The first “New Beginnings for Collaboration—Academia–Industry Dialogues I” event, organized by the Bilkent University Technology Transfer Office (TTO), took place at the Bilkent Rector’s residence on September 24.
The program opened with a welcome address by Provost Prof. Orhan Aytür. Prof. Ekmel Özbay (NANOTAM) and Fikret Çınar (Nurol Makina) then delivered insightful speeches, sharing perspectives from academia and industry. Following these talks, participants addressed three thematic areas, Greener Future, Digital Horizons and Better Living & Health, exchanging ideas in dedicated discussion corners. These conversations, far from formal presentations, advanced in a dynamic format in which participants shared views and explored potential joint projects and collaboration opportunities.
The event brought together 37 company representatives from various firms across diverse sectors, including defense, digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and agricultural machinery and industrial automation, along with 32 academics from various departments of Bilkent University. This diverse participation enabled the direct exchange of knowledge and needs between academia and industry.
The thematic expertise of academics combined with the practical perspectives of industry representatives contributed to generating recommendations that could translate into tangible collaboration opportunities. Participants discussed which types of university outputs could create faster value while also reflecting on expected transformations and cooperation models likely to gain prominence in the coming years.
Bilkent TTO extends its sincere thanks to all academics, company representatives and supporters of the organization who contributed to the success of the event.