7 critical infrastructures will be added to the technology ecosystem

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited TÜBİTAK’s Gebze Campus on August 9 and attended the mass opening and signing ceremonies and examined and tested the ‘Electrical, Smart and Zero Emission 7 Ton Class Wheeled Excavator (HICON 7W) developed by Hidromek with the support of TÜBİTAK. Besides Erdoğan, İzmir Deputy Binali Yıldırım, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın and Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Büyükakın also attended to the ceremonies.

The program, held at TÜBİTAK’s Gebze Campus, started with President Erdoğan’s testing of ‘HICON 7W’, developed by the Hidromek firm, as a smart, economical and environmentally friendly electric city excavator with the support of TÜBİTAK. Standing out for its quieter, more efficient and environmentally friendly features thanks to its electric motor, HICON 7W will reduce the environmental impact with its zero emission and can be easily used in many parts of the city due to its compact dimensions.

After the excavator test, Erdoğan and the accompanying delegation attended the opening ceremony of the TÜBİTAK RUTE Engine Center of Excellence that will save our country from dependence on foreign sources and making Turkey a producer of technology, TÜBİTAK MAM Energetic Materials Laboratory, TÜBİTAK MAM Biomaterials, Biomechanics, Biomedical Electronics Center of Excellence, TÜBİTAK MAM High Temperature Materials Research Development and Repair Center of Excellence, TÜBİTAK UME Photovoltaic Performance Test Center, TÜBİTAK SAGE Environmental Tests Center and TÜBİTAK SAGE R&D Service Building.

Pointing out that our country’s technological infrastructure and capabilities are getting stronger with the contributions of TÜBİTAK’s research centers and institutes, President Erdoğan emphasized that seven different infrastructures will be brought to the technology ecosystem in Gebze and Ankara with the ceremony held. Varank, the Minister of Industry and Technology, stated that the TÜBİTAK Gebze Campus has undertaken the task of being the R&D and innovation base of our country. Varank noted that with the innovative works carried out in institutes, there is no competitor to the private sector, on the contrary, the private sector, the public and universities contribute to the creation of added value. Stating that we developed and patented the Salmonella Rapid Diagnosis Kit for the first time in the world, Varank said, “This bacterium contaminated with dirty water and food is extremely harmful for public health. This kit we have developed gives results much faster than the existing diagnostic kits in the market. China applied to us and wants to buy this product with technology transfer from our country.”

‘Real Time Operating System Cooperation Agreement’ was signed between TÜBİTAK and HAVELSAN

TÜBİTAK President Mandal said that: “In 2019 alone, we supported 4,300 projects of 3,000 companies, 2,400 of which were SMEs and 5,427 projects were of 166 universities. We provided scholarships to 14 thousand students and shared the project excitement of 460 thousand middle school high school students.” Mandal stated that the strategic approach of TÜBİTAK encourages the establishment of strategic cooperation based on working together in output and impact oriented processes in order to ensure the highest level of accumulation of our ecosystem. The opening of the TÜBİTAK RUTE Engine Center of Excellence was realized by connecting to Institute Director Abdülkadir Balıkçı via live broadcast. Following the opening speeches, the ceremonies of the agreements to be signed by TÜBİTAK with Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Sekapark and HAVELSAN started. “Medicinal and Aromatic Herbal Product Development Agreement” between TÜBİTAK MAM and Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Sekapark was signed by Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tahir Büyükakın and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal. With the agreement, a pioneering agricultural practice in agricultural development will be implemented by using the endemic plant capacity of our country effectively.

TÜBİTAK MAM will meet the R&D needs of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality in the field of medicinal aromatic plants. The products to be developed will turn into high technology pharmaceuticals with R&D studies to be realized in the future. The “Real Time Operating System Cooperation Agreement” between TÜBİTAK BİLGEM and HAVELSAN was signed by TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal and Havelsan General Manager Dr. Mehmet Akif Nacar. With the agreement, HAVELSAN will be responsible for the promotion, dissemination, marketing, sales, training, development of card support packages, field support, maintenance and maintenance activities of GİS in Turkey and abroad. It will contribute to the development of new capabilities and features to be added to the middle level. TÜBİTAK BİLGEM will continue its development activities for new technological trends and safety critical system needs of the sectors.