The garden of Prof. Ihsan Doğramacı's residence provided the perfect setting for an event celebrating the beginning of the university's Fall 2004 semester.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, October 2 and 3, Bilkent students gathered there for a reception hosted by Prof. Ihsan Dogramaci and Rector Ali Doğramacı. In his welcoming remarks, Prof. Ihsan Doğramacı reminded the students that Bilkent was theirs: they were not merely guests here, Bilkent was their home.

Students from all of the university's departments had a chance to meet with their fellow students and members of the faculty, as well as to talk individually with Prof. Ihsan Dogramaci about their academic experiences and plans, and about the university and education in general. The event also featured a barbecue and a live jazz concert by faculty member Janusz Szprot and vocalist Sibel Köse.

It was a sunny weekend, and Bilkenters were able to relax on the grass while listening to the music and to stroll about the grounds enjoying the early fall weather.

Also in this issue:

• "BEHIND THE SCENES"
• "LIFE ETC."
• Incoming MBA Class Starts with a Parachute Competition
• Student Council Officers Attend International Youth Leadership Conference
• Cricket Anyone?
• Fitness Tips
• Ice-Skating for Fun and Exercise
• Registration Underway for Republic Cup Intramural Sports
• Still Time to Register for Sports Programs
• PUZZLE...PUZZLE...
• Radio Bilkent Program Lineup
• THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
• Le Piment Rouge Restaurant Menu
• BilAd
• BilWrite Announcement

Bilkent Initiates Three-Dimensional TV Project

Bilkent University is at the forefront of new developments in television technology, as the host institution for the Three-Dimensional TV Project, a research program funded by the European Union.

Prof. Dr. Levent Onural from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, the president and coordinator of the project, states that in the near future televisions will take the form of a tripod on which viewers will be able to watch realistic moving images, formed totally by light, from any angle they wish. Based on holographic and laser technology and aided by advanced mathematics, this project will expand the limits of today's electronic and optic technology. Although it is hard to imagine, today's televisions may be obsolete within ten years.

Under the auspices of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme, the four-year Three-Dimensional TV Project began September 1, initiated and coordinated by Bilkent University. Nineteen research foundations from seven different countries will participate. The scientists engaged in this project are renowned for their work in high technologies such as digital television, VCD, DVD, MP3 and Multimedia. It is a source of pride for Turkish science that Bilkent University is spearheading the project, which is at the cutting edge of television technology and has support from prominent European universities, scientists and research foundations such as the Fraunhofer and Max Planck Institutes. The European Union is providing over six million euros in support of the project, which could help to give Europe a competitive edge in the field of television technology vis-a-vis its rivals, the U.S. and Japan. Three-dimensional television also has the potential to bring advances in related fields such as medical imaging.

The project's opening ceremony was held at the Bilkent Hotel in Ankara on September 27-28. More than 70 scientists from the European Union project participant institutions attended the meeting.