IICEC News Round-Up...

Please click to read. 

Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Research and Application Center (SU-IMC) Integrated Manufacturing Webinar Series continues with Prof. Dr. Paul Weaver's "Laser-Assisted Thermoplastic AFP: Harmonious Design and Manufactures of High-performance Composites" seminar.

Please click to register webinar. 

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

SU-IMC Thematic Webinar Series program

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

Please click to read IICEC Energy Market Newsletter.

SU Gender continues its international webinar series entitled Sexual Harassment, Gender Based Violence and Discrimination: Research, Action, Narrativization

The seventh of the webinar series will take place on Wednesday, 18 November 2020, and Aslı Şimşek, Cemre Baytok, Seda Kalem, Sema Sancak, Umut Azak will attend the webinar as keynote speakers.

SU Gender is organizing the international webinar series on sexual harassment, gender based violence, diversity and inclusion within and outside the university. The webinars focuses on experiences sharing among experts, researchers, and activists from different universities, research centers and NGOs, and learning from their expertise.

Struggling With Sexual Harassment and Assault in Turkey: The Case of Universities / Aslı Şimşek, Cemre Baytok, Seda Kalem, Sema Sancak, Umut Azak 

Please click here for registration.

Sabancı University Integrated Manufacturing Research and Application Center (SU-IMC) Integrated Manufacturing Webinar Series continues with Prof. Dr. Christophe Binetruy's "Complex Flow Phenomena In Composite Processing: Experimental Evidence And Modeling" seminar.

Please click to register webinar. 

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

SU-IMC Thematic Webinar Series program

A 2009 graduate of the Electronics Engineering Program of Sabancı University and a faculty member at Boston University, Rabia Tuğçe Yazicigil has received a grant support of USD 1.5 Million from National Science Foundation for her project called “SemiSynBio-II: HybridBio-Electronic Microfluidic Memory Arrays for Large-Scale Testing and Remote Deployment”.

With her interdisciplinary research project, Rabia Tuğçe Yazıcıgil aims to design genetically engineered cellular memory systems using the memory skill of complex genetic systems and ultimately to create intelligent biosensors. Yazıcıgil is collaborating with Prof. Douglas Densmore, a faculty member at the Electronics and Computer Engineer Department, and Prof. Ahmad Khalil and Prof. Wilson Wong, faculty members at the Biomedical Engineering Department. 

Below is our interview with our graduate Rabia Tuğçe Yazıcıgil.

Hello, first of all, congratulations. Can you tell us about your project, for which you received a grant from the National Science Foundation? What findings do you plan to make in your project, which is planned to take three years? 

R.T.Y: Thank you for your interest. Our project is called “SemiSynBio-II: HybridBio-Electronic Microfluidic Memory Arrays forLarge ScaleTestingand Remote Deployment”. In this project, I am working with Prof. Douglas Densmore, a faculty member at the Electronics and Computer Engineer Department, and Prof. Ahmad Khalil and Prof. Wilson Wong, faculty members at the Biomedical Engineering Department.

As is known, complex genetic systems including bacteria, mammalian living cells, or even all living organisms have the ability to remember their environment. Using this ability, we will design genetically engineered cellular memory systems and create intelligent biosensors. Douglas Densmore's team will use microfluidic designs to test these smart sensors. In a sense, we will be able to create an artificial testing environment and test a large number of genetically processed biological memory systems. My group will design the wireless electronic technologies of these sensors and control their ability to detect changes in and around the biological environment and respond to those changes. Ahmad and Wilson’s group will design the genetically engineered memories.

The most significant difference of these memory designs will be that they will last longer and their capacity will be increased compared to previous designs. When these intelligent and bio-electronic sensors are used together, they will be able to observe toxins, heavy metals, or hormones in the environment (these may be biological or natural environments such as the digestive system or a stream or river), react to changes in the environment, and write the data to biological memory systems with the help of electronic circuits. 

For more information about the project:

http://www.bu.edu/eng/2020/09/01/densmore-and-yazicigil-win-nsf-grant/ 

As Sabancı University, we wish you success in your project. What do you recommend to our students and recent graduates?

R.T.Y: As you can imagine, this is a very interdisciplinary research project, and therefore much more enjoyable. It is a long and risky research project, but it is a project that we hope will have a high impact. My advice to students and recent graduates is to be open to collaborating with interdisciplinary groups in research studies. Because when working with people from different backgrounds, it is much easier to move to new areas or add new topics on top of their basic knowledge. For me, it is very enjoyable to work with groups from different backgrounds, because I am learning something new every day. You can think of it as learning a new language. Sharing your work with each other in meetings strengthens your transfer power. Do not be afraid of risky projects; you will see that the smallest step you take or every successful stage of the project can be very highly beneficial to the society. This gives you happiness and encouragement for the future.

For those who want to learn more about my group, the Wireless Integrated Systems and Extreme Circuits (WISE-Circuits) Lab., our website is wisecircuits.bu.edu.

Batın Mert Karahasanoğlu, a student at the Electronics Engineering Program, the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University has been awarded IEEE MTT-S Undergraduate/Pre-graduate Scholarship by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society with his “Phase Shifter” project, which is one of the lower blocks of the 5G circuit that he designed. Karahasanoğlu, who has a double major in Mechatronics Engineering Program, has also been awarded a Fulbright Master's Scholarship. 

Below is our interview with Batın Mert Karahasanoğlu. 

Hello, first of all, congratulations. Before we talk about the scholarships that you have received, can you tell us a little about how you decided to study Electronics Engineering at Sabancı University?         

B.M.K: I wanted to start my university life in Istanbul and I had 3 universities in mind. When I came for the introduction days of Sabancı, I listened to the speech of our then Rector, Nihat Berker, and then I had the opportunity to chat with him. I can say that the reason I prioritized Sabancı among my choices was what I heard from Mr. Berker. 

To tell you about the process of choosing my department, I have always had an interest in mathematics and physics. I was also curious about the working principles of smart tools, devices that can communicate with each other. I chose the Electronics Engineering Program because I thought it would satisfy my interest and curiosity. 

Currently, you are continuing your double major and minor education at our university. How was your decision-making process regarding that? 

B.M.K: Electronics Engineering to me is the factory floor, I am learning the working principles of every device around us that we describe as smart, how they work and what they do.   On the one hand, it was also interesting that these electronic commands turned into a physical movement. With my curiosity at this point and the lessons I received as a result, I decided that the Mechatronics double major would be suitable for me. Being a double major with two engineering majors was theoretically very satisfying, but I also wanted to have an idea about social sciences. I would say that the fact that it includes courses on international relations, economics, and is based on the topic of energy were the main reasons I chose the energy minor. 

What kind of things did you do during your undergraduate studies at Sabancı University? Can you tell us a little bit about your campus life, about the club work you were actively involved in? 

B.M.K: When I look at my undergraduate education at Sabancı University, I think I was able to achieve a balance both academically and socially. Because I was from out of town, I stayed in the dormitory all my college life. In this way, I took advantage of the low intensity of courses in the early years of my education and had different experiences in different clubs. Although I had no previous experience, I participated in sailing courses of SUSail because I was interested in sailing. After that, I learned Latin dances in SUDance and joined a performing group. At the same time, I picked up tennis and still continue to play. In later years of my education, I turned to more technical clubs. As of the beginning of last year, I was on the Board of Directors of the Motorsport Technologies club and the IEEE Student Branch. This is how I can summarize my undergraduate activities in Sabancı. 

You have received the MTT-S Undergraduate/Pre-Graduate Scholarship of IEEE and a Fulbright Master’s Scholarship in America. Once again, congratulations. Can you tell us about these scholarships?

B.M.K: Thank you. The scholarship I have received from IEEE is an international scholarship that students who work at a high frequency at the undergraduate level can apply for with their projects. My final project was on 5G circuit design under the supervision of Prof. Yaşar Gürbüz. I designed the “Phase Shifter”, one of the lower blocks of the 5G circuit, was made entirely by myself. I applied with a report containing a logical explanation of the topology I chose, the design stages, the simulation performance of the design, and a literature comparison. I am also happy to have been awarded a prestigious award given in my field with the work I have done in return for a high work pace of about 9 months. At this point, I would like to thank Mr. Gürbüz and the SUMER team for their support in the project process.

The other scholarship I am eligible for is the Fulbright Master’s scholarship. This scholarship covers education and living expenses during your Master's studies in the United States. At the first stage, you create an application package containing the documents they ask for and submit it to the commission. If deemed appropriate, you will proceed to the interview stage. At this stage, you are interviewed by 2 professors from the field you want to have your Master’s in and 1 representative from the Fulbright commission. If you are deemed appropriate at the end of this process, you are eligible for the scholarship. 

What are your plans for the next semester regarding the scholarships that you have been awarded? 

B.M.K: I want to assess the scholarships I have received and have my master's degree at a good university in the United States. I am trying to decide on the universities I am going to apply to these days. Although I had some universities and study groups in my head, I could not make my decision yet. After completing my master's studies in electronics engineering, I am planning to start my business life at a global company. We are going through a process where there is a lot of uncertainty, so time will be a determining factor as well. 

Do you have any advice for our undergraduate students who are just starting Sabancı University? 

B.M.K: First of all, I would like to welcome them all.

I advise them to be curious and aware. Proper planning and time management have been the biggest gains of my university life. In this way, you realize that you do not have to choose between academic success and a fulfilling social life. I do a double major and minor, I did a an exchange program in Hong Kong, had an internship in Germany, I have been awarded two international scholarships, I am an active board member of two clubs, and I am currently working part-time at a global firm. I am not the first person to do this, and I will not be the last. The bigger your goals are, the bigger the steps you need to take towards that goal. All my best to you. 

“Sky is not the limit your mind is” 

Is there anything you want to add?         

B.M.K: Undergraduate life remains beautiful with memories, I thank all my friends involved in these memories, but especially Ufuk Avcı and Serra Güllü.

Founded by Sabancı University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2015, Turkey's first and only Big Behavioral Data Analysis and Visualization Laboratory (BAVLAB) continues its activities without interruption. BAVLAB has extend its protocol term until 2025 by including New College of Florida in its collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and will further expand its work on big data analytics. 

Selim Balcısoy, Prof. Pentland (MIT), Burçin Bozkaya

Our master’s students, doctoral students, and post-doctoral researchers have conducted studies under the management and guidance of faculty members within the scope of BAVLAB’s collaboration with MIT Media Lab. Two doctoral students from Sabancı University have visited MIT and two post-doctoral researchers from MIT have visited Sabancı University. More than 15 joint publications have been produced. In cooperation with MIT, a common benefit was created by carrying out different studies related to Sabancı Holding, Akbank, and Sabancıdx. 

The Directors of BAVLAB Selim Balcısoy, a Faculty Member at the Engineering and Natural Sciences, and Burçin Bozkaya, a Member at the Sabancı Business School shared their views about the expansion of the collaboration with MIT Media Lab with the participation of New College of Florida. 

Emphasizing that this collaboration is a new model which is based on academic excellence, does not receive any corporate funding, and continues with the logic of a collaborative work only for the advancement of science, Selim Balcısoy said "With the protocol signed by all three schools, our school's access to international scientific networks and its opportunities to contribute to joint research will increase." Burçin Bozkaya noted that with this cooperation between the three universities, both the scope of experience and connections that the students of Sabancı University can gain abroad, as well as the content and scale of research projects that can be carried out with the academic staff of the three schools, will greatly expand. Regarding the inclusion of New College in the ongoing collaboration between BAVLAB and MIT over the past 5 years, Bozkaya said “It will be possible for more graduate students to participate in research activities in the field of Data Science."

Our Faculty Member İsmail Çakmak Ranks First in Turkey and Sixth in The World in The List of The Most Influential Scientists of The World

A team consisting of scientists from the United States of America and the Netherlands identified the most influential scientists of the world based on variables such as number of scientific papers, number of citations, number of authors, authorship position, and citation to own paper and using a composite indicator scientific impact index. 

The study classifying 100,000 top scientists of the world into 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields was carried out under the coordination of Stanford University and published in the scientific journal named Plos Biology. The study included about 7 million researchers who have published at least five papers between 1996-2017 and listed 100,000 scientists. İsmail Çakmak, a Faculty Member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of Sabancı University, has ranked first in Turkey and sixth in the world in his field in The List of The Most Influential Scientists of The World, which included 196 scientists from Turkey. 

Conducting his studies on mineral nutrition of crops and nutritional physiology and focusing on micro-nutrient deficiency (particularly zinc and iodine deficiency) which has affected approximately 2 billion people in the world in recent year and is known as hidden hunger, İsmail Çakmak, a Faculty Member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of our university, has ranked 3394th among the list of 100,000 most influential scientists of the world, the first in Turkey and the sixth in the field of Agronomy-Agriculture. 

You can access the open database and list including 100,000 top scientists around the world on “https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/1/files/51ba39a5-4de9-4c79-b180-f0ca4d5747ed”. 

About İsmail Çakmak

İsmail Çakmak studies plant nutrition and nutritional physiology. His research in recent years focuses on micro-nutrient deficiency which affects approximately 2 billion people in the world today and is known as hidden hunger. Over the past 12 years, he has been conducting research in 15 countries to enrich grains such as corn, wheat, and rice which are often consumed by humans in terms of zinc, selenium, and iodine through agricultural strategies, and reduce the widespread problem of hidden hunger in humans.

According to the Scopus database, he has published more than 200 articles in international scientific journals. These articles were cited 17,400 times according to Scopus and 32,200 times according to Google Scholar. His H-index value is 70 according to Scopus and 91 according to Google Scholar.  

In 2017 and 2019, he was selected to the Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters).  

He received the Science Prize of TÜBİTAK in 1999, the International Norman Borlaug Crop Nutrition Award of the International Fertilizer Industry Association (Paris) in 2005, the Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Award Medal” (Canberra, Australia) in 2007, the Georg Forster Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Berlin, Germany) in 2014, the Science Prize of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (Atlanta) and World Academy of Sciences Prize in Agricultural Sciences (Trieste) in 2016.  In 2012, he was elected member of “the Science Academy of Turkey” and “the Academy of Europe”.

A team consisting of scientists from the United States of America and the Netherlands identified the most influential scientists of the world based on variables such as number of scientific papers, number of citations, number of authors, authorship position, and citation to own paper and using a composite indicator scientific impact index.  

The study classifying 100,000 top scientists of the world into 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields was carried out under the coordination of Stanford University and published in the scientific journal named Plos Biology. The study included about 7 million researchers who have published at least five papers between 1996-2017 and listed 100,000 scientists.  

Durmuş Ali Demir, a Faculty Member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of Sabancı University, has been included in The List of The Most Influential Scientists of The World, which included 196 scientists from Turkey.  

Conducting studies on quantum physics, the concept of time in the quantum world, and the fading of quantum leaps through gravitational attraction, Durmuş Ali Demir, a Faculty Member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, has been included in the list of 100,000 most influential scientists of the world under the category of Physics. 

You can access the open database and list including 100,000 top scientists around the world on “https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/1/files/51ba39a5-4de9-4c79-b180-f0ca4d5747ed”. 

About Durmuş Ali Demir

Durmuş Ali Demir graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, METU in 1991.  Demir, who completed a minor program at the Physics Department, METU at the same time, completed his Master's studies in 1993 and Doctoral studies in 1994 at the Physics Department of METU. He later conducted post-doctoral studies in the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA; 1996-1997), the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste, Italy; 1998-2000), and the Theoretical Physics Institute (Minnesota, USA; 2000-2003). Demir started working at Izmir Institute of Technology in 2003 and participated in the Eurasian Research Center Initiative of ICTP in addition to his administrative duties. He has been working as a faculty member at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of Sabancı University since 2019.

Durmuş Ali Demir is a member of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Science Academy-Istanbul.  He received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He also received TÜBİTAK Incentive Prize, TÜBA Incentive Prize, Parlar Foundation Incentive Prize, and Sedat Semavi Science Prize.  He is one of the editors of LHEP Journal.