Rafael Defense Systems Opens R&D Center At Ben-Gurion University

Israeli defense tech company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced Tuesday it had opened its research and development center at BGU Advanced Technologies Park at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba.

The defense giant announced the opening at a ceremony which included
BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, Rafael CEO Yoav Har-Even, Chairman Dr. Uzi Landau, Dr. Ran Gozali, executive vice president and head of Rafael’s R&D and Engineering Division, Ruvik Danilovitz, Mayor of Beersheba and Yigal Ono, director of the National Cyber Directorate. 

The center currently employs 15 people, with dozens more expected in the next two years, a statement from the university said.

“Rafael is opening its doors to BGU graduates,” said Dr. Gozali, “Who knows? Maybe one day a BGU alumnus will take over from me as the head of R&D at Rafael.”

The decision to put the R&D center in Beersheba’s hi-tech park was an easy one, President Chaimovitz says, “This is the change in reality that we have dreamed of. Our partnership with Rafael is total, and I am 100 percent certain that our students will find work here, and will stay in Beer-Sheva to build their adult lives.”

In January, Rafael systems signed a strategic multi-year research agreement with BGN Technologies, BGU’s technology transfer company. The agreement is in the fields of cybersecurity, smart mobility, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

The signing ceremony was held at the Cybertech 2019 conference in Tel Aviv.

The first two collaborative projects under the agreement will look at the risks of cybersecurity breaches in sensors of autonomous vehicles.