At a ceremony held on December 18 at Mithat Çoruh Auditorium, Bilkent faculty members and graduates received awards from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Turkey Section. Since last year’s ceremony was cancelled due to the pandemic, the awards for both 2020 and 2021 were presented at this year’s event. The IEEE Turkey Section Scientific Awards Program was initiated in 2017; this year was its fifth edition. 
Photograph by Aydın Ramazanoğlu
The section’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to Prof. Ekmel Özbay (2020), director of NANOTAM and a faculty member in the Department of Physics, the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and UNAM, and Prof. Abdullah Atalar (2021), rector of the university. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes profound and sustained contributions in Turkey in any field covered by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Prof. Ezhan Karaşan, dean of the Faculty of Engineering, received the section’s 2020 Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to IEEE Turkey Section activities and programs.
2020 Research Incentive Awards went to Assoc. Prof. Emine Ülkü Sarıtaş and Assoc. Prof. Cem Tekin, both from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, while Asst. Prof. Selim Hanay of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and UNAM received a 2021 award. Bilkent Electrical and Electronics Engineering graduate Mehmet Cengiz Onbaşlı also received a 2021 award. The section gives its Research Incentive Awards to researchers who reside in Turkey, finished their PhD studies no more than 10 years ago, have gained distinction through their scientific activities and contributions to their field, and have conducted most of their research work in Turkey.
Prof. Tolga Duman, chair of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, was the recipient of the 2021 IEEE Turkey Section Board of Directors Service Award.
Prof Hilmi Volkan Demir, director of UNAM and a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, the Department of Physics and the Materials Science and Nanotechnology Graduate Program, received an IEEE Turkey 2021 Certificate of Appreciation, as did Bilkent Electrical and Electronics Engineering graduate Sinem Çöleri.
Doctoral Thesis Awards were presented to four Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering PhD graduates. Çağrı Göken and Serkan Sarıtaş were the recipients of the 2020 awards, while Onur Erdem and Mert Kalfa received the 2021 awards. These awards are given for the best doctoral theses completed at Turkish universities in IEEE research fields within the last two years.