Behind the curds of Cottage cheese are mathematical calculations

Prof. Aviv Gibali, Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics, shows how math is behind everything.

Prof. Gibali, the new Head of the Applied Mathematics department at HIT Holon Institute of Technology, says that he tries to see mathematics in everything and appreciates its ability to solve complex problems and challenges.

"Although I studied science subjects extensively as a child, I didn't like learning and memorizing techniques for solving riddles. At the beginning of my undergraduate studies, I got a taste of fundamental mathematics, which fascinated me. However, even then, some people should have emphasized understanding and seeing mathematics as one that would encourage learning. From that point, I've decided to teach and educate and, above all, correct the injustice and the bad reputation that mathematics suffers from.

I believe that if you are curious and relate the study materials to practice and relevant topics, then the learning and the pursuit of understanding will come automatically from the student," says Prof. Gibali.

Prof. Gibali's bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science is from the University of Haifa, where he graduated with honors and became a practitioner. He completed his master's degree at the University of Haifa under the guidance of Professor Yair Censor, who is considered one of the world's leading radiation therapy optimization and planning experts. "During the studies, I was exposed to more and more applied mathematics, and my interest intensified when I transferred to the Technion for doctoral studies under the joint guidance of Professor Shimon Reich and Yair Censor," says Aviv.

After graduation, he joined the Fraunhofer Institute (Fraunhofer ITWM), an industrial research and development institution in Germany.

Aviv says that the work at the German Institute was fascinating, and the topics are based on requirements from the industry, such as the gem and diamond industry; the result was exciting and developed in different directions. "After a year at the institute, I

joined a group whose goal was to mathematically understand how one succeeds in producing a gemstone that is considered 'beautiful,'" says Aviv. "Following the project's success, a machine was built that worked on zircons (diamond-like glass), and we tried to decipher the psychological puzzle of how a gemstone becomes more qualitative in people's eyes."

At the German Institute, Prof. Ghibli was involved in other fascinating projects, such as developing algorithms for planning cancer treatments. Later, he solved complex problems using mathematical tools, even for the cottage cheese found in our refrigerator. "Israeli companies contacted us and asked us to find a way to model the cottage cheese production process and thereby increase the amount of curds in the cheese," he says.

Besides his work at HIT, he is a member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS), editor of several scientific journals, supervises theses in mathematics and is a consultant in several projects in Israel and abroad, among other hospitals and chemical industries.

Posted: 31/01/2024