Technion Grad to Head Apple's First Offshore R&D Center
Thursday, December 15, 2011
By: Kevin Hattori

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology alum Aharon Aharon has been tapped by Apple, Inc. to head the company's first ever development center outside of its California headquarters. Work at the new Israel-based R&D facility will reportedly be focused on semiconductor technology, according to a report in Globes, an Israeli business publication.

The decision to open the center was apparently made even before Apple entered into talks to acquire Herzliya-based flash storage solutions provider Anobit Ltd.

Mr. Aharon, who received his bachelor's in computer engineering and master's degree in electrical engineering from the Technion, is a veteran player in Israel's high-tech industry.  He is currently chairman of Camero Technology Ltd., a developer of through-the-wall radar imaging technology, having previously been the company's CEO for six years.  Previously, he was chairman of embedded security solutions developer Discretix Inc. and COO at Zoran Corp.  He began his career at IBM's Research Division in Haifa, where he managed the VLSI design center and CAD tool activities.

According to a report in Israeli business publication Globes, Mr. Aharon will spend several months in Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, before returning to Israel to begin recruiting staff.

The Technion is a global leader in applied research, technology transfer and commercialization and a major force behind Israel's emergence as the home of one of the greatest concentrations of high-tech start-up companies anywhere in the world. Companies including Intel, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Yahoo! and Hewlett-Packard have established their operations near or on the Technion campus, where they can take advantage of the Technion's research power and outstanding students and graduates. 

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is consistently ranked among the world's leading science and technology universities.  Home to three of Israel's five winners of the Nobel Prize in science, the Technion commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in computer science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy, water-resource management, medicine, drug development, and aerospace.  Headquartered in New York City, the American Technion Society (ATS) promotes scientific and technological research and education at the Technion.