Gossip

Ronen Bartal VP R&D and Business Development is leading Smart Link’s VoIP business with overall responsibilities of business development, marketing and R&D.
He joined Smart Link in 2002 as Director of Marketing. From 1997-2001, Ronen was with Orckit Communications Ltd, holding both R&D, Business Development and product marketing positions. Prior to joining Orckit, he was associated with the Israeli Ministry of Defense (Intelligence Corp), working in the field of Telecommunications. Ronen was 4 years at Scitex R&D.
Smart Link the world’s third largest supplier of modems, designs and markets dial-up and broadband software modem solutions for client-side communication connections found in desktop PCs and notebooks, ADSL modems, TV set-top boxes, multi-function printers and other consumer products that require Internet-based connectivity.Smart Link is a fabless company with a global organization that is headquartered in Natanya, Israel and has offices in Boston, Taipei and Shenzhen.

 The Tokyo based ExScite Carmel Rosenthal has been recently interviewed at the Israeli radio service. Carmel described his Scitex history, his involvement in the Israel-Japan hi tech business and his life in Japan.
To listen to the very interesting interview, click here. 
Carmel is the president of his own consulting company Creative Tec, which focuses on the links between Israeli and Japanese companies.

Located in NJ, Moshe Zchut is Vice Presiden technology at, and co-founder of OptiMed.
Moshe has 18 years of experience in developing hardware and software for image processing systems, the majority of which has been in the design of medical systems. He was 5 years at Scitex.
Moshe is an active member of medical and technology committees.
OptiMed Technologies, Inc. is a worldwide healthcare information systems company that designs, develops, integrates and markets digital image storage, archive and retrieval systems, patient information management systems, internet-based systems and PACS to cardiac catheterization laboratories, vascular, echocardiography and nuclear medicine departments and other departments in the hospital and in private clinics.

The ExScite Dr. Gill Barequet is Associate Professor at the Dept. of Computer Science, at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. He is also the head of the CGGC (Center for Graphics and Geometric Computing) since October 2001.
Until 2001, Gill was an independent consultant at one of the companies Scitex invested in- Objet Geometries Ltd. (Rehovot, Israel). Before that he was mathematical scientist at Scitex in Herzlia. Between ’94 and ’98 Gill was software engineer and applications manager at another Scitex spin-off- Cubital Ltd. (Herzlia and Ra’anana, Israel), and before that he was with ART and Clarity. More on Gill you can see in his personal website.

On June 2 the Israeli business publication TheMarker Online reported that the ExScite Yair Shamir will be nominated chairman of the board of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), one of the largest companies in Israel.
Yair is not giving up his other positions. Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz announced the appointment on June 6th. Shamir is chairman of Shamir Optical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: SHMR; TASE: SHMR) (which last month became the first kibbutz company ever floated on Nasdaq), former executive VP and general manager of Scitex (Nasdaq: SCIX; TASE: SCIX), former CEO of Strauss-Elite (TASE: STEL), former executive VP of the Challenge Fund Etgar, and former chairman of El Al Israel Airlines (TASE: ELAL). He accepted Mofaz’s offer of the IAI position, despite the burden of his other activities. Shamir is now chairman of high-tech company VCON Telecommunications(Nouveau Marche: VCON), and has been the company’s CEO. VCON develops advanced video call systems. He is also a member of the board of directors of Orckit Communications (Nasdaq: ORCT; TASE: ORCT), Mercury Interactive Corporation (Nasdaq: MERQ), and DSP Group (Nasdaq: DSPG), where Eli Ayalon is chairman and CEO. He is also chairman of the Catalyst Fund , an Israel based venture capital fund investing in late-stage companies mainly in the technology sector. In his new position,
Shamir will lead the issue of 20% of IAI on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this year. This issue is the reason why a chairman was recruited from the business sector, instead of from within the defense establishment. Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu is making Shamir’s agreement to promote privatization of IAI a condition of his appointment.
The Israeli finance minister Netanyahu, who has not yet given his final consent to the appointment, said, “Yair Shamir is a worthy candidate, but his suitability for the job will be judged by his willingness to advance the company’s privatization.”
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) $2 Billion a year company, is providing products and services to defense and civil aerospace markets.
Established in 1953, IAI has played an integral role in making Israel a regional superpower, developing the country’s independent space capability, and supplying the IDF and defense forces worldwide with unique and cost-effective solutions for a wide range of military needs.  The company has developed the world’s first operational Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile and is a global leader in totally integrated UAV solutions, as well as the conversion and upgrade of aircraft.
IAI has ten core areas of activity: Space; Theater Defense; Development and Manufacture of Commercial Aircraft; MRO & Conversion of Civil Aircraft; Military Aircraft & Helicopter Upgrades; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; Intelligence Systems; Homeland Defense; Naval Systems; and Ground Systems.

Kevin Huynh, a STA ExScite is currently working at EMC

Erez Shachar joined Evergreen from NUR Macroprinters Ltd. (NASDAQ: NURM), where he served as CEO and President since 1997, and managed over 400 people globally. Prior to joining NUR, Erez held several senior managerial positions at Scitex Corporation, where he began as a software engineer. 
The 15 years old Evergreen Partners is one of Israel’s pioneer and premier venture capital firms focusing on early-stage technology investments. Evergreen’s current $610 million of private equity funds under management represents one of the largest portfolios in Israel with investments in over 80 technology start-ups.
Evergreen has executed 25 successful portfolio company exits through IPOs or trade sales, distributing the highest cash-on-cash returns of any Israeli VC (according to Dun & Bradstreet). Some of these companies include Creo, Galileo, Backweb, Exalink, Radvision and Radware.

Yacov Pluda, is co-founder and COO at M-Photo. Yacov brings over 25 years of experience in the high tech market, most of which in the graphic arts marketplace. Over the last 20 years he filled-in various positions as software team leader, project manager, product manager, R&D director and COO in several companies, all in the graphic arts marketplace, including Scitex and Shira Computers Ltd.
The Israeli M-Photo is developing production floor management system and productivity tools for high-end photo labs, which allow the photo labs to manage effectively their various production processes and workflows and cut down extensively their operational cost while maintaining the highest integrity, consistency and quality of their work.

The ExScite Avi Raby has joined Scent Detection Tech. (SDT) Before SDT Avi has held various positions, including: European Customer Support Director, International Purchasing Director and Vice President of Human Resources at Scitex Corp. General Manager of Creo ME&A, and CEO of KlearVision Ltd.; Avi has spent a total of 24 years with Scitex.

Scent-Tech of Herzliya Pituach, Israel is the developer of the Mini Nose for Detection

Mini-Nose for detection delivers a combination of: mobility, very fast recovery time, user friendly and sensitivity to all type of explosives including improvised materials; and is currently unmatched by any other non-fixed explosive detection systems available commercially.
The Mini-Nose is a miniaturized sniffer for explosive detection, developed with the consultancies of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Technical Support Working Group (TSWG), and the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) to match their requirements and specifications for anti-terrorism tasks. The Mini-Nose is the ideal solution for airports, military, embassies, border-crossing, Federal buildings, railway and subway stations, banks, prisons, ports and more.