Sabancı University Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) has released the nineteenth issue of IICEC Energy Market Newsletter. 

Please click to read IICEC Energy Market Newsletter.

In the memory of our dear student Olim Khasanov, Executive MBA graduate program class of 2021 who recently passed away, his classmates donated an olive tree and linden saplings to the Sabancı University, Tuzla Campus.

In the memory of our dear student Olim Khasanov, Executive MBA graduate program class of 2021 who recently passed away, his classmates donated an olive tree and linden saplings to the Sabancı University, Tuzla Campus.

The tree and saplings were planted and a commemorative stone in his name was placed at the memorial event held with the participation of a group of Executive MBA students, Olim Khasanov's brother Odil Khasanov, Dean of Sabancı Business School Nihat Kasap and EDU Director Cüneyt Evirgen, on Thursday, March 11th.

Our Student Olim Khasanov’s memory will live on as these trees blossom and grow.

Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Research and Application Center (SU-IMC) Integrated Manufacturing Webinar Series continues with Amit Bandyopadhyay's "3D Printing of Metals and Ceramics for Structural and Biomedical Applications" seminar.

Please click to register webinar. 

Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Research and Application Center's (SU-IMC) thematic seminars/webinars series continues at different levels of academia and industry to understand and prioritize the recent institutional, organizational and technical developments for the Additive Manufacturing. 

SU-IMC Thematic Webinar Series program is as below:

17 March 2021- Amit Bandyopadhyay- 3D Printing of Metals and Ceramics for Structural and Biomedical Applications

24 March 2021- Tarek Zohdi - Modeling and Simulation Tools for Industrial and Societal Research Applications: Digital Twins and Genome-based Machine-learning

31 March 2021 - Brent Stucker - Simulation of Additive Manufacturing: Optimizing Geometry and Process Efficiency

7 April 2021- David Rosen - Multi-scale Design of Fiber-Reinforced Composite Structures for Additive Manufacturing

21 April 2021 - Charlie C. L. Wang - Robot-Assisted Additive Manufacturing: Support-free, Mechanical Strength and Motion Planning

28 April 2021- A. John Hart - The Trajectory of Metal Additive Manufacturing

5 May 2021- Albert C. To - Modified Inherent Strain Method for Predicting Residual Distortion and Stress in Laser Powder Bed Fusion Parts

12 May 2021- Ibrahim Karaman - 4-D Printing and Functional Grading via Metal Additive Manufacturing

Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Research and Application Center's (SU-IMC) thematic seminars/webinars series continues at different levels of academia and industry to understand and prioritize the recent institutional, organizational and technical developments for the Additive Manufacturing. 

This main focus of research areas is the complete value chain of Additive Manufacturing including modelling, analysis, material selection, topology optimization, digital manufacturing, and all related processes. There will be various Renowned Experts and Keynote Speakers, who will be giving academic and industrial talks regarding the Additive Manufacturing at the SU-IMC Thematic Webinar Series.

All seminars will be conducted online and open to the public in the form of a webinar.

SU-IMC Thematic Webinar Series program is as below:

17 March 2021- Amit Bandyopadhyay- 3D Printing of Metals and Ceramics for Structural and Biomedical Applications

24 March 2021- Tarek Zohdi - Modeling and Simulation Tools for Industrial and Societal Research Applications: Digital Twins and Genome-based Machine-learning

31 March 2021 - Brent Stucker - Simulation of Additive Manufacturing: Optimizing Geometry and Process Efficiency

7 April 2021- David Rosen - Multi-scale Design of Fiber-Reinforced Composite Structures for Additive Manufacturing

21 April 2021 - Charlie C. L. Wang - Robot-Assisted Additive Manufacturing: Support-free, Mechanical Strength and Motion Planning

28 April 2021- A. John Hart - The Trajectory of Metal Additive Manufacturing

5 May 2021- Albert C. To - Modified Inherent Strain Method for Predicting Residual Distortion and Stress in Laser Powder Bed Fusion Parts

12 May 2021- Ibrahim Karaman - 4-D Printing and Functional Grading via Metal Additive Manufacturing

The SU-IMC is a world-leading Composite Technologies Center of Excellence that provides industrial-scale design and analysis, tests, prototype manufacturing services of advanced composite materials. In addition, the SU-IMC provides graduate education, training, and consultancy services in the fields of integrated manufacturing for industrial companies and governmental agencies. For more information, please visit our website: https://suimc.sabanciuniv.edu/.

“Turkey Energy Outlook: Energy Markets, Investments and Technologies” webinar within the Switzerland-Austria-Germany Embassies’ 3-Country Business Meeting Series will be held on Wednesday, March 17 at 15:30 in cooperation with Sabancı University Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC) and Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Turkey.

Head of Economic and Cultural Affairs & Counsellor at Embassy of Switzerland in Turkey, Ariane Tinner and Sabancı University IICEC Coordinator, Dr. Mehmet Doğan Üçok will deliver the welcoming speeches. Sabancı University IICEC Director, Bora Şekip Güray will be the Guest Speaker and will make a presentation on ‘‘Energy Markets, Investments and Technologies’’ from IICEC’s Turkey Energy Outlook (TEO) which is a first of its kind study in Turkey and exemplary for emerging energy economies. 

Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Hour: 15:30 – 16:30 (Turkish time)

Please click to register.  

** The language of the webinar will be English.

Projects of researchers and faculty members at Sabancı University were found eligible for support within the framework of the TÜBİTAK Bilateral Cooperation Program. As a result of TÜBİTAK's bilateral cooperation with Uzbekistan and Poland, two projects from Sabancı University will be supported.

The project of Gökhan Göğüş, a Faculty Member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS), was found eligible to be supported within the framework of Bilateral Cooperation with TÜBİTAK and Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan (MID Uzbekistan).

Gökhan Göğüş's project titled “Monge-Ampère Equation and Multiple Altharmonic Extreme Functions” will investigate the relationship of the most extreme functions with the Monge-Ampère equation and their applications in complex dynamical systems with new developments in potential theory.

The project in which Ömer Ceylan, a Researcher at FASS, will be the coordinator, and  Yaşar Gürbüz, a Faculty Member at FASS, will be a researcher was found eligible to be supported by TÜBİTAK and the Polish National Research and Development Center (NCBR) within the scope of the Bilateral Cooperation Program.

The project titled “Development of Plasmon-enhanced HOT MIR Photodetectors” led by Ömer Ceylan will be carried out together with VIGO, a company known for infrared sensors.

The purpose of this project is to increase the performance of type III-V infrared sensors operating at high temperatures (HOT-High Operation Temperature) by a combination of materials and geometry that will create a plasmonic effect. It is known in the literature that the performance of HOT infrared sensors is limited due to high thermal noise. It is stated that the cause of this thermal noise is a thick absorbent layer consisting of type III-V semiconductors used to achieve high quantum efficiency and convert incoming infrared radiation into electrical current. 2DSHA (2D subwavelength hole array) plasmonic structure to be used in the project will be trapped/condensed into the interface of the semiconductor material with the infrared radiation surface, which means that there will be no need to use a thick absorbent layer for high quantum efficiency. This method aims to reduce noise and bring HOT infrared sensor performance closer to theoretical limits.

Design, production, and characterization of 2DSHA plasmonic structure for the project will be carried out by Sabancı University Microelectronics Research Group (SÜMER - http://sumer.sabanciuniv.edu), which has experience and knowledge in semiconductor detector design and modeling. The SÜMER group will also contribute to the design, modeling, and integration of the type III-V infrared sensor, which will be produced by VIGO, with the 2DSHA plasmonic structure. 

We congratulate our Researchers and Faculty Members.

The “Human Library", an international event, was held in cooperation with Sabancı University Civic Inclusion Projects (CIP) and the Psychology Program of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). The annual event, attended by Sabancı University students, was held this year for the 9th time. 

As with normal libraries, the Human Library consists of readers, librarians, books, and book catalogs. The only difference between this library and the rest is that the books in the Human Library are people like you and us, and they engage in a personal dialogue with their readers as an act of reading. The starting point of the library is “Do not judge the book by its cover!” and the books in this library are representatives of groups that face prejudices and stereotypes, often victims of discrimination and social exclusion. 

The Human Library is an international project organized by non-profit volunteers dedicated themselves to differences in our society. The purpose of the library is to help establish a constructive dialogue between people from different social groups. Established in a comfortable, safe environment, this dialogue becomes the basis for eliminating stereotypes that form the basis of discrimination.  

Ece Demirbolat, a sophomore student at the Psychology Program of FASS, described her impressions as follows: “My favorite time of the year at Sabancı University when the Human Library event is organized. Every year, I take part in the organization team with joy, as I participate in the event with great pleasure. When I first heard about the Human Library, when I found out that there would be people to read here, I was very surprised and excited. I was even more very curious when I learned that the main theme of the event was “Do not judge the book by its cover!” When I heard that the people we were reading were those who were subjected to social exclusion due to stereotypical prejudices, my excitement was replaced by questions that appeared in my mind. And when it was time to find the answers to these questions, I was very impressed by the communication I experienced. It sometimes offered me a chance to empathize, as it made me learn how unfounded these prejudices that I experienced and that made others experienced, whether knowingly or not. The Human Library is a very special event for me because it allows me to talk freely, candidly about what is considered taboo by society, and most importantly, it allows me to understand what is happening outside of the bubble I live in.” 

Another participant of the Human Library, Hilal Kakışım, a sophomore at the Faculty of Management Sciences of Sabancı University explained her impressions as follows: “We all sometimes develop prejudices against each other consciously or without even realizing it. When we have the opportunity to have a personal conversation with people we approach with prejudice, we often realize how unwarranted and meaningless the assumptions we make are. I also wanted to take part in the event this year to remind myself once again how meaningless our prejudices are and to support the event at the organizational level.  

It is a very valuable event not only for readers, but also for books as a platform where they can express themselves with tolerance and respect. At the same time, I believe that the opportunity to meet them in everyday life is also very valuable, to read books that we may never get to read elsewhere. I believe that the way to become a more peaceful and harmonious society is to understand each other and approach each other with tolerance. This is exactly what we provide with this event. I am very happy to be involved in this event, which takes place every year with its various books and hundreds of readers.” 

Another participant of the Human Library, Yiğit Karataş, a sophomore at the Materials Science Program of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) of Sabancı University, shared his impressions as well: “The Human Library is an event that every person should experience at least once in their life. I remember it as if it were just yesterday, in my first year at the university, the commotion in the corridors of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) caught my attention. I was shocked to hear about the concept and joined this adventure by grabbing my two book tickets given per person. Since then, I am very happy to be involved in this project, which I have been regularly involved in every year and switched to the organizational side with the CIP family. 

You get to experience perhaps the purest form of human communication. The person in front of you is sitting with great courage against the tons of misinformation or prejudices you know, and every second from the moment the book opens in its first pages, it is a different experience, a different feeling. The problem is that even with every question, it remains too radical to consider our unconsciousness and prejudices in society. The Human Library gave me the most special moments when I said I am really thankful to be at this university, that I live in such an atmosphere of empathy and tolerance.”

Wizsight, founded by our graduate Özge Akçizmeci Üstün, was acquired by YouGov, a UK-based online market research and data analytics company, last month. Akçizmeci Ustun, Akçizmeci Üstün notes that she designed every step carefully in the founding process of her company, and being a Sabancı graduate helped her a lot in terms of trying to do what has not been done before, synthesizing many sectors, and creating a business network, and says, “now we are backed by a giant company with offices in 40 countries, 3300 customers, and big goals in Turkey”.

We talked with Akçizmeci Üstün about the venture story of Wizsight and the successful career steps that led to the international acquisition.

Can we get to know you first?  How did your career line progress after graduating from Sabancı University’s Economics program in 2005?

After going to the Netherlands in the last year of Sabancı University with the Erasmus program, I completed my master's degree at K.U.Leuven University, Belgium on Social Policy and Analysis. After a 1-year banking adventure in Amsterdam, I started market research at BASES, a consulting branch of Nielsen in Belgium. The fact that my first client was P&G for many years and that there were 19 people of different races in our office gave momentum to my career. After that, I worked in Poland for a while and returned to Turkey in 2010 to set up BASES' office. Starting from 2014, I worked as a director for 3 years at IPSOS, a French research company, both in Turkey and in Switzerland. Then in 2017, I became a partner at Poltio and co-founded Wizsight. Now I am working as the Managing Director of YouGov Turkey.

Could you tell us about the founding story of Wizsight? How did the idea come about? How did you proceed at the founding stage? How did being a Sabancı University graduate help you at that point? 

My grandmother, after whom I was named, was a very successful entrepreneur who started two different businesses in the 60s. So the idea of entrepreneurship has always been in my mind. Having known a lot of women who worked corporate jobs and had difficulties both in their personal life and in motherhood, I decided that entrepreneurship was the right path for me. Frankly, at first, I was very ambivalent about what to do. To clear my mind, I told the company where I was working then that I was leaving and went on a 3-month paid leave in the summer of 2016. During these months, I did research on a wide scale, from life coaching training in New York, to leadership programs at Harvard, even taking over a beauty center. And then I realized that I actually loved my job, but I wanted to do it differently. I focused on the question of how to bring innovation to my own industry. I have read a lot of helpful books, but the most helpful ones for me were Seth Godin and the ‘Blue Ocean’ approach suggested by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. At the foundation stage, I actually moved forward step by step and very calmly, which does not align with my personality. I designed each stage in advance, it took me 4 months to even come up with a name that I was pleased with. Being a member of the Sabancı family, especially trying to do what has not been done, synthesized many sectors for me and helped me a lot in terms of creating a business network. The founder of my second company, Poltio, which I run in parallel with Wizsight and has inspired me in many ways, is also a Sabancı graduate.

You are positioning yourselves as “next-generation research”. Could you tell us a little about the method and point of view that allow this? 

My last job in professional life was working for P&G at IPSOS Geneva. In the process, I realized once again that the research has 3 bleeding wounds. Firstly, we are not fast enough as a sector. Secondly, because some questions are declarative, they are too open to exaggerated (and sometimes inaccurate) answers. Finally, we cannot track digital marketing activities efficiently and accurately enough.

When I founded Wizsight, we tried to find a solution to these 3 items and conducted research by creating tests that allowed people to tell us exactly what was in their mind with fun, test-type constructs. In addition, we have made the research language more intimate, which used to be cumbersome. One of the most important parts is that we have collaborated with advertising and media planning agencies and conducted research using social media targeting with models that have not yet been used in the world before, and measured digital activities. These methods have brought us 4 awards in the Owl Awards of the Turkish Researchers Association (TUAD), including the Special Jury Award in 2020.

How did you cross paths with YouGov? What led YouGov to invest in Wizsight? 

Wizsight had been a focus of attention for acquisition from the beginning. Although the issues of partnership with another British firm had been raised before, I did not believe it was the right time and the right firm at the time. At YouGov, 3 of my friends from BASES, where I used to work in Belgium and Poland, are general managers of Spain, Italy, and the Asia Pacific regions. When our Group CEO said they wanted to enter Turkey, all 3 of them suggested me. I mean, it is actually a complete coincidence. When we met later, both our perspective on research and our personalities fit very well.

Could you share some information about YouGov's investment in (acquisition of) Wizsight? How did the process go? How will the next stage be constructed? 

As I said, we had a flirting period of 14 months, as they were actually in the process of acquiring a company while looking for a general manager in Turkey. At that point, both parties decided that this would be a very good deal, and we signed the papers and got married as everything felt right :) After that, we continue as both an office and a team, but now we are backed by a giant company with offices in 40 countries, 3300 customers, and big goals in Turkey. I will also be the General Manager of YouGov Turkey. I think my role will probably expand further in the future.

What is your advice to our students and graduates who aim and plan to implement their own initiative at Sabancı University? 

First of all, it is a little cliché, but courage is very important here. It is the same as going out of our comfort zone and imagining what has not been seen and what is not expected.  The most important thing that I will add to these two items is that an entrepreneur must definitely say ‘yes’ more than ‘no’. Finally, all entrepreneurs should do their best to support and raise each other. I believe that business life in the future will be much more collective. I hope we will move forward with the logic of 1+1= 4.

Sabancı University Theatre Club actors meet with children living in the Children's Homes Coordination Center (ÇEKOM).

Sabancı University Theatre Club actors (SUOyuncuları) conducted a social responsibility project on the online platform. Meeting with children in the Children's Homes Coordination Center (ÇEKOM) of Balıkesir on the online platform, SUOyuncuları aim to support the self-confidence and the ability to express themselves and to enhance the love of theater in children who are not able to receive sufficient social support. 

SUOyuncuları, who have touched the lives of thousands of children by organizing theater plays aimed at children in recent years, did not allow the pandemic process to prevent them. Keeping in contact with ÇEKOM, SUOyuncuları meet with children through weekly events. 

Students of the Theater Club organized online plays for children and introduced themselves at the first meeting through the Zoom platform on 12 December 2020, Saturday. Their next meeting of SUOyuncuları with children in ÇEKOM will be on 26 December 2020, Saturday.

Our graduate Yonca Cingöz, who won a Şirin Tekeli 2020 Research Award with her work titled “Emotion/Affect, Temporality, and Safe Space in The Feminist Movement: An Example of Relations between Feminist Activists in Istanbul in the 2000s”, says, “This award coincided with a time when I paused due to the pandemic at the first stage of my field study and, similar to many of my friends having their doctorates, I was about to fall into pessimism about the fate of my dissertation, and it was a very valuable support that increased my motivation.” She adds, “I find it important that Sabancı University, of which I am a graduate, supports both SU Gender and relevant programs and courses, as well as opening space for students and academics in an effort to create a safe campus.”

We conducted a special interview with our graduate Yonca Cingöz with the occasion of the Şirin Tekeli 2020 Research Awards. 

First of all, can you briefly talk about yourself? 

Of course. I was born and raised in Ankara and moved to Istanbul when I got into university. I studied at Sabancı University on full scholarship and graduated from the Social and Political Sciences Program in 2004. I started my master's degree at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Cultural Studies Program, but after my father's death, my circumstances changed, and due some negative experiences I had with academics, I stepped into working life. I took a long break from my academic works. I worked as a journalist, an editor. I was a coordinator at an association in the field of publishing. In 2013, I completed my master's degree by submitting my thesis titled “Feminist Philosophy and Deleuze”. I became a mother the following year. In 2017, I started my doctoral studies at the Department of General Sociology and Methodology, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. I am currently a coordinator at a foundation and I am in the dissertation stage of my doctorate. I have also been doing freelance non-fiction translations for several years. Two of my translations have been published.              

How did you decide to apply for the Şirin Tekeli Research Award? How did the process go? 

I was following the studies that received the Şirin Tekeli Research Award since I was very interested in current feminist work. I was thinking of applying when I got to the doctoral dissertation stage. Actually, it went as I planned. Therefore, my award-winning research proposal is based on my doctoral dissertation. It covers part of its fieldwork. I worked hard for about a month during the application process, maturing my research proposal. This allowed me to review and update the literature review and field research plan of my doctoral dissertation. 

Could you tell us a little bit about the research subject? What stage are you at right now with the research process? 

The title of my research subject is “Emotion/Affect, Temporality, and Safe Space in The Feminist Movement: An Example of Relations between Feminist Activists in Istanbul in the 2000s”. I will investigate the relationships between activists who took part in the feminist movement in Turkey in the 2000s in the context of emotion/affect, temporality, and safety. My work, which will be based on in-depth interviews with activists involved in independent feminist organizations active in Istanbul during this period and document review, will feed on methods of narrative analysis and discourse analysis, as well as current literature that looks at the sharing and transfer of feminist activist memory, remembering feelings of activism. First, I did my literature review and completed three interviews. I will continue with journal reviews and interviews. 

Could you share your expectations and goals about your research?

At the end of my research, I expect to reach initial conclusions about the possibilities of creating feminist “safe spaces” and improve this analysis by sharing and discussing it with relevant researchers in the presentation. Immediately after the presentation, I will proceed to the analysis process of my doctoral dissertation work. 

Could you tell us about your feelings and thoughts about the award? 

This award coincided with a time when I paused due to the pandemic at the first stage of my field study and, similar to many of my friends having their doctorates, I was about to fall into pessimism about the fate of my dissertation, and it was a very valuable support that increased my motivation, and a lifelong memory. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SU Gender team and the jury members who contributed to the continuation of this award so that we are aware of many horizon-opening research processes every year.

How do you see gender and women's studies conducted in Turkey? Could you evaluate SU Gender's work in this context? Could you talk the contribution of Sabancı University to this field in general? 

I see gender and women’s studies in Turkey as one of the most fundamental veins that shape feminist subjectivity and feed feminist activism. Many young women participated in street activism by studying in these departments and with the excitement of what they learned from their teachers, who gave life to these departments, or influenced and changed those around them by reflecting feminist ideas and attitudes to everyday life. In a time when anti-gender movements are on the rise in the world, when the budgets of gender, women, and sexuality studies departments and research centers are being cut, and their voices are being silenced, the importance of maintaining presence and activity is even greater. For me, SU Gender has a very valuable position among the centers in this field, as it strives to spread knowledge and experience to very different groups by adopting various forms of activity such as giving awards, training, memory walks, not only limited to academic programs and publications in this field thanks to its hardworking team. I find it important that Sabancı University, of which I am a graduate, supports both SU Gender and relevant programs and courses, as well as opening space for students and academics in an effort to create a safe campus.