- Student
- 13/09/2019
And how are things in Rehovot?
Before looking for an internship, I thought of going for a destination on the other side of the world where they speak English, like Australia, New Zealand, the US or Canada. It seemed like a safe choice for the internship adventure. However, after talks with some lecturers, Israel popped up as a possible destination. Not your usual internship destination, and only a five-hour flight away.
Right now I have been in Israel for about seven weeks. I am doing my internship at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, which is about twenty kilometers south of Tel Aviv. As part of the faculty of Mathematics & Computer Science, there is SAMPL, the ‘Signal Acquisition, Modeling & Processing Lab’ (an awesome acronym, if you ask me!). I’m working on super-resolution in ultrasound imaging. Ultrasonography is fundamentally limited by wave diffraction, which means that there is a limit on the resolution of ultrasound images. However, by combining classical signal processing methods with deep learning and prior knowledge of the signal, we can construct higher-resolution images, despite this limit. This way it is possible to visualize fine vascular structures, which on its turn can help to detect diseases better.
The lab moved to Weizmann only recently. From the point at which I arrived here up till now, the team already grew to about 20 people, which means a growth of about 50%. This brings special group dynamics – as everyone is basically new here – and relatively much team building activities. Just days after my arrival I could even join a team event with all team members and their family at the professors house!
In Rehovot itself there is not much going on. During the week I spend my time mainly on campus, where I also have my room. During the day, I am working on my internship at the lab, in the evening I usually go for a swim in the swimming pool at campus. However, when the weekend starts, I leave the campus to go and explore Israel. I have been soaking up the culture at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (visiting the Western Wall at the beginning of Shabbat is really impressive!) for example, but I also like to go hiking in the beautiful nature that you can find in Israel. Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights and Ein Gedi National Park at the Dead Sea were really cool, featuring smalls streams ending up in big natural pools. Also walking to Mount Arbel from Tiberias was quite impressive, with its magnificent view on the Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee).
With about seven weeks to go, things remaining on my wish list are the Palestinian Territories on the West Bank, Eilat, and the Negev desert, amongst others. I am also looking forward to participating in the Sea of Galilee crossing next week, a large swimming event in which I will swim 3.8 kilometers across the lowest fresh-water lake in the world.
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