TEKNOFEST 2023 Honors Environmentally Friendly Projects

TEKNOFEST 2023 Awards for Environmental Projects TEKNOFEST's Environment and Energy Technologies Competition, led by SANKO Holding, a major stakeholder of the festival, awarded prizes to teams placing in both the "High School" and "University and Above" categories. Awards were presented to the winning teams in TEKNOFEST 2023, the world's largest Aviation, Space and Technology Festival, in the Environment and Energy Technologies Competition by Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and T3 Foundation Board Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar.

Notable Projects at University and Above Level

The "Vatoz" project, developed by Oğul Görgülü (graduate of Interior Architecture and Architecture at Izmir University of Economics, Master's student, interior architect and yacht designer), Umut Kanpalta (Computer Engineering at Izmir University of Economics), Serkan Kaskan (Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence Engineering student, Physics Department at Middle East Technical University), Orhan Eryiğit (Software Engineering at Izmir University of Economics), and Genco Atalay (Master's student, Ship Construction Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology), which uses artificial intelligence to solve surface water cleaning services including marine surface waste, surface oil, mucilage and foam removal compared to traditional water surface cleaning methods, placed first in the University and Above category of TEKNOFEST 2023 Environment and Energy Technologies Competition. Doctoral students Ebru Çalkan Yıldırım, İlknur Erbaş and Tuğberk Nail Dizdaş from the Analytical Chemistry Department at the Faculty of Science at Ege University, under the guidance of Associate Professor Füsun Pelit, finished TEKNOFEST 2023 in second place with their project "A Green Sampling System for Environmental Analysis: Electropolymerized Thin Film Microextraction." Fourth-year Mechanical Engineering students Zeynep Züleyha Kahraman and Emirhan Karataş from Konya Technical University, second-year Computer Engineering student Hacer Türkoğlu, fourth-year Computer Programming student Osman Cahit Yüksel, fourth-year Mechatronics Engineering student Mustafa Kurt from Akdeniz University, and third-year Mechatronics Engineering student Asem Hassan from Necmettin Erbakan University won third place in the Environment and Energy Technologies Competition with their project "Autonomous Algae Collection Vehicle Operating on the Sea Surface."

High School Students Developed Important Projects

The "Shape Memory Plastic Production and Characterization" project, prepared by tenth-grade students Zeynep Bakırkaya and İpek Kahraman from the Chemical Technology field at Kocaeli Dilovasi Private ENKA Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School under the guidance of teacher Mevlüt Erdoğan, was deemed worthy of first place at the High School level. Eleventh-grade students Saffet Küçük, Ahmet Emin Özdemir, Muhammet Talha Kaya and Abdussamet Canlı from the Electrical and Electronics Technologies field at Ankara Gölbaşı Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School achieved second place with their project "Be Thrifty," prepared under the guidance of teacher Mehmet Dere. Tenth-grade students Elifnaz Özçoban, Merve Işıl Kayabey and İsmail Arda Bayer from Balıkesir Şehit Turgut Solak Science High School completed the competition in third place with their "Biocomposite Material Production" project, developed using walnut and almond shells from organic waste and beeswax from natural secretions, under the guidance of teacher Sibel Özatlı. In the Environment and Energy Technologies Competition, where 86 projects reached the finals in both the "High School" and "University and Above" categories, the prizes for the top three teams were distributed as follows: In the "University and Above" category, the first team received TRY 40,000, the second team TRY 30,000 and the third team TRY 20,000, while in the "High School" category prizes were awarded at TRY 30,000, TRY 20,000 and TRY 10,000 respectively.

SANKO Supports Youth Energy

The Environment and Energy Technologies Competition aims to create a culture of renewable energy use and energy efficiency in society, increase awareness on productivity and environmental issues, and foster the development of innovative and technological ideas. SANKO Holding, as a primary stakeholder of TEKNOFEST for the fourth year this year, which aims to raise awareness about technology and science across society and increase Turkey's human resources trained in science and engineering, continues to support young people who will produce the technologies of the future. The objective of the competition is to reveal industrial enterprises' energy-efficient and environmentally-conscious application projects and technologies, enable the sharing of knowledge and experience, and generally increase energy efficiency in the industrial field. The TEKNOFEST 2023 Environment and Energy Technologies Competition, organized in both "University and Above Level" and "High School Level" categories, received applications from 19,052 teams and 55,625 competitors from within and outside Turkey, with 86 teams qualifying to compete in the finals.