MBG PhD Student's Project Receives Award
A project developed by Şükrü Atakan, PhD student in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, received an award during the ProjeBaharı2 exposition held last month by the Turkish Electro Technology Exporters Association (TET).
The exposition included a project competition, with 80 projects from among 240 entries in six categories being chosen for exhibition. Şükrü's project, entitled "Quantum Dot Imaging Device," was one of those 80. During the competition, an evaluation board composed of R&D professionals from the industry and university instructors from related departments awarded his project a mention in the nanotechnology applications category.
The project was the result of collaborative work by the Departments of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Physics. Dr. Ali Osmay Güre of MBG provided the original idea, with the Western blots being performed in his research laboratory, while the optical and electronics work for the production of the scanner was performed under Dr. Coşkun Kocabaş's supervision in the Advanced Research Laboratory of the Department of Physics. In addition, Dr. Hilmi Volkan Demir of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering will provide the quantum dots for the production of the quantum dot conjugated antibodies.
A group of Bilkent students also contributed to the development of the scanner: Cihad Turhan (PHYS graduate and CS master's student), Murat İşbilen (MBG master's student) and Alper Poyraz, Barış Küçükkaraduman and Ferhat Büke (all fourth-year MBG undergraduate students).