Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Member Şirin Tekinay was elected to the Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) for the 2019-2022 term.

Tekinay has been a GECD Executive Committee member since 2015, and will work with current Chair Prof. Natacha DePaola (Illinois Institute of Technology Engineering Faculty Dean) as Chair-Elect in the 2018-2019 term. 

The new GEDC leaderwhip was officially announced at the World Engineering Education Forum held between November 12 and 19, 2018 in New Mexico. Şirin Tekinay will work with officers from engineering schools in India, Chile, Austria, South Africa, United States, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Having focused on developing and disseminating global trends such as Open Science, Open Innovation, urban engineering, transdisciplinary education and constructive movement in Turkey over the last decade, Tekinay will now contribute to globalization and sustainable development through cooperative involvement. Under Tekinay’s guidance, GECD will engage in international academic and industrial partnerships for increasing technology engagement. 

Professor Tekinay had recently been elected to the membership of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) board of directors for the 2018-2021 term. She is one of the two members who have been in executive positions in both organizations since 2015. 

About GEDC:

Bringing academic and industry leaders in engineering together, GEDC has institutional and individual members from over 30 countries. Support by international corporations such as Airbus, Total, Dassault Systems, National Instruments and Granta provides part of the resources required by GEDC, which celebrates its 10th year in 2018. 

http://www.gedcouncil.org/ 

Albert Levi of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Computer Science and Engineering Program was given the "Computer Engineering Science Award" in the Informatics Association of Turkey's (TBD) “Professor Aydın Köksal Awards” to encourage scientists working in the field of informatics. 

Albert Levi was chosen by the jury panel for his contributions to the field of Computer Engineering.

TBD, the steward of informatics in Turkey, held a ceremony for the “Professor Aydın Köksal Awards” during the 35th National Informatics Congress (BİLİŞİM2018) on November 21st and 22nd, 2018.  The Awards are given in honor of Aydın Köksal, the Founding President of TBD and a pioneer of informatics in Turkey, who also coined the Turkish word "bilişim" for "informatics". The Awards are given in three categories: Computer Engineering Science Award, Original Domestic Software Award, and Software Export Award.

About the Professor Aydın Köksal Computer Engineering Science Award

The Awards are open to academics, researchers and R&D scientists or employees working in universities or industrial companies for their original research published as papers, articles or books. Consideration is given to scientific/technical content, scientific/technical/social contribution, qualified scientific approach, and accurate use of Turkish as a scientific language.

About Professor Albert Levi

Professor Albert Levi obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from Boğaziçi University in 1991, and completed his master's and PhD degrees in the same department in 1993 and 1999, respectively.  He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Oregon State University Electrical and Computer Engineering Department's Data Security Lab from 1999 to 2002, during which he also taught courses as a visiting professor.

He has been a member of the Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Computer Science and Engineering Program since 2002. He became Associate Professor in 2008 and Professor in 2015. He was a visiting professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada in the 2017-18 academic year. Dr. Levi's research focuses on data and network security. Dr. Levi has been a part of many academic and industrial projects, and has over 100 publications in indexed journals and peer-reviewed conferences. He has been involved in the organization of many international symposia and conferences, and is on the editorial board of the Oxford University publication "The Computer Journal" and Elsevier publication "Computer Networks". 

Times Higher Education (THE), one of the world's leading university ranking institutions, revealed its World University Rankings by Subject.

Sabancı University was ranked between 301st and 400th among 684 universities considered for the Computer Science category of THE World University Rankings by Subject.

Sabancı University was also between 251st and 300th in the Engineering and Technology category, where 903 universities were ranked. The Engineering and Technology category, where 19 Turkish universities are ranked, consists of "General Engineering", "Electrical and Electronic Engineering" and "Mechanical, Aviation and Aerospace Engineering".

Sabancı University was also included in the Physical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics category for the first time this year, and ranked in the 501st to 600th range.

Other Turkish universities on the THE World University Rankings by Subject were Boğaziçi, Bilkent, Istanbul Technical and Middle East Technical Universities in the Computer Science category.

Bilkent and Boğaziçi Universities were ranked in the Engineering and Technology category. Nineteen Turkish universities were ranked in the Physical Sciences category.

THE World University Rankings by Subject cover 11 different subjects. These are:

Social Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, Law, Arts and Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Psychology, Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health, Computer Science, and Engineering and Technology.

Kaitlin Zhang Branding blog interviewed with our Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Visual Arts and Visual Communications Designs 2006 bachelor's graduate Sila Nur Isik on her entrepreneurship Mind The Ad. You can read the interview below which is published on November 19th, 2018.

Sila Nur Isik is the co-founder of Mind The Ad, a creative consultancy for agencies that uses innovative technology solutions to empower creativity and enhance client pitches. Her mission is to bring her global understanding and cross-industry connections within the creative space for setting up collaborations between agencies and the Entrepreneurial tech ecosystems. Sila spoke to us about technology in branding, how international travel gave her a global understanding of digital marketing and her motivation as a female entrepreneur.

Please tell us about your company, Mind The Ad.

Mind The Ad is a creative consultancy that connects advertising agencies with the most exciting digital technologies on the planet. We connect agencies with start-ups from around the world to craft truly unique campaign ideas that push the boundaries of what’s considered a brand experience. For agencies, that means bespoke digital technology solutions to lift your pitches, presentations and portfolios. And for start-ups, we can give you the audience your voice deserves.

In your experience, how does digital technology play a role in branding & marketing?

I believe that creative ideas can come from anywhere, and the magic happens when the technology, talent and entrepreneurial spirit fuses with the creative industry’s brightest minds. Every day, we see more and more creative examples with AI, AR and VR applications and more efficient campaign executions with the support of digital automation and optimization tools. Also, consumers are exposed to digital technology more than ever, which is creating an expectation economy. So, today the brands really need to be connected to the tech innovations around the world to meet their consumers’ demands.

What inspired you to start your company?

As someone who has been ambitiously building brands, improving products and passionately helping people achieve their goals, I have 10+ years of experience in multiple marketing and business disciplines, delivering projects to leading brands and helping start-ups to improve their digital products and services. I ran Mind The Ad as a creative digital agency in London and in Istanbul for 5 years. I first brought start-ups into our agency in 2015. The response was incredible, so it got me thinking of a new opportunity: to discover innovative technologies around the world and bring them together with what we do the best — creative problem solving. There’s a big gap between the agency world and the technology companies.

Having had extensive experience in both, I’ve restructured the offering of Mind The Ad, and it became a passion and mission of mine to offer creative consultancy services connection with the world’s sharpest start-ups. I have gathered a portfolio of exciting creative technologies, ranging from digital multi-touch tables for retail displays to vending machines that work with tweets!

What have you learnt in your international travels that has helped you grow your business?

After juggling multiple projects in our London and Istanbul offices, I became curious about global trends. I had been selected among 25,000+ applicants to participate in the inaugural Remote Year program, where I had the chance to travel to 12 different countries in Europe, Asia and South America.

As a digital nomad, I have connected with 90+ entrepreneurs and startups, and 5 incubators/accelerators (Google Launchpad, Start-up Malaysia, Start-up Chile, Start-up Peru and Wayra), as well as given numerous industry presentations, and provided branding and digital marketing consultancy services to start-ups around the world.

Despite its challenges, working in different countries provided me knowledge, skills and talent, enabled me to have a broader market base, and master the skill of cross-cultural communication. It has given me the confidence, credibility and experience needed to elevate my business to the next level.

What do you think about the UK tech sector?

As an innovation hub and a global brand itself, the UK has the capacity to reach out to international talent and networks. London is a city that gives people the best chance to pitch their skills to the world, a place for anyone wanting to test and trial innovation. It proves itself with the level of execution in business as well, as a global centre of excellence. With new ideas appearing almost every day, UK with all its qualities and fast pace has always reminded me why I got into this business and inspired me to be creative.

What advice would you give female entrepreneurs who are just starting out?

The quote “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore” has a real significance in my life, revisited often when I come across a challenge that I haven’t faced before. I believe it is more important than ever today for female entrepreneurs to be more courageous, curious and open-minded, because only by thinking big can we make the world smaller and better.

Research and Graduate Policy (RGP) Industry Cooperation and Technology Licensing Office (ILO) Industrial Property Rights and Licensing Associate Mustafa Çakır represented Sabancı University at the Patent Information Conference held by the European Patent Office (EPO) in Brussels on November 14 and 15, 2018.

The Patent Information Conference, one of the most prestigious events held by EPO, was also home to the launch of the beta version of the redesigned Espacenet, a database that contains over 100 million patent documents and enables everyone to search for patents free of charge.

Mustafa Çakır presented a user report and his technical impressions of Espacenet Beta as requested by EPO, and the presentation was viewed by patent data analysis companies and trainers attending the Patent Information Conference. Çakır prepared a technical assessment of the new interface design and features of the new Espacenet website, and delivered his case presentation with Johannes Schaaf from EPO.

Please click below for the EPO Patent Information Conference program:  https://www.epo.org/learning-events/events/conferences/pi-conference/programme.html#tues 

Sabancı University Domestic Violence Prevention and Support Committee (DVP) and Sexual Harassment Prevention and Support Committee (SHP) shared the following message with the Sabancı University community in observance of November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The committees also placed posters and leaflets at various locations throughout the campus.

Message by DVP and SHP Committees

Equality for women, men and all genders, and elimination of gender-based discrimination against women are among universal human rights. Violence against women is one of the most common human rights violations and affects women in all aspects of their lives.

Any attitude or behavior that causes physical or psychological harm to a woman, or contains force, oppression or threat is considered violence. Violence does not have to be physical: Forms of psychological, economic or sexual violence, and gender-based discrimination are also considered violence against women. Examples of violence range from raising voice to hitting, preventing women from working, destructive criticism, insults and disparagement, jokes of a sexual nature, and unwanted sexual advances or assault.

According to the World Health Organization, one in three women suffer physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. Billions of people in the world, and millions in Turkey, are subjected to violence of various sorts. 4 out of 10 women in Turkey report that that have been the target of physical or sexual violence. 

Regarding level of education, research shows 75% of white-collar women were victims of one of the forms of violence at least once. 

On the other hand, awareness against violence is quickly building up in Turkey and the world. As the Sabancı University DVP* and SHP** Committees, we strive to provide an egalitarian, healthy, safe and affirmative learning, living and working environment for all students and employees. We would like everyone to know that we stand ready to do our part for preventing and eliminating all forms of violence against women, and call everyone to take active part in the elimination of violence against women.

You can find more information about how to receive support on various bills and visuals posted around the campus.

If you are exposed to any kind of violence, you are not alone.

Contact addresses;

ais-komite@sabanciuniv.edu

ct-komite@sabanciuniv.edu

*Domestic Violence Prevention and Support Committee

**Committee for Prevention and Support against Sexual Harassment

Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Research and Application Center (SU-IMC) Researcher Serkan Ünal and his team will receive 6.3 million Euros in research funding from the EU Horizon 2020 program for their new approach to recycling in the project ISOPREP (Ionic Solvent-based Recycling of Polypropylene Products). The budget allocated to SU-IMC for the project is 723,000 Euros.

Having received the highest amount secured by the University in a single H2020 collaborative project, ISOPREP aims to prevent the environmental pollution caused by waste products. SU-IMC will be responsible for the optimization of proposed PP recycling steps and verification of the whole recycling process in the laboratory-pilot scale. The center will also  support partners for the material characterization throughout the project and exploration of different application areas for the recycyled PP.

The 36-month project is coordinated by the UK research organization The Welding Institute (TWI) and includes ten partners from five European countries.  The total budget of the ISOPREP Project is 6.3 million Euros.

This collaboration is an outcome of the strategic partnership between Sabancı University and TWI, which was initiated and coordinated by RGP’s Industry Collaboration and Technology Licensing Office (ILO) in 2018. 

For more information about SU-IMC: https://suimc.sabanciuniv.edu/

Electronics Engineering PhD students Hasan Azgın, Ercan Kalalı and Faculty Member İlker Hamzaoğlu received IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Chester Sall Award for publishing 3rd best paper in IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics journal in 2017.

Electronics Engineering PhD students Hasan Azgin, Ercan Kalali and Faculty Member İlker Hamzaoglu received IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Chester Sall Award for publishing the following paper which is selected as the 3rd best paper published in IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics journal in 2017.

The award will be given at Awards Luncheon in IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics on January 11-13, 2019, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Hasan Azgin, Ercan Kalali, Ilker Hamzaoglu

A Computation and Energy Reduction Technique for HEVC Intra Prediction

IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, vol. 63(1), February 2017, pp 36-43.

DOI: 10.1109/TCE.2017.014728

Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Center of Excellence (SU Gender) held a panel titled “Women in Upper Management: University Experiences” at Minerva Palas on Thursday, November 1.

Introductory remarks to the SU Gender panel for discussing and encouraging women leadership in academia were made by SU Gender Director Ayşe Gül Altınay and Sabancı University Vice President Şirin Tekinay. Ayşe Gül Altınay emphasized the historical importance of the panel, and the major difference made by having women in upper management.

Şirin Tekinay said that achieving gender equality across the world would mean an increase in income by 12 billion dollars. Tekinay stated the importance of developing national policies and especially focusing on policies for increasing the number of women in university upper management.

Panelists were ITU President 1996-2004 Gülsüm Sağlamer, Kadir Has University Acting President Sondan Durukanoğlu Feyiz, Okan University President 2010-2018 Şule Kut and Boğaziçi University President 2012-2016 Gülay Barbarosoğlu.

Panelists discussed the contribution that having women in upper management would make to academic life. Sharing their management experiences, the panelists also emphasized the need to have more men who encourage and support the promotion of women in addition to institutional and social mechanisms that are gender sensitive.

Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) held meetings in Madrid on October 18 and 19.

On October 18, the roundtable EU-Turkey Relations in Times of Global and Regional Turmoil organized jointly by Istanbul Policy Center-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative and Elcano Royal Institute was held at the Elcano Royal Institute. 

Following introductory remarks by Elcano Royal Institute Director Charles Powell, the roundtable continued with 2017/18 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Atila Eralp, IPC Senior Specialist and Sabancı University Faculty Member Senem Aydın-Düzgit, IPC Director and Sabancı University Faculty Member Fuat Keyman, European External Action Service (EEAS) US and Canada Regions Director Javier Niño Perez, and 2015/16 Mercator-IPC Fellow and Elcano Royal Institute Analyst İlke Töygür. 

The discussions focused on the revisions to the Customs Union Agreement, acquisition negotiations, migration and refugees, the Permanent Structured Cooperation Agreement (PESCO), security relations, economic integration, and transatlantic dimension. After the meeting, IPC Director Fuat Keyman and Elcano Director Charles Powell signed an agreement to further the cooperation with Elcano Royal Institute. 

On the next day, the panel discussion EU-Turkey Relations in a Turbulent World – Cooperation or Conflict?jointly organized by Istanbul Policy Center-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative, Asociacion Nuestra Europa, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid was held at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. 

Panelists 2017/18 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Atila Eralp, IPC Senior Specialist and Sabancı University Faculty Member Senem Aydın-Düzgit, IPC Director and Sabancı University Faculty Member Fuat Keyman, European External Action Service (EEAS) US and Canada Regions Director Javier Niño Perez, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Faculty Member Işık Özel spoke to a wide audience including university students. 

Discussions focused on the past and present of EU-Turkey relations, the current position considering the recent developments on regional and global levels, the influence of the translatlantic dimension on the bilateral relationship, and the past of the Customs Union and its ongoing revision process.