As part of the 2021–2022 Sustainability Year at Bilkent University, students in the Faculty of Engineering’s Science Technology and Society (STS) course, working in teams, examined sustainability issues for their fall 2021 term projects. On December 24, the faculty held a ceremony to present the course’s 2021 Sustainability Awards for the five projects judged to be the best overall and in four specific categories.
Electrical and Electronics Engineering student İremsu Taşkın served as emcee for the evening. Mete İmer, secretary general and executive committee member of the Environmental Protection and Packaging Waste Recovery and Recycling Foundation (ÇEVKO), and Jeremy Hall, director of the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex Business School, provided brief talks for the event. The jury included Assoc. Prof. Didem Dizdaroğlu of the Department of Architecture, Assoc. Prof. Selin Kocaman of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Prof. Haldun Özaktaş of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
The Outstanding STS Sustainability Award was given for a project that focused on cultured meat. The team conducted interviews with representatives of Biftek.co, including cofounders Erdem Erikçi and Kerem Erikçi. In a short presentation the students gave describing their project, they explained how cultured meat could contribute to sustainability by reducing energy use in agricultural practices. They also noted that a Paul McCartney quote, “If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls, Everyone Would Be Vegetarians,” stands as Biftek’s motto and is written on the window of one of the company’s labs.
The other four awards were given to students for projects on satellite imagery analysis, responsible MRIs, smart home technology and geothermal energy. The full project titles and award recipients’ names are listed below. A video of the event will soon be available for viewing on the STS website (see http://ge301.bilkent.edu.tr).
Outstanding STS Sustainability Award
“Cultured Meat: Meet the New Meat” Aysel Başak Bula, Efecan Şentürk, Ömer Durukan Kılıç, Sehar İrfan Mangi, Zeynep Şahin
Public Benefit and Sustainability Award
“Satellite Imagery Analysis to Enhance Agricultural Sustainability”
Bilgehan Akcan, Umut Ege Özdemir, Göktuğ Çağıran, Gökhan Taş, Sebahattin Utku Sezer
Sustainability and Innovation Award
“Responsible MRI: RMRI”
Ezgi Saç, Önder Soydal, Dora Tütüncü, İremsu Taşkın, Ayçe İdil Aytekin
Social Justice and Sustainability Award
“A Case Study on KAREL Electronics Smart Home Technology Through the Lens of Responsible Innovation”
Ata Yavuzyılmaz, Atakan Topcu, Başak Ceyhan, Pelin Ayduran, Yaren Durgun
Energy Futures and Sustainability Award
“Sustainability Analysis of Turkey’s Leading Geothermal Energy”
Esin Julia Rathert, Merve Öztürk, İsmail Görkem Yeni