Amit Baum

Introduction

About the Nut in a Nutshell

My interest in sustainability was noticed for the first time in the year 1994, declared officially as The Environment Year by the Israel Ministry of the Environment. As part of that year's activities, during a garbage collection project I was struck by the feeling that I am taking part of a global operation of cleaning Earth. Since then, I am the kind of environmentalist that implements his life philosophy in every aspect:

* Consume only plant-origin products

* Minimize consumption

* Minimize transport pollution

* Minimize cellular device usage

* No addictive drugs

Although I am an active environmentalist and pacifist, my way to save humanity is by giving a personal example of a modern ecological lifestyle, through the continuous study of sustainability. Knowledge and social activism are inseparable parts of sustainability. The SELECT programme was enriching for me from the practical aspect of sustainability side by side with the broad theory it provided. I intend to continue and use the knowledge acquired here in my mission to save nature on earth.

Metadatabase for the EU Industry

Mar. 2013 - Jul. 2013

An innovative model of a parametric metadatabase for the European Union's environmental legislation is proposed in the core of this work. The novelty is in the implementation of a semi-supervised machine learning process on a social network platform. By crossing information of all users’ profiles and dynamic databases, the system calculates the relevance of each legal parameter to each network user. This mechanism is expected to enable the integration of legislative eco-parameters into automated industrial energy management systems.

Report - Presentation

Solar-Driven Membrane Desalination

Oct. 2012 - May 2013

The solar-driven desalination unit provides clean water for industrial applications and renewable electricity as a secondary output. The innovative system is powered by low-grade heat and integrates a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal panel which optimizes the system’s efficiency resulting in a self-sustained purification process by the smart utilization of solar radiation and a semi-permeable membrane.

Summary - Report - Presentation - Video

Rural Energy Polygeneration

Oct. 2011 - Jun. 2012

This work proposed a design of an integrated living system for the rural side of West-Bengal in India. It combines conventional modern technology and traditional knowledge together with original innovations. Each component was modeled and its predicted performance was analyzed quantitatively. The environomical analysis compared key sustainability parameters of the proposed solutions with those of commonly used alternative technologies.

Report (section 2.1) - Presentation (section 2.1) - Video

Sino-Swedish Eco-City

Jan. 2012 - May 2012

This project was submitted to the call for urban planning of a new district of 10,000 residents at the city of Wuxi in China. The conceptual model for the district plan focused on the primary energy consumption attributed to the residential and commercial activities.

Report - Presentation

Municipal Solid Waste Composter

Oct. 2008 - May 2009

An innovative design for a composter of municipal solid waste was proposed as a graduation project in the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. This device rotates from gravitational energy of the feed waste. The repeated rotation throughout the day keeps the organic material aerated thus enhancing the natural aerobic reaction.

Summary - Report I (Hebrew) - Report II (Hebrew) - Photos

Haifa Wadis Trail

Since Jan. 2014

As part of the continues efforts to conserve the urban nature in the city of Haifa in Israel, I co-founded Yarok Balev NGO (Green at Heart NGO) and the leading project of Haifa Wadis Trail. This is a 50km hiking path which connects all the nature within and surrounding the city of Haifa. The Haifa Wadis Trail project is being integrated in the 2017 Master Plan for Haifa's Nature Preservation, and won a grant of €4,000 from the New Israel Fund.Webpgae - Map - Videos

Community Based Projects for Reducing Natural Resources Consumption

Dec. 2015 - Jan. 2016

This survey for The Partnership for Regional Sustainability in Ramat HaNadiv explored the worldwide efforts of local communities to cut their ecological footprint, namely by reducing their natural resources consumption.

Report (Hebrew) - Presentation (Hebrew)

Smart Building Construction

Oct. 2009 - Sep. 2010

Patent design: Ergonomic strategy and system for cast construction.

This invention of Scientists' Town Research & Development Ltd. relates to a method for producing cast structures, and a set of connectors for connecting a pair of opposed, spaced apart boards which are useful in said method. A kit of elements useful as support frames in the production of the cast structures is also provided.

Patent WO 2014024186 A1 - Patent US 20150191922 A1