Brigadier General (Res.), Former Head of Research and Development, Israel Ministry of Defense and Israel Defense Forces

Awarded the 2012 Israel Defense Prize, Dr. Gold was responsible for the State of Israel’s military research and development policy. He oversaw all R&D projects and budgets across a wide variety of fields, including electronics, communications, information technology, robotics, and many others. Under his leadership, the IDF R&D unit was awarded the Israel Defense Prize seven times, and Israel attained global leadership and independence in a large number of technological fields and systems. In his role, Dr. Gold developed an unprecedented number of R&D collaborations with a large number of countries and organizations. One of his most noted projects, which he invented and managed, is Iron Dome, the mobile air-defense system that addresses the short-range rocket threats to populated areas in Israel. Dr. Gold holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering, specializing in communications and signal processing, and a Ph.D. in Business Management, with specialty in technology management.