The face f imagination. metro >> on the cover Best Seat In The House! Inventor to watch Super Bowl from chair suspended two stories high. Roche! Burstyn I Special to the Jewish News Ann Shani Elitzur, Graduate Student Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering Securing a safe and green future takes imagination. And imagination is abundant at the Technion, one of the world's preeminent science and technology universities. You can see it in the face of Technion graduate student Shani Elitzur. A captain in the Israeli Air Force working in aeronautical design, Shani is also pursuing her doctoral degree in renewable green energy and studying new ways to generate hydrogen. The goal: achieve a breakthrough in efficient energy production and storage. Shani is just one of many Technion students, faculty members and graduates who are committed to a better future, creating everything from new tumor-shrinking treatments to zero- emission vehicles. All born of imagination at the Technion- a hotbed of discovery that's contributing to Israel's leadership in science, technology and medicine. Technion: The Imagination of Israel. American Technion Society Advancing Innovation for Israel and the World American Technion Society Detroit Office 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 304, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301 Tel: 248.593.6760 Linda Kovan, President Joey Selesny, East Central Regional Director www. ats. org 12 January 30 • 2014 JP1 Michlin also created a geodesic metidr CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "I frequently see cars slow down as they're driving by, looking at our house," he said. The two-story room has a high glass ceiling and contains a full-size trampoline that fills the floor space. Michlin jumps on his trampoline every day for at least 15 minutes, often with his 2-year-old grandson Eliyahu. Last year, Michlin introduced his Super Bowl chair to the world via YouTube with a specially created video that shows him doing flips on his tram- poline, walking on his hands on a tread- mill and playing guitar while sitting in the airborne Super Bowl chair. A blooper clip when the suction cup holding a camera fell is also on YouTube. It could have been painful, but, Michlin said, "Luckily, I was wearing a yarmulke; it was softer with it:' The ode to his Super Bowl chair was not the first song Michlin wrote. "From about age 18 to 21, I basically spent most of my time writing songs:' he said. "I can't remember them all, only about 30 of them:' He works on the songs he remembers in his recording studio and plans to eventually release them on iTunes. Michlin credits his interest in invent- ing to his father, Arnold Michlin, a chemist and inventor who often brought home objects of curiosity from work. As a child, Shalom used the family base- ment as his personal laboratory and tinkered with motors, drills and pumps as he discovered how things worked. He later graduated from the University of Michigan with two degrees, in chemical engineering and materials and metallur- , gical engineering. The geodesic paraboloid solar reflec- tor and the geodesic doughnut house were among Michlin's earlier inven- tions. "This was back in 1973, and it took me an entire day to figure out the calculations. Nowadays, with a personal computer and the right program, I could make the same calculations in minutes:' Michlin said. Other inventions include his geodesic dome Sukkah, which was featured in the IN in 2005, and the 6-foot long geodesic menorah he made from 875 metal rods two years ago. Though it's common now, Michlin was described by PC Week magazine in 1986 as the first in the computer indus- try to rebuild toner cartridges. He also has 39 patents, which upheld his case when he sued large companies for patent infringement. All cases eventually settled out of court for confidential amounts. Entertaining Fellow When Michlin's not busy with his music, inventions, work or trampoline, he might be walking upside down. A mostly self-taught gymnast who was varsity on the state champs (and undefeated) gymnastics team at North Farmington High School back in 1967, Michlin still proudly wears his letter jacket once a year — on Purim. He often walks on his hands for up to a distance of 50 feet. He also enjoys posing while standing on his hands at famous tourist spots around the world. "I've walked on my hands on the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square Geeked on page 14