Sabancı University and international research and technology organisation TWI have extended their longstanding relationship to launch the Digital Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (DMIC). 

Sabancı University, whose philosophy includes generating leading-edge knowledge, and forming educational and research networks, to create competitive competencies within an international context, will host the new virtual Centre within its Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Research and Application Center (SU-IMC) on its site in Turkey. 

A Europe-centric approach is central to the joint venture which aims to engage with the wider innovation community to develop a research portfolio, comprising new collaborative projects that will deepen digital manufacturing technologies and result in the delivery of novel products, systems and services. 

Research and development (R&D) will focus on expanding European excellence in advanced composites and related materials, as well as in additive manufacturing of metals and composites, from prototypes through to certified, fully functional parts.  Work will be in areas of increasing importance to society, the environment and the economy such as green manufacturing; the sustainability of materials and their re-purposing; hydrogen economy; and smart applications in digitalising processes and products.  In doing this, DMIC will be well placed to work closely with TWI’s other Innovation centres and its operations in Athens, Greece, TWI Hellas, which can bring R&D expertise in areas such as data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and systems integration to the new Centre. 

Cem Selcuk, Head of Business Development for the TWI Innovation Network said “DMIC will provide a platform for co-developing competitively won, funded projects that serve to facilitate ongoing collaboration between the partners, their innovation networks, SME companies across Europe and TWI’s Industrial Members.” 

Tat-Hean Gan, Director of Innovation and Skills, TWI explained further “Both parties are bringing years of experience in technology innovation management to the Centre and this will enable the identification of novel techniques which can enhance production technologies used in digital integrated manufacturing, leading to industrial scale up for successful and sustainable deployment. 

Bahattin Koç, Director of SU-IMC, Sabancı University stated “This new Innovation Centre will open up new directions in data-driven digital manufacturing of fully functional metal and composite parts by combing the strengths of the two partners.” 

Prof. Mehmet Yildiz, Vice President for Research and Development at Sabancı University further expressed that “By combing their expertise, our two organisations will unify their capabilities in advanced and digital manufacturing to progress state-of-the-art in composite and additive manufacturing technologies, leading to the future training of graduate students and highly skilled personnel through collaborative, multidisciplinary projects.”

Our president Yusuf Leblebici has received the Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

The Distinguished Alumni Award of UIUC is one of the most prestigious distinctions of the Electrical and Computer Engineering program, recognizing alumni with significant professional and technical contributions to the field. Previous recipients of the award include Nick Holonyak, inventor of LED light sources; Prith Banerjee, former Vice president of Hewlett-Packard and Schneider Electric; and Jack Kilby, inventor of integrated circuits and Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2000.

In response to the news, Yusuf Leblebici has said that he is “very proud and honoured of having been selected for such a prestigious award”. He received his PhD degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990. He worked as a faculty member at UIUC for 3 years, and has maintained his strong ties to the university for many years.

The award will be presented to Yusuf Leblebici at a ceremony to be held at UIUC on 2^nd October 2020.

Sabancı University students Doğukan Kaygusuz and Sümeyra Vural, under the guidance of Sabancı University Faculty Member Meltem Elitaş, developed a biosensor that enables consumers to conduct DNA-based tests such as GMO analysis and identification at home.

Sümeyra Vural, Meltem Elitaş, Doğukan Kaygusuz

The sensor allows the quick identification of GMO-foods in homes, fields and manufacturing facilities. 

The pocket-sized biosensor designed at Sabancı University for low cost and domestic use can perform many DNA-based tests such as GMO analysis, identification, and disease diagnosis and treatment.

Identifies GMO DNA in 30 minutes

The Sabancı University graduate students involved in the project say that the key purpose of the project is GMO identification and that the device is able to identify DNA in almost all sampes provided to the system. DNA diagnosis, which takes at least 160 minutes in the laboratory environment, can be completed in just 30 minutes with the new biosensor. The Sabancı University graduate students who developed the device said the following: “This device may be used for GMO detection as well as DNA diagnostics such as blood diseases, infections and patient identification. Soy and maize are the most common GMO crops in the world. This sensor is useful for a diverse group of potential users from consumers who wish to know whether a food containing soy or maize has GMO to a nurse who needs to diagnose a bacterial infection. We plan to take part in a EU project with this device in the near future.”

A patent application has been made for the biosensor developed by Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences graduate students, and a paper has been published in a high-impact journal.

A patent application has been filed for the biosensor used to detect GMOs in soy and maize products. During the application process, it was discovered that the biosensor has no equivalent in Turkey, and is one of the lowest-cost and easiest-to-use biosensors worldwide. The prototype will be further developed into a final product following international manufacturing norms and marketed as soon as possible.

The team behind the TÜBİTAK-supported project: The team is composed of Sabancı University Mechatronic Engineering master's student Doğukan Kaygusuz, Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering master's student Sümeyra Vural and Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Member Meltem Elitaş in addition to Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center researcher Stuart Lucas and Yeditepe University faculty member Ali Özhan Aytekin. A paper has been published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, which has an article impact value of 9,518. The paper is available here.

The project was made possible with the extensive support of Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Dean Professor Canan Atılgan and Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center Director Professor Fazilet Vardar, who have had confidence in the Biomechatronics Researcg Group since the beginning. The project is also a perfect illustration of the Sabancı University philosophy to "create and develop together."

Sabancı University Electronic Engineering Program 2009 alumni and University of Boston professor Rabia Tuğçe Yazıcıgil’s studies in association with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were featured in Nature Symposium and IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - ISSCC 2020.  

Yazıcıgil delivered the opening remarks of Nature Symposium held by Springer and Nature on February 6, 2020 in Madrid.  Yazıcıgil's joint efforts with MIT were featured in the conference titled "Biomimetic Sensors: Use and potential in the medical industry” and published in the Spanish press (Innovaspain, en24, elcomercio, hoy).

Graduate Yazıcıgil’s latest work with MIT on the cryptographic "tag of everything" was published in  MIT News and IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - ISSCC 2020, one of the most prestigious integrated circuit conferences worldwide. To combat supply chain counterfeiting, which can cost companies billions of dollars annually, Yazıcıgil and MIT researchers have invented a cryptographic ID tag that’s small enough to fit on virtually any product and verify its authenticity.  

Presented and implemented by the Sabancı University Research and Graduate Policy Directorate (RGP) Industry Cooperation and Technology Licensing Office (ILO) team, the 21-month AToMIC project having a budget of TL 750,000 is to receive support under the Mentor Interface (BİGG+) call.

The BİGG+ call was opened to develop and implement a mentorship mechanism for small and medium businesses supported under TÜBİTAK TEYDEB Programs, aimed at assisting them in commercializing their products and services, entering new markets, and improving export capacity by ensuring effective use of public resources devoted by TÜBİTAK to research and innovation.

The project involves the creation and implementation of mentorship mechanisms to improve the business development and innovation capabilities of 25 SMBs and startups that will be selected from the provinces of Istanbul and Kocaeli according to certain criteria.

SMBs that receive mentorship support from the project are expected to improve:
·      Revenue
·      Market share
·      Presence in new markets
·      Foreign sales figures  

The results of the 2019/1 call period of the TÜBİTAK Individual Young Entrepreneur Program (BiGG), which provides grants up to TL 200,000 to entrepreneurs with technology-based business ideas, were announced. The first stage of the TÜBİTAK BiGG program is being implemented by 30 implementers across Turkey, and Sabancı University Inovent became the most successful implementer of 2019 with 70% success rate in the 2019/1 call.

Seven out of 10 entrepreneurs chosen by Sabancı Üniversitesi Inovent among 289 submissions to receive mentorship, pre-incubation, training and market development support for 3 months, will be eligible for  grants up to TL 200,000 within the TÜBİTAK BiGG program. Of the 7 entrepreneurs, one is a post-doctoral researcher at Sabancı University, and two are Sabancı University graduates.

Implementer institutions received submissions from 4194 entrepreneurs for the 2019/1 call period of the BiGG Program. Among them, 1589 advanced to the first stage of business plan writing support, and 395 of the first stage participants were chosen by TÜBİTAK for the second stage panels. Following the assessment of jury panels composed of academics, industrialists and investors, 155 entrepreneurs were chosen for TL 200,000 in tech-based venture capital support for the 1st call of 2019. The overall support rate for the 2019/1 call was 39% while Sabancı University Inovent had the highest success rate among implementers with 70%.

Inovent General Manager Bülent Bankacı said: “İnovent A.Ş. has been carrying out venture acceleration, technology commercialization and licensing, and national or global business development activities since 2006, and we are delighted to share the experience we have acquired with entrepreneurs, primarily Sabancı University students, faculty, researchers and graduates, who have technology-based business ideas through the BiGGinner program. This adds value to Turkey's entrepreneurship ecosystem, and enables us to render active support to entrepreneurs for access to funding and commercialization of technologies developed at Sabancı University. Our success rate of 70% is a testament to our wealth of knowledge. Our objective is long-term cooperation with entrepreneurs whom we have met through the BiGGinner program, and help them in their endeavors to access global markets.”

Support for Sabancı University researchers and graduates

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Postdoctoral Researcher Merve Senem AVAZ, Mechatronic Engineering Program 2016 graduate Volga Ozansoy and Energy Technologies and Management 2018 graduate Tümay Solak will receive BiGGinner support.

Sabancı University Inovent is one of the official implementers of “BiGGinner”, or TÜBİTAK’s 1512 Individual Young Entrepreneur Support (BiGG) Program, which is aimed at entrepreneurs who have technology-based business ideas, and includes collection, writing support and pre-assessment, followed by pre-incubation and mentorship for ventures that pass pre-assessment. 

Through BiGGinner, Sabancı University aims to "support entrepreneurs with innovation-focused technological ideas through mechanisms based on lean enterprise and market development methodologies, and accompany the entrepreneur on the journey to commercialization with a business plan prepared after technical and market-worthiness of the business idea is confirmed."

Sabancı University took first steps towards Istanbul Defense and Aerospace Cluster Association – SAHA Istanbul membership.

Left to right: İlhami Keleş, Yusuf Leblebici

Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici and the Ankara Project Office team visited SAHA Istanbul Coordinator İlhami Keleş on January 20, 2020. The meeting was held at the SAHA Istanbul headquarters in Istanbul Teknopark, and potential cooperation opportunities were laid out as the first step of Sabancı University's inclusion in SAHA.

Left to right: İlhami Keleş, Yusuf Leblebici

Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici and the Ankara Project Office team visited SAHA Istanbul Coordinator İlhami Keleş on January 20, 2020. The meeting was held at the SAHA Istanbul headquarters in Istanbul Teknopark, and potential cooperation opportunities were laid out as the first step of Sabancı University's inclusion in SAHA. 

About SAHA Istanbul

Istanbul Defense and Aerospace Cluster Association – SAHA Istanbul was established to encourage domestic and national companies to manufacture for the defense, civil aviation and aerospace industries. SAHA Istanbul is a not-for-profit platform bringing together more than 400 members and encouraging collaboration, solidarity, joint efforts in systems and subsystems, and information sharing.

The association works actively to spread knowledge, inform about projects, cluster around projects, collaborate with master contractors, synchronize efforts of universities and industry, concentrate government support on projects, acquire manufacturing capabilities that are unavailable yet critical to Turkey, and to provide collective support to the quest for foreign markets.

Established by Sabancı University and Kordsa in Teknopark Istanbul as a trendsetting business model in composite technologies, the "Composite Technologies Center of Excellence" (KTMM) was visited by a high-ranking government delegation. Government leaders who visited the global technology exporter incluıded Vice President of the Republic Fuat Oktay, AK Parti Izmir MP Binali Yıldırım, Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar, Minister of Industry and Trade Mustafa Varank, President of Defense Industry Professor İsmail Demir and TÜBİTAK Director Hasan Mandal, who were accompanied by Sabancı Holding Board of Directors Chair Güler Sabancı, Sabancı Holding CEO Cenk Alper, Kordsa CEO Ali Çalışkan, Sabancı University President Yusuf Leblebici, Sabancı University Vice President Mehmet Yıldız, Sabancı University Secretary-General Rasim Karas, and SU-IMC Director Bahattin Koç.

The visit to the Composite Technologies Center of Excellence, which has AS9100 aerospace manufacturing quality certification and ISO 17025 testing accreditation, included tours of the Mechanical Testing and Structural Health Monitoring Laboratory, Additive Manufacturing Laboratory and Advanced Composite Technologies Laboratory, where aviation-related projects are being carried out. Sabancı University faculty, researchers, engineers and graduate students conductr design, analysis and R&D for critical aerospace parts that are manufactured using composite materials and additive manufacturing technologies.

Recent developments in the Kartal Project were shared with attendees. The "Kartal" project aims to develop rotor blades for "Gökbey", Turkey's first domestically-developed general purpose helicopter, with the intention to end import dependency in rotor blade materials.

A key feature of the Sabancı University-implemented project is a system of fiber-optic sensors that feed live data on the fatigue loads encountered by aircraft during flight. If the project is scaled to next-generation aircraft, the technology has the potential to greatly reduce maintenance downtime, and provide real-time data about the remaining structural life of airframes.

Information was given about hybrid additive metal manufacturing technologies that are used to make complex and critical jet engine parts which cannot be produced using conventional methods and cause Turkey to remain import-dependent. The technology, currently owned only by Sabancı University in Turkey, enables prototyping all engine parts.

The tour of the Advanced Composite Technologies Laboratory included a briefing about the automatic fiber-laying machine and other robotic manufacturing systems that can produce defense and aviation systems in complete automation with no human involvement. The technology allows making aerospace structures up to 6 meters in length and 3 meters in diameter using carbon fiber strips. It is the only capability of its kind in Turkey and one of few similar capabilities around the world.

Established with the partnership of Kordsa and Sabancı University, the Composite Technologies Center of Excellence has 3500 square meters of laboratory space in a facility of 15 thousand square meters, where the production of composite materials for automotive and aviation industries will help to reduce import dependency in Turkey. The Center is a manufacturing facility and one of the leading test centers of the world employing 15 faculty members, 92 researchers, engineers and technicians, and 55 PhD students. 

Sabancı University was the top Turkish institution in the Emerging Economies University Rankings this year. 

Times Higher Education (THE) revealed the 2020 Emerging Economies University Rankings. The rankings consider universities that are in the advanced emerging market, secondary emerging market, and border-line categories of the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) Index. This year, universities from 47 countries were included in the ranking. 

Sabancı University was ranked 40th on THE's Emerging Economies University Rankings, becoming the best among the 34 Turkish universities on the list. 

Similar to the World University Rankings, the THE Emerging Economies University Rankings list uses a methodology that covers Teaching, Research, Citations, International Outlook and Industry Income using 13 performance indicators. A key feature is that the "Industry Income" and "International Outlook" categories carry more weight compared to World University Rankings due to the rankings being specific to emerging economies. 

Turkish universities on THE's Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020 were Sabancı (40th), Koç (55th), Bilkent (75th), Çankaya (87th), ITU (100th), Hacettepe (121st), Boğaziçi (124th), METU (140th), and Istanbul (193rd). Furthermore, Eskişehir Anadolu and Erciyes Universities were in the 201st to 250th range; Atılım, Bahçeşehir, Çukurova, İzmir High Technology and Karabuk Universities in the 301st to 350th range; Gebze Technical, Yeditepe and Yıldız Technical Universities in the 351st to 400th range; Acıbadem, Ankara, Başkent, Dokuz Eylül, Ege, Gazi, Gaziantep, Marmara, Selçuk and TOBB Economics and Technology Universities in the 401st to 500th range; and Akdeniz, İstanbul Medipol, Ondokuz Mayıs, Süleyman Demirel and Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Universities in the 501+ range. 

Please visit this link for the complete THE Emerging Economies University Rankings. 

Developed in Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences nanotechnology labs, "Antimic: Sustainable Hygiene" protects people against microbial contamination, and improves lives by providing effective hygiene over a long period of time.  

Developed by a team led by Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Professor Yusuf Menceloğlu using the sol-gel technique, “Antimic: Sustainable Hygiene” provides permanent hygiene in high-traffic locations. 

Effective against micro-organisms for up to 60 days 

The antimicrobial active ingredient in the chemical formulation was shown to be effective against viruses. Long-lasting disinfection is important given that viruses can survive on inanimate surfaces for 24 to 48 hours. Since most disinfectants on the market are volatile chemicals, surfaces become vulnerable to contamination shortly after disinfectant is applied.

On the other hand, Antimic causes a sol-gel reaction that quickly forms a nano-layer on surfaces, which is resistant to all cleaning products and everyday usage conditions for 30 to 60 days. 

Water-based Antimic products are free of heavy metals and persistent toxic chemicals that endanger human health, and remain effective on a wide spectrum of micro-organisms for a long time, providing comfortable protection with the ultra-thin, sheer, flexible protective layer they form on living spaces and clothing. 

Approved by the Ministry of Health 

Antimic is patented by Sabancı University and is sold with a Type 2 license from the Ministry of Health. The product has passed the "EPA, Protocol #01-1A” residual self-sanitizing test, and its performance has been proven in the field and laboratory.