Sabancı University Shares Outcomes of "Industry-Focused Projects"

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences' "Industry-Focused Projects" (SOP), running since October 2016, successfully completed its second year with 30% growth through numerous new projects and collaborations with industrial organizations across various sectors. The program, conducted within the "Graduation Project" course in the Sabancı University curriculum, consists of projects by 4th-year undergraduate students under the guidance of faculty members from Sabancı University and participating institutions. Sabancı University and the collaborating institutions jointly carry out the projects on which they work as part of the program. In the 2018 Industry-Focused Projects Program, participating institutions included Airties, Aksa Motor, Doğuş Bilgi İşlem ve Teknoloji, Evyap, Festo, Ford Otomotiv, Lostar Bilgi Güvenliği, Mutlu Akü, Procter & Gamble, Ravago Petrokimya, Siemens, Unilever, Yongatek among organizations operating in various sectors such as automotive design and suppliers, information technology, electronics, plastics, chemicals, food, personal & household cleaning and care products, and consumer durables. A total of 78 undergraduate students working on 24 projects from 13 participating institutions shared the project outputs they completed through university-industry collaboration. The outputs of Industry-Focused Projects, through which Sabancı University added a new dimension to university-industry collaboration, were shared at the Spring Reception held for the 2nd time on 15 May 2018, Tuesday at Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM). The reception was attended by distinguished guests consisting of executives from over thirty companies from various sectors. Opening remarks at the reception were delivered by Sabancı University Rector Prof. Dr. Zehra Sayers, Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Canan Atılgan, and Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty Member and Industry-Focused Projects Founder Prof. Dr. Yusuf Menceloğlu. Following the speeches, appreciation plaques were presented to project-owning companies, and all guests subsequently gathered at a cocktail reception. Sabancı University Rector Prof. Dr. Zehra Sayers stated in her remarks: ""I believe one of the most important characteristics Sabancı University can provide to you is that people from different disciplines are accustomed to working together and can approach problems from different perspectives.

Another important characteristic of our university is its non-hierarchical, small-scale structure. This feature also enables us to interact with you more easily and openly.

Finally, I would like to say, and though it may sound like boasting, both our faculty members and students are very talented individuals with broad perspectives and the ability to approach matters from different angles. Our faculty members are experts at evaluating problems from different perspectives. Our students are also very good and successful. I believe they contribute significantly wherever they go and to whatever institution they join. Thank you very much for coming. Our goal is to collaborate with you and expand this collaboration." she said. Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Canan Atılgan stated: "Bringing industry and universities together is difficult work. We do not readily embrace large projects immediately, because it is difficult to predict the problems that partnerships between institutions with dissimilar working styles will encounter. Our Industry-Focused Projects do not entail such risks; in fact, they offer a solution. A small-scale project provides an excellent opportunity to get to know each other and develop a joint working culture. Through the bridges built by our students, bringing industry and university together and jointly thinking about 'what else can we do, what bigger things can we develop' becomes a very good starting point." Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty Member and Industry-Focused Projects Founder Prof. Dr. Yusuf Menceloğlu stated in his remarks: "Actually, there are three stakeholders here; one is the industry side, one is the students, and the other is us faculty members. One objective of faculty members is to train good students. The responsibility of students is to become good engineers and benefit society. The other stakeholder, industrialists, realize the projects they need together with the university. For all these objectives, we work together as teams. For this reason, since all three parties are motivated by a win-win approach, the number of projects increases with each passing year. Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty students, who presented their project outputs through posters during the event to participants, stated that through their work with industrial organizations, they have become fully acquainted with professional life and have taken an important step for their careers.