IHKIB Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition Awards Presented

İHKİB Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition Awards Presented Awards were presented at a ceremony to projects that placed in the İHKİB Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (GİY) organized by the Istanbul Ready-Made Garments and Apparel Exporters Association (İHKİB). The ProNova project, which won first place in the competition, aims to eliminate the problem of surgeons' hands trembling from cold due to temperature differences in operating rooms and the environmental damage caused by frequently replaced surgical gowns. Awards were presented at a ceremony to projects that placed in the İHKİB Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (GİY) organized by the Istanbul Ready-Made Garments and Apparel Exporters Association for innovative, sustainable and value-added exports in the ready-made garments and apparel sector among university students. In the competition where 518 students from different disciplines applied, interesting ideas competed against each other, while three innovative projects that will shape the future received great appreciation. The marathon, which started in November 2021 in the digital environment and lasted 6 months, saw 14 teams with 42 students compete in the final presentations.

"In the medium term, we want to increase our per-kilogram unit price to 40 dollars and our exports to 40 billion dollars"

Istanbul Ready-Made Garments and Apparel Exporters Association Chairman Mustafa Gültepe said in his speech at the ceremony that they were working to promote industry-university cooperation by developing projects with YÖK. Gültepe, who said they were already beginning to reap the benefits of this approach in a short time, continued as follows: "In the medium term, we want to increase our per-kilogram unit price to 40 dollars and our exports to 40 billion dollars. We know it is difficult to walk toward the goal alone. Our government's support should be with us. More importantly, our universities should be with us. We designed our Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition with this thought in mind. We opened the competition not only to textile engineering but to all departments and disciplines. Despite being the first, there was more interest than we expected. We received 518 applications from 112 different departments of 103 universities. After the preliminary selection, we started the process by forming 50 teams of three people with 150 students. Whether they place or not, we regard all projects as important for the future of our sector, and I congratulate our young friends." he said.

"Innovative and productive ideas are very important in commercial competition"

Turkey Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman İsmail Gülle, who also attended the ceremony, emphasized the importance of innovative and creative products in commercial competition. Gülle: "As TİM, we are implementing special innovation programs in a multidimensional way. To revitalize the innovation ecosystem in our companies, 8,000 companies are benefiting from our InovaLİG and Focused İnoSuit programs. So far, mentoring services of more than 25,000 hours have been provided to 163 companies. Experience transfer has been provided to hundreds of companies matched with good examples. In our İnovaTİM project implemented for young people, we support the work of more than 3,000 university students from 72 provinces and 150 different universities." The Novator Team, which won first place in the competition, was awarded TRY 100,000, the Eucalyptus Team, which came second, TRY 75,000, and the B Creative Team, which came third, TRY 50,000. At the ceremony, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle announced that in addition to these awards, the first team would receive TRY 30,000, the second team TRY 20,000 and the third team TRY 10,000 in cash prizes. In addition to cash prizes, the first-place team will receive 3 days of training abroad at the ITA Institute within Aachen University in Germany. The second and third teams will have a 3-day experience at the İzmir Hugo Boss Factory.

First place award: ProNova

The Novator Team consists of Alya Bostani, a third-year Textile Engineering and Business dual major student at Istanbul Technical University, Fatma Nur Keleş, a fourth-year student in the Industrial Engineering department at Özyeğin University, and Nuray Rumeysa Uslu, a third-year student at Ege University Faculty of Medicine. With the "ProNova: Sustainable Medical Gown" project, they became the winners of İHKİB GİY 2022. ProNova, which emerged from identifying problems such as surgeons' hands trembling from cold due to temperature differences in operating rooms and the environmental damage caused by frequently replaced surgical gowns, brings to the medical world a heat-insulating, sustainable, body-adjustable, durable and aesthetic medical gown solution using algae.

Second place award: COK

The Eucalyptus Team consists of Beyza Çam, a third-year Textile Engineering student at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Şeyma Karasu, a third-year student in the Environmental Engineering department at Istanbul Technical University, and Pınar Okumuş, a fourth-year Journalism student at Akdeniz University. The Eucalyptus team, aiming to eliminate bad odors with fabric produced from fibers obtained from eucalyptus tree extract, is targeting "Zero Carbon Zero Odor".

Third place award: Taggle

The B-Creative team consists of Betül Özçakmak, a third-year Textile Engineering student at Istanbul Technical University, Emek Gözlüklü, a fourth-year Business student at Istanbul Technical University, and Emel Aydın, a fourth-year Textile and Fashion Design student at Eskişehir Technical University. The Taggle application, which transforms garment care labels that fall short in information transfer, focuses on sustainability and provides useful information through digital channels that users need in the garment's life cycle and encourages them to become conscious consumers. With the slogan "Discover, Explore, Transform!" it focuses on sustainability and the circular economy.