6th International Ankara Design Week Held at Bilkent
“This century will be a century of design. Design creates difference. The age of discoveries is somehow over. Now is the age of differences. Design, this magical word, is the key element that will make you different in every field, from technology to industry and the service sector."
Thus begins the manifesto of International Ankara Design Week (ADW), which has been held annually since 2007. This year, on December 1-9, Bilkent's Department of Graphic Design participated in the event as the leading collaborator, with ADW taking place at the university. The department also contributed an exhibition entitled "FAUXGO"
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Bilkent Graduate Receives 2012 World Technology Award
Bilkent graduate Aydoğan Özcan (EE/'00), an associate professor at UCLA, has received the 2012 World Technology Award in Health and Medicine (in the individual category), presented by the World Technology Network in association with Time, CNN, AAAS, Science, Technology Review, Fortune, Kurzweil and Accelerosity.
This year's theme was "Nothing will ever be the same again," with finalists and winners being those individuals (in 20 categories) and companies/organizations (in 10 categories) who, in the opinion of the WTN fellows and founding members, are doing innovative work of "the greatest likely long-term significance" in their fields. Dr. Özcan was recognized for his development of a microscope attachment for a cell phone, which turns the device into a sort of "mobile medical lab."
Dr. Özcan, who received his PhD degree from the Stanford University Department of Electrical Engineering, currently leads the Bio- and Nano-Photonics Laboratory in the Department of Electrical Engineering at UCLA. In addition to the World Technology Award, he has received several other major honors, including the US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2011. Most recently, the October 2012 issue of Popular Science magazine named him as one of its "Brilliant 10": an annual list of young investigators who are "shaping the future of science."
International Volunteer Day Seminar
While volunteer work is an important channel for providing social service and promoting community betterment, many feel that the concept of volunteerism is not sufficiently familiar in Turkey and its potential benefits are not widely enough recognized. Volunteer organizations must therefore make an extra effort to explain their goals and attract more people to participate in social service projects. For this reason, the Bilkent student volunteer organization TDP (Toplumsal Duyarlılık Projeleri/Social Awareness Projects) and the United Nations Volunteers program (UNV) organized a seminar on the occasion of the UN's International Volunteer Day, December 7. continue reading
Bilkent ECON Graduate Receives "Young Executive" Award
Department of Economics graduate Pınar Abay, general manager of ING Bank Turkey, has been recognized as one of the "Most Successful Young Executives of Turkey" (Başarıya Yürüyenler: Türkiye'nin En Başarılı Genç Genel Müdürleri), receiving the second place award. The awards are given annually by Capital, a local business and economy magazine, and the Johnnie Walker Brand.
Ms. Abay graduated from Bilkent University in 1998 and went on to obtain an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. She became the general manager of ING Bank Turkey at the age of only 34 in 2011.
The New ELIT Production: "The Salvation of Stephen Dedalus"
The latest project of the Department of English Language and Literature is the production of "The Salvation of Stephen Dedalus," a new play written and directed by Assoc. Prof. Don Randall. The play is based on James Joyce's novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," from which it takes some of its scenes and characters, though most of the dialogues and situations are original.
The title character Stephen Dedalus is played by ELIT senior student Berat Melih Kalender, with Don Randall as his father and Asst. Prof. Patrick Hart in the role of James Joyce. Another ELIT faculty member, Dr. Gül Kurtuluş, is the production manager. Supporting roles such as Stephen's family members and other individuals who have an influence on him are played by students from various departments, including four international students. continue reading