7th Chemical Substances and Products R&D Project Market Awards Announced

With the approval of the Ministry of Economy, coordinated by TİM (Turkish Exporters Assembly), in partnership with İKMİB (Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association) and AKMİB (Mediterranean Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association) and with support from TÜBİTAK, the awards of the "7th Chemical Substances and Products R&D Project Marketplace" were presented to their recipients on 11 November 2017 Saturday at a ceremony held at the Foreign Trade Complex. The chemical industry, one of Turkey's locomotive sectors, organized the seventh edition of the R&D Project Marketplace event it launched to ensure sustainable exports. The "R&D Project Marketplace," which has been held since 2011 and is the chemical sector's largest innovation event, brought together universities, research institutions, industrialists and entrepreneurs as well as relevant public institutions. At the event, the most successful projects were awarded TRY 15,000, second place winners TRY 10,000, and third place winners TRY 5,000.

In the pharmaceutical and cosmetics category, Ebru Altuntaş came second with her project titled "Development and evaluation of efficacy of in situ gelling topical formulations for nasal use in allergic rhinitis treatment," and Serkan Dayan came third with his project "Catalytic production of initial monomers used in intraocular lens (ophthalmic implant) manufacturing," while no project was deemed suitable for first place following the evaluation. In the cosmetics, soap and cleaning products category, Merve Gökşin Karaaslan came first with her project "Preparation of polyurethane-based wound dressings with antibacterial properties that accelerate wound healing depending on propolis content," Ayşe Baldemir came second with her project "High antimicrobial effective air filter production from basil (ocimum basilicum) plant: nanomaterial synthesis via electrospinning method and volatile oil combination," and Hülya Kuduğ came third with her project "Production of growth factor that accelerates cell proliferation and tissue regeneration for use in hair and skin treatment using genetic engineering methods."

In the paints and adhesives category, Mert Yıldırım won first place with his project "Production of adhesives from nanocellulose and boron minerals that do not harm human health and are resistant to combustion," Mustafa Karaboyacı won second place with his project "Cellulose production from rose pomace and similar industrial plant waste," and İshak Afşin Kariper won third place with his project "Impregnated paints with boron and dextrin additives." In the plastics and rubber category, Hasan Arslanoğlu came second with his project "Production of insulation material suitable for residential and industrial use from industrial waste and renewable sources," while Yaşar Can Ayra, Memet Vezir Kahraman and Bahattin Yalçın won third place with their project "Obtaining nanofiber membranes through modification of waste PET bottles causing environmental pollution and cleaning contaminated water." No project was deemed suitable for first place following the evaluation. In the basic chemicals category, Çağlar Sivri won first place with his project "Development of protective and comfortable laboratory masks against viruses with PP/PVA/SAP nonwoven/nanofiber composite structure," while no projects were deemed suitable for second and third places.

126 Projects Applied

The primary area of the event application was determined as raw material/semi-finished product studies of chemical substances and products. However, innovative products resulting from primary materials needed by the sector and other sectors were also evaluated within the scope of the event. A total of 126 innovative projects submitted in the categories of pharmaceutical and cosmetics products, paints and adhesives, plastics and rubber, cosmetics, soap and cleaning products, and basic chemicals were evaluated using a scoring system by evaluation board members consisting of leading academics and industrialists. Project owners who entered the top 30 made presentations in the "Award Board Meeting" held before the award ceremony, where they detailed their projects to jury members. The event, which has become one of the best examples of university-industry collaboration in the chemical sector, resulted in the most successful projects being awarded TRY 15,000, second place winners TRY 10,000, and third place winners TRY 5,000 in four different categories: academics, industrialists, entrepreneurs and students. Additionally, activities to be held throughout the year are planned within the scope of the event, and placement of award-winning projects with industrialists is being arranged.

They Will Also Compete at Turkey Innovation Week

Projects that placed in the Chemical Substances and Products R&D Project Marketplace will be eligible to compete for the grand prize in the most innovative project category at Turkey Innovation Week, which is organized annually by the Turkish Exporters Assembly and is the largest organization across the country aimed at raising innovation awareness.

"Sustainable Growth Depends on R&D and Innovation Strength"

Speaking at the award ceremony, İKMİB Board Chairman Murat Akyüz emphasized that achieving sustainable exports and increasing the unit kilogram value of exports depends significantly on R&D and innovation strength, stating: "We have been continuously organizing the Chemistry R&D Project Marketplace event for seven years to improve university-industry collaboration, produce high value-added goods and increase exports. We aim to take our sector to much better positions from where it stands today and to increase our exports. For this, we need to focus on high value-added production. It is impossible to talk about high value-added production without conducting R&D work and innovation. We have been emphasizing the importance of these two areas for many years and are implementing encouraging activities in these fields. Over 6 years, we received more than 800 innovative project applications and distributed a total of TRY 551,000 in prizes. This year, a total of TRY 150,000 worth of awards will be given to award-winning project owners. For us, it is of great importance that the projects that place here do not remain just as projects, but are producible and brought into the industry. The more producible ideas are, the greater their contribution to both our sector and the country's economy. In this direction, we will continue our support for award-winning projects afterward," he said.

"High Value-Added Production Is Essential for Export Growth"

Drawing attention to Turkey's chemical sector 2023 export target of USD 50 billion, Akyüz noted that the existing foreign trade deficit must first be closed, stating: "For the capital and technology-intensive chemical sector, what matters is making exports sustainable. Increasing production, which is largely dependent on raw materials from abroad, requires R&D-supported growth for the sector and subsectors. Looking at our country's chemical sector's foreign trade, we see that USD 14.0 billion in exports were made in 2016 and approximately USD 52 billion in imports were realized. These figures clearly demonstrate the necessity for "High Value-Added Production." This production should also be R&D-supported. For export figures, progress with the quadruple of R&D-design-innovation-brand and domestic technological development is essential. As İKMİB, we will continue to support new ideas and projects that will contribute to exports," he said. R&D Project Marketplace Executive Board Chairman Necmi Sadıkoğlu, in his remarks at the award ceremony, emphasized that chemical industry exports, which hold an indispensable position for Turkey's economy, have shown significant growth over the past 10 years, stating: "In the first 10 months of 2017, our country's total exports increased by 11 percent compared to the previous period and reached approximately USD 129 billion. The chemical sector's share in our total exports is approximately 10 percent. This year, very valuable project applications were submitted to the R&D Project Marketplace, which we organize to increase value-added in chemical exports and to present innovative ideas to industrialists. We thank our academics, industrialists, entrepreneurs and students from all parts of our country for their project applications and contributions to our organization. Our most important goal with the Chemistry R&D Project Marketplace organization is to contribute to creating an environment where projects are adapted to industry in the short term and benefit the country's economy. The interest of our scientists in our event pleases us greatly and encourages us for our continuing work in this regard," he said.