Dr. Miriam. "The children know I won't be waiting for them at home at noon with schnitzels, but they understand what I do at work"/Reuven Castro
"We are in the development of the operational laser that will be released at the end of 2025. The test in the war was only on some of the components of the system and it was successful. Now we are working hard here to complete the other components. We know that they are waiting for it"
Nothing in Dr. Miriam's resume could hint at her current position. Someone who was born and raised in the USA, educated in the studio, a graduate of MIT and another leading university, a doctor of condensed matter physics. Even whoever meets her on the street, a young woman in a veil Rosh, will not guess that apart from her four children, she is also raising the next generation of the laser for intercepting rockets developed by the Rafael company.
Her full name is not allowed to be published. Neither is her face photo. She will continue in this field in Israel when she immigrated about seven years ago together with her husband, pregnant with three children.
"We met at the university, and we knew that one day we would go to Israel," says Miriam (41) in her first interview.
"We consulted on the best way to prepare, and they advised us to finish a post-doctorate and then move on. So that's what we did. My husband got a position as a professor of physical chemistry at Ben Gurion, and I started looking for a job."
There is a developing hi-tech scene in Beer Sheva.
And in civil companies you can also get options, and a higher salary than in a government company.
"I wanted to work in Be'er Sheva, and high-tech in the city is less in my field. I was looking for a place that develops a product. I feel that the Rafael development center in the city was established for me."
A light shield system for intercepting rockets and UAVs/Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Defense
"In Israel, children also have more freedom of action. There is good public transportation here and they can get where they need to go by themselves. In the US, there may not be a 'red color,' but there are other problems.
And here are the challenges of living in Israel, but at least anti-Semitism is not one of them"
The development center of the iron dome, windbreaker and spike missile manufacturer was established in recent years as part of Rafael's expansion, which was always focused on the north of the country to the south, in order to expand its manpower sources.
When they received Dr. Miriam's resume there, they recognized the opportunity to absorb talent in the ever-evolving field. Rafael does specialize in missiles, but understands that lasers are the future of warfare, and not just the present of Hollywood. The
branch already employs about 100 people, who are engaged in software development , algorithms, navigation, guidance, etc. Of these, 13 are in Dr. Miriam's group, which specializes in tactical physics, and has also gained its own laboratory.
The accent is noticeable, but her Hebrew is excellent.
Only occasionally in professional terms does she turn to English.
Only one project the group is working on is allowed to talk about at the moment: the Magen Or system, and to be precise, its next generation.
The first generation has not yet entered service, and is in the transition phase from a prototype that intercepted rockets and UAVs in the test field, to an operational system with a power of about 100 kilowatts. But Rafael is already working on Magen Or 2.
In the Iron Swords War, you carried out an operational experiment with the Air Force and the Ministry of Defense The system's tracking systems against incessant rocket launches. How were the results?
"We are in the development of the operational system that will be released at the end of 2025. The test was only on some of the system's components and was successful.
Now we are working hard here to complete the rest of the components.
We know that we are waiting for it."
What will be in the next generation?
"A new technology that will allow the use of the laser in a wider variety of scenarios.
We know where we want to go, and fewer can expand."
Could the laser one day replace the Iron Dome?
"The laser is an important addition to the Iron Dome, which will make it possible to greatly reduce interception costs, and to respond quickly to threats.
But the laser also has disadvantages: it scatters in clouds, rain or sandstorms, for example.
It will therefore have an increasing role in the defense of the country's skies.
But it will not be able to completely replace the interceptor missiles.
Not in physics that I know of."
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On October 7, she was at home in Be'er Sheva with her extended family, who came for the Bat Mitzvah celebrations of one of her daughters.
"At 6:30 when the alarms started, we immediately took the bikes out of the police station, where we moved them for the celebration and the guests.
There were 12 of us and 4 more neighbors, who live in a house without a central heating system. And between the alarms I start to think that people will soon be hungry and start to prepare breakfast. We didn't turn on the radio, but neighbors told us that the situation was not good and that we should lock ourselves in the house. At least I won over my mother who stayed In Israel for many more weeks later, and it helped us a lot during the time when we were entering a very busy period in Rafael, to support urgent matters for the war, and to continue to promote longer-term projects."
Have you ever thought that maybe it would have been better to stay in the US, to raise the children in a place where instead of rockets, at most, a snowball would be thrown at them?
"Snow is really a sore spot when you live in Beer Sheva.
It's a great city, and our neighborhood is excellent, but every time there is a forecast for snow in Jerusalem, we start getting pressure from the kids to go.
They got used to the alarms more easily.
They enter the MMD and nothing happens. We could find them a quality Jewish education there as well, but then we would pay 50,000 dollars a year for it, and all our salaries would go to that.
"In Israel, children also have more freedom of action.
There is good public transportation here and they can get where they need to go by themselves.
In the US you have to have a car to get from place to place. There may not be a 'red color' there, but there are other problems. And here there are the challenges of living in Israel, but at least anti-Semitism is not one of them."
But she also has a story about the moment when she realized that the ascension was the right step for her, and this realization did not land on her in the experimental field, or in the laser laboratory.
"In the US, you have to buy Jewish food for the holiday in advance, before the supply runs out.
When we arrived I came across this custom in Israel when the holiday is not over yet and you can already see the food for the next holiday on the shelves.
You can already see the first donuts in Sukkot.
In Hanukkah there are already ears of manna.
And just at that time I was shopping and something was missing.
It took me a moment to realize that there were no fir trees and Santa Claus around.
Then I realized I was in my own country."
How do you combine raising four children with such a career? Many mothers request the algorithm you developed.
"We have a very supportive community and also few family members in Israel.
The children understand that I will not wait for them at home at noon with the schnitzels.
But they also see what we do, naturally encounter more lasers in my father's work than mine, and get excited.
"In the end, it is not easy that the years that build the family and the years that build the career are the same years. But in the end, there is no problem combining them, and if the degree takes another year or two, then nothing happened. Both are prepared processes and should be treated as such and not cancel one for the benefit of the other".
A light shield next to an iron dome on display.
"The laser will not completely replace the interceptor missiles. Not in the physics I know"/ Paul, Mark Israel Salem
The Bible is really stories. In science, the deeper I go, the greater my faith. The understanding that if the weight of the particle was a little different, the world would not exist. There must be a creator of all this, who planned it all."
I have met many women who work in technological positions in the defense industries who say that they are often the only woman in the room, and that even in their studies they were mostly surrounded by men.
Is this also your experience?
"At the university, we were 30% women in the class. Here in my group I am currently the only woman and I am working to change that. I wanted, for example, at my daughter's school. She came back from school and informed me that due to the solar eclipse, the teacher asked if there was a parent who could come to lecture. This was an opportunity to make physics accessible to children. I hope that I was able to arouse interest and hope that I can create more such opportunities and accompany young girls at the stage when they have to decide which subjects to increase in high school. They are no less good than the boys in the real fields, maybe even better."
Mother is a doctor of physics, father is a professor of chemistry, do you already see technological talent in the children?
"Yes, God willing.
My older daughter is studying at Olpana where they do a bachelor's degree at the Open University while in high school.
She decided to do a degree in physics.
Now she has finished a first course in mathematics and next semester a first course in physics.
And it's her decision, there was no pressure from the parents."
I have a feeling that MPA and some technology units in the IDF would be happy to accept her for service.
"She can continue national service, or enlist.
whatever she wants.
I hope she enlists."
How do you combine science and technology with the stories of the Bible?
The Bible is really stories. In science, the deeper I go, the greater my faith. The understanding that if the weight of the particle was a little different, the world would not exist. There must be a creator of all this, who planned it all."
More on the same topic:
Raphael
laser
Missile interception