People

Leeya EngelDr. Leeya Engel

Assistant Professor

Leeya holds a B.Sc. in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a direct-track Ph.D. in Materials Science & Nanotechnologies from Tel Aviv University. Before starting her lab at the Technion, Leeya completed her postdoctoral studies at Stanford University. Her multidisciplinary research group develops bio-microsystems and new technologies for studying cellular mechanics. In her spare time (ha!), she enjoys coffee, cooking Mediterranean food, and hiking with her family. More on her research background here.

twitter: @Leeya_Engel

publications: Google Scholar

 

Noa

Dr. Noa Ben-Asher

Lab Manager

Noa earned her Ph.D. in C. elegans genetics from the faculty of Biology in the Technion. She is excited to be working with Leeya on developing tools to better study cellular structures and mechanics, and finding her inner engineer. In her free time, she enjoys reading, sewing and spending time with her family.

Email: noaba@me.technion.ac.il

Orya Steinberg

Administrative Assistant

Orya arrived in our lab with extensive experience working with young children. Now she works with older children and the Technion bureaucracy to keep our lab afloat.

Email: oryas@technion.ac.il

 

Shany T

Shani Tcherner

Ph.D. Student

Shani completed her M.Sc. in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport faculty of Medicine at the Technion, studying and characterizing E.coli under starvation using microfluidic devices. She is now examining the influence of ECM nanotopography on the organization and stability of endothelial cell-cell junctions, using engineered nanofibrillar substrates. In her spare time, she enjoys Pilates reformer workouts, exploring different cooking cuisines, and playing music with her family.

Email: shanitch-m@campus.technion.ac.il

NadavNadav Jacobsen

M.Sc. Student

Nadav is part of the prestigious Brakim program of the IDF. His M.Sc. project focuses on characterizing the stability of anti-fouling coatings as a function of environmental conditions. In his spare time, Nadav plays percussion instruments in the Technion orchestra.

Email: nadavj@campus.technion.ac.il

 

Amit Avrahami

M.Sc. Student

Amit is part of the prestigious Brakim program of the IDF. His M.Sc. project focuses on the microfabrication and functionalization of gold electron microscopy grids. In his spare time, Amit likes to hike, play tennis, and play the guitar.

Email: amitavrahami@campus.technion.ac.il

Ester Konstantinov
M.Sc. Student
Ester comes to our lab from the Faculty of Biotechnology with much cell culture experience that she puts to good use in our lab. Ester micropatterns EM grids, that are later seeded with cardiomyocytes by our collaborators at the University of Michigan.
Sapir Solomon
M.Sc. Student

Sapir holds a B.Sc in Biotechnology and Food Engineering from the Technion and has an experience in the Semiconductor industry. Her M.Sc will be focused on ECM micropatterning design to produce endothelial cell pairs with low and high levels of intercellular tension and examination of the overlap area of cell-cell junctions. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling and meeting with family and friends.

Email: sapir-so@campus.technion.ac.il

Maayan Kaikov
M.Sc. Student

Maayan holds a B.Sc in Biotechnology and Food Engineering from the Technion. In her M.Sc, she will study protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases, using advanced electron microscopy techniques.

Email: maayankaikov@campus.technion.ac.il

Nir Natan
M.Sc. Student

Nir holds a B.Sc in Biomedical Engineering from the Technion with experience in fluid mechanics in blood vessels. His M.Sc will be focused on the effects of shear stress on organization of endothelial cell-cell junctions using microfluidic model micropatterning. In his spare time, Nir likes swimming and sitting for a good cup of coffee.

Email: nir.natan@campus.technion.ac.il

Tim Manor

Undergraduate Researcher

Tim prints high resolution structuers in 3D  using the Nanoscribe in the GTIIT clean room. These surfaces will help us understand how cell sensitivity to surface topography. Tim loves to do handstands, cooking, hiking, singing and playing the guitar.

Email: tim.manor@campus.technion.ac.il

Chaya Meltzer

Undergraduate Researcher

Chaya Meltzer is a Mechanical Engineering student from the United States. She’s a passionate fourth year student with many interdisciplinary interests. Some of them include Biomechanics, Design, and Rocketry (she was the Structural Team leader of the Technion Rocketry Club). She also has several hobbies outside of academia, including hiking with friends, reading, and the occasional good sodoku puzzle.

Email: chayameltzer@campus.technion.ac.il

Arieh Jacobson

Undergraduate Researcher

Arieh is a student in the international undergraduate program in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from Canada. He helps us develop our procedure to replicate 3D printed micro topologies faster and more efficiently, allowing us to test the sensitivity of cells to their surface with suitable sample sizes. In his free time, Arieh likes to read, swim and play the bass guitar.

Email: ariehj@campus.technion.ac.il

Hodaya Arda

Undergraduate Researcher

Hodaya’s undergraduate project (together with Noa Livneh) focuses on endothelial cell dynamics as a function of morphological constraint. They will use live cell TFM imaging and protein micropatterning to conduct their research. Outside of the lab, Hodaya enjoys creating and building. She plays electric guitar, and always looks for a chance to share a good cup of coffee with friends.

Email: hodaya.arda@campus.technion.ac.il

 

Noa Livneh

Undergraduate Researcher

Noa’s undergraduate project (together with Hodaya Arda) focuses on endothelial cell dynamics as a function of morphological constraint. They will use live cell TFM imaging and protein micropatterning to conduct their research. Noa also love rock climbing!

Email: noa.livneh@campus.technion.ac.il

Arseny Pilinsky

Undergraduate Researcher

Arseny’s undergraduate project focuses on Replica molding from nanoscribe to create PDMS microposts for measuring cell forces. In his free time he likes cooking, playing guitar and computer games.

Email: arsenyp@campus.technion.ac.il

 

For a list of our alumni, see here: Engel lab alumni