne
State campus.
Bob Roethler, supervisor of
the hydraulic controls systems
section at Ford's advanced
transmission design depart-
ment, said the initial foray into
AI was promising, but he
hedged against declaring the
technology as a future replace-
ment for the human mind.
"Joining Dr. Nadel in AI re-
search and implementation is
David Kagan, who held a re-
search fellowship in optical corn-
puting with the California
Institute of Technology (Cal-
Tech). Mr. Kagan worked pre-
viously for Tadiran, the largest
the year.
During the second half of
the year, industrial production
expanded 8.5 percent, a pace
that was reflected in most in-
dustrial sectors following the
drop registered in the second
quarter.
Despite the economy's
marked expansion, unem-
ployment stagnated and even
rose slightly from 10 percent
to 10.2 percent due to the more
rapid growth of the civilian
workforce than new jobs.
IAI Signs Deal
Israel Aircraft Industries an-
nounced last week it has
signed a contract with El Al
worth $110 million dollars.
The five-year contract is for
maintaining and refurbishing
some 40 Pratt & Whitney
JT9D-7J engines used to pow-
er El Al's 747 Boeing Jumbo
aircraft.
The agreement, signed last
week, means more work for
IAI's Masham plant. An IAI
spokesman said this contract
increases the company's pre-
sent and future back orders
and increases the chances for
the factory to compete for oth-
er contracts in the world mar-
ket.
The Masham factory has
previously worked on the
JT9D engine, a similar Pratt
& Whitney engine. Masham
has been El Al's sub-contrac-
tor for the upkeep and im-
provements of these engines
and has also served as a sub-
contractor for the engines of
North American and Euro-
pean airlines.
Tadiran Canadian Deal
Bernard Nadel
electronics and communications
company in Israel.
"I help write various pro-
grams to run Trans-Form by
working with different high-lev-
el computer languages while
looking for the most efficient
means to achieve specific goals,"
said Mr. Kagan, a native of
England who works part- time
at Intelligineering.
Mr. Kagan, a rabbi, also
serves as director of planning
at the Lubavitch Foundation of
Michigan in Farmington Hills.
A French native, Dr. Nadel,
42, was raised in Australia,
where he earned a bachelor's
degree in mathematics and
physics from Monash Univer-
sity. In 1976, he earned a mas-
ter's degree in bioengineering
from Tel Aviv University in Is-
rael. A decade later, he received
a doctorate in computer science
from Rutgers University in New
Jersey.
Dr. Nadel's wife, Idit, is also
an entrepreneur. In 1991, she
founded Laser Image, Inc. in
Southfield, which recycles ton-
er cartridges used in laser print-
ers. The cartridges are collected
from area businesses, filled with
powdered ink and returned at
roughly one-third the cost of
new cartridges. 111
Tadiran Telecommunications
and Canada's Newbridge an-
nounced they will be signing
a joint marketing cooperation
and research and development
agreement.
The agreement provides for
the companies to jointly work
on projects to integrate Tadi-
ran products into Newbridge
systems and vice-versa. It also
provides for the two compa-
nies to market each other's
products.
For the past four years, the
two concerns have cooperated
in marketing integrated prod-
ucts in IsraeL Newbridge has
also marketed Tadiran's prod-
ucts in the North and South
American markets.
Newbridge's multiplexing
voice and data equipment has
helped Tadiran win contracts
from Israel's national phone
company Bezek, and the Israel
Postal Authority for building
data and voice communica-
tic networks.
Hewlett Packard Deal Set
The Israel Corporation an-
nounced its board of directors
has approved the signing of a
memorandum of understand-
ing with Hewlett Packard SA
of Geneva to become the com-
puter firm's representative in
Israel.
If the deal is concluded, Mo-
torola's subsidiary Computa-
tion and Measurement
Systems (CMS) will lose at
least part of its exclusive dis-
tribution rights.
According to an announce-
ment to the Tel Aviv Stock Ex-
change, it is up to Hewlett
Packard in Geneva to decide
if the rights, either all or part,
will be transferred to the Is-
rael Corp.
Haifa Chemicals In Beijing
Haifa Chemicals, a large pro-
ducer of potash, reported it
opened a sales office in Beijing
earlier this month.
A company spokesman said
Haifa Chemicals decided to es-
tablish a presence after re-
ceiving positive responses
from its exports of experi-
mental shipments into China.
Haifa Chemicals' other for-
eign offices are in the United
States, Italy and Belgium.