The School of Technology & Innovation

Yesterday, I was a guest speaker in the Innovation Management class of Dr. Suat Genç at the Industrial Engineering Department of Gebze Technical University. We began by discussing what artificial intelligence and machine learning are, the types of applications being implemented in the industry, and the important role of data in predictive analytics. We then delved into potential risks, examining high-profile examples from around the world that have led to negative outcomes, including privacy, discrimination, misinformation or fabricated data, copyright infringement, fraud, bias, deepfake cases, and lack of transparency. While discussing measures to address these issues, we arrived at the OECD AI Principles, UNESCO Recommendations and the EU AI Act. We emphasized that the core focus should be on “humans” and that only by valuing and protecting human rights can innovation grow and create a positive impact. I would like to sincerely thank Dr. Suat Genç for this wonderful invitation. Moreover, I had the privilege of getting the first version of his book before its official release. “From Innovative Idea to Investor Pitch Using the Design Thinking Method: Developing a Minimum Viable Product” is truly a must-read for anyone looking to innovate. This book clarifies the journey of turning innovation into a product, and its clear methodology enables readers to enhance their innovation skills and directly apply them to existing projects. Dün Dr.Suat Genç Hocanın davetiyle Gebze Teknik Üniversitesi Endüstri Mühendisliği Bölümü’nde verdiği İnovasyon Yönetimi dersine konuk oldum. Öncelikle yapay zeka ve makine öğrenmesi ne olduğunu ve endüstride ne tür uygulamalar yapıldığını ve tahmine dayalı çıkarımlarda verinin rolünü konuştuk. Ardından tehlikelere doğru ilerledik ve dünyadan negatif sonuçlar doğuran örneklerle; gizlilik ihlalleri, ayrımcılık, yanlış / uydurma bilgi, dolandırıcılık, yanlılık, telif hakları, deep fake vakalarını ve şeffaflık problemini inceledik. Bunlar için nasıl önlem alınabileceğini konuşurken de OECD’nin yapay zeka prensiplerine, UNESCO'nun önerilerine ve AB Yapay Zeka Yasası’na ulaştık. Asıl konunun “insan” olduğunun ve insana değer vererek ve haklarını koruyarak ancak inovasyonun güçlenip pozitif etki oluşturacağının altını çizdik. Bu güzel davet için Suat Hocama çok teşekkür ederim. Üstelik Suat Hocamın kitabı daha çıkmadan ilk versiyonunu da kapmış oldum. “Design Thinking Yöntemiyle İnovatif Fikirden Yatırımcı Sunumuna Minimum Uygulanabilir Ürün Geliştirme” kitabını inovasyon yapmak isteyen herkesin başucu kitabı olacak nitelikte. Bu kitapla birlikte inovasyonun ürüne dönüşebilme yolculuğu netleşiyor ve sunduğu yalın metodolojiyle inovasyon yetkinliğini geliştirip mevcut işlere direk uygulamak ise mümkün oluyor.

Fikirden Ticari Değeri Yüksek Ürün veya İş Demo’suna (MVP) HIZLANDIRILMIŞ-UYGULAMALI İNOVASYON KAMPI Bir ürünü, hizmeti veya iş fikrini pazarda üstünlük sağlayacak ticari olgunluğa getirmek isteyenler için hazırlanmış “hızlandırılmış uygulamalı inovasyon proje çalışması” için sizleri 19 Kasım 2024’de başlayacak ve İSO Akademi-The School of Technology & Innovation işbirliğiyle yürütülecek 5 günlük kapma davet ediyoruz.   Kamp iş geliştirme, proje yönetimi, ArGe, inovasyon, pazarlama, finans, müşteri ilişkileri, tedarik yönetimi birimlerinde çalışanlara veya bu alanlarda uzmanlık geliştirmek isteyenlere uygun bir programdır.   Programda, Silikon Vadisi yöntemlerini kendi iş fikriniz üzerinde uygulayarak üst yönetime veya yatırımcılara sunulabilecek ticari olgunlukta bir çözüm demosu (Minimum Viable Product, MVP) geliştirme imkanı bulacaksınız.   Detaylı bilgi ve başvuru için lütfen İSO Akademi sayfasını ziyaret edin: https://lnkd.in/dTQvAFDB

Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Dr. Suat Genç, CEO of The School of Technology & Innovation, was hosted by Team Mostra for experience sharing in technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship projects on October 26th, 2024. The Team Mostra consists of talented students who were pre-screened by the Ministry of National Education of Türkiye (Istanbul Branch) and selected and sponsored by Uyumsoft with the coordination of İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi. Resides on the Istanbul Technical University campus, the team has been working on technology projects and has already received many awards from contests in Türkiye. Dr. Genç also gave valuable advice to young entrepreneur candidates about how to pursue academic and professional careers.

Mini Entrepreneurship Camp Dr. Suat Genç is invited to a weekend program on entrepreneurship, organized by Idea Club of Kocaeli Municipality (Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi) in Türkiye. In the program, Dr. Genç will cover the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and then will run a demo version of the entrepreneurship journey with young entrepreneurship candidates. By this opportunity, The School of Technology & Innovation continues to extend its outreach activities in the technology and innovation ecosystem.

Innovation Engineering Dr. Suat Genç of The School of Technology & Innovation was invited to give a talk on “A Structured Path to Success in Startups through Innovation Engineering” to graduate students in the Engineering and Technology Management Program at Bogazici University on October 12th, 2024. “Innovation Engineering," as a startup development methodology, was first coined and developed by Prof. Ikhlaq Sidhu, Founding Director of UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET), based on successful startup experiences in Silicon Valley. By benefiting from Prof. Sidhu’s framework and utilizing his more than 25 years of international and regional implementation experience, Dr. Suat Genç has recently developed a bootcamp program that guides innovation teams to walk through necessary steps to successfully launch and scale up a startup business. Dr. Genç wants to extend his gratitude to Prof. Sidhu for his pioneering and marvelous work, Prof. Ali Kaylan for his invitation, and passionate students for their participation, interest and inspiring questions.

First Conference on R&D Engineering and Management in Türkiye in 2012 By chance, I have come across a news article authored by Dr. Nurdan Sönmez and published in Kobi Efor in the December 2012 issue about the First International Conference on R&D Engineering and Management jointly organized by the R&D Foundation and Bogazici University on November 3rd, 2012. I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge and remember pioneering organizations and distinguished leaders of the R&D ecosystem of Türkiye who contributed a lot to the conference’s remarkable success. Here are the “heroes of the event” (with positions in 2012): KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Prof. Dr. Gulay Barbarosoglu, Rektor, Bogazici University; Prof. Dr. Ali Kaylan, Program Chair, Bogazici University; Bulent Basol, Founder, encoreSolar; Halil Kulluk, Chair, InteKno; Kaan Dericioğlu, Chair, Ankara Patent. PRESENTERS: Timucin Bayraktar, General Manager, TCV; Duygu OKTEM CLARK, R&D Manager, TürkTelekom; Hamit Yenici, Product Development Director, Sanko; Ahmet Numan Altekin, Innovation Director, Tofaş; Omer Ileri, PhD MBA, R&D Operation Manager, Avea; N. Mustafa Üstertuna, Product Engineering Manager, Mercedes; Ted Southall, CHRO, LC WAIKIKI; Cengiz Ultav, Board Member, VESTEL; Murat Kolbaşı, Chair & General Manager; Arzum. SPONSORS: Avea, TurkTelekom, Sanko, Turkish Airlines, AA. It is a pleasure to re-share the memories from the conference.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange Visit Dr. Suat Genç of The School of Technology & Innovation had the chance to visit The Istanbul Stock Exchange (Borsa İstanbul AŞ) and met with Dr. Senol Duman (Executive Vice President) and Mr. Erdinc Tutam (Executive Vice President) on Sept 25th, 2024. It was a great opportunity and fruitful atmosphere to discuss current issues and challenges in the R&D and innovation-based business ecosystems in the country, as well as to talk about emerging next-generation business models and opportunities that may create an economic impact in the industry. Dr. Genç would like to extend his gratitude to Dr. Duman and Mr. Tutam for providing an experience-sharing platform and spending valuable time to ideate what to do next in the fast-growing innovation-driven business world.

The Art of Project Planning: The Path to Success Organized by Sahara Training (Sahara Group), Dr. Suat Genç of The School of Technology & Innovation was an invited speaker at The Project Planning and Realization Program, designed for the project planning team of Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ – Qatar. The four-day program (Sept 16th–19th, 2024) is enriched with experience-sharing sessions and field visits to megaproject sites in Istanbul. In the program, Dr. Genç shared his real-life project planning experience and gave proven tactics to avoid obstacles during the execution phase of project management. Congratulations to Sahara Group for organizing such events to deliver value to critical organizations in the region, and thanks to the Qatar Authority for their kind participation in the program. 

Management Secrets of Fast-Growing Companies Dr. Suat Genç of The School of Technology & Innovation gave a talk on The Secrets of Fast-Growing Companies at The International Workshop on Leadership in the VUCA World—Financial Agility, annually organized by Sahara Training between Sept 10th-12th, 2024 in Istanbul. The workshop brought high level bureaucrats, authorities, and C-level executives of 14 countries (Algeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, Türkiye, and Zanzibar) and provided a fruitful atmosphere for idea and experience exchange, particularly, in financial agility. The School congratulates Sahara Group for organizing successful annual VUCA workshops in the region and thanks all participants for making Istanbul the annual meeting place for VUCA discussions.

R&D Engineering Certification Bootcamp Organized by ISO Academy (İSO Akademi), The School of Technology & Innovation has successfully completed another 6-day R&D Engineering Certification Bootcamp with participants (Aras Berke Makaracı, Dilan Yalçın, Elif Doğan, Güvenç Umur ALPAYDIN, Kağan Irmak, Kürşat Sayraç, Metin Yüksel Çelik, Nazlı Yazıcı Çakır, Rıdvan Göynük, Selim Han Selim, Şule BAYRAM, Zehra Eçin) from different industries (textile, machinery, energy, medical, material, polymers, electronics). Led by Dr. Suat Genç, the participants gained hands-on experience in technology, product, and process development engineering through simultaneously implementing world-class practices in real-life R&D projects. The School extends its gratitude to all the participants as well as to Mr. Hakan Çoban, Ph.D. (Deputy Secretary General),  Mr. Burak Kürekçi (Academy Manager), and Ms. Işıl Yükrük (Expert) at the Istanbul Chamber of Industry.