
Raphael Mehoudar
Education:
1962-1966 B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Academic Atuda Program, Technion
Work Experience:
1966-1969 Research and development of armored vehicles for the Israeli Army, Ordnance Corps, Captain
1970-1972 R&D, Office of the Chief Scientist of the Defense Ministry and the Israeli Army
Israeli Standards Institute: Inventions, Research and Development of Water Saving appliances
1972-1999 Army Reserves: Weapon Development in the framework of the “MAFAT” Unit of the Israeli Army and the Ministry of Defense
1973-present: Founder, engineer and owner of Hydroplan Engineering Ltd., a company specializing in the development of hydraulic products for the irrigation industry. As the organization’s R&D arm for product innovation, has launched a series of innovative emitters and other irrigation devices. The holder of about 50 patent families – a total of 400 patents ,in tens of countries including: Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Iran, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, United States (40 patents), Ukraine, Venezuela.
Has maintained an exclusive association with Netafim, the global leader in drip irrigation and the world’s largest agricultural irrigation company. Billions of drippers developed by Hydroplan Engineering Ltd, and manufactured by Netafim (the licensees of Hydroplan), are sold to over 120 countries for hundreds of million dollars per year.
Awards and Honors:
- The annual award for product innovation by the Association of American Agricultural Engineers, for the RAM dripper.
- The Rothschild Award from the President of Israel, for technological product development for the global market
- The Israel Broadcasting Company Award for the most significant invention marking Israel’s jubilee year.
- In 2010, to mark the 62nd year of Israel’s independence, the Israeli Philatelic Services issued a series of three stamps named « Israeli Innovations that Changed the World ». One of the stamps depicts one of Mr. Mehoudar’s drippers.
- Honorary Doctoral degree from the Technion, Israel 2014
- The 2015 torch lighter the torch-lighting ceremony, focused in 2015 on trailblazers – outstanding Israelis who reached unusual and inspiring achievements and have made a significant contribution to Israeli innovation and excellence in different walks of life, including: Science and technology, defense, economics, medicine, agriculture, culture and sports. Mr. Mehoudar lit a torch for his groundbreaking irrigation inventions.