The Teknovasyon 2011 Award Ceremony was held on May 10, 2011, at the Hacettepe University Sıhhiye Campus Cultural Center.
The award ceremony was attended by Hacettepe University Vice Rector and Hacettepe Technopark Inc. Board Chairman Prof. Dr. H. Selçuk Geçim, Hacettepe University Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Kazdağlı, Deans and academics from Hacettepe University, as well as Pfizer – World Emerging Markets Medical and Pharmaceutical Development Vice President Dr. Sam Azoulay, Pfizer – Turkey Medical Director Dr. Turgay Aydınlar, Vimjo General Manager Ahmet Hakan Özgür, numerous industrialists and students.
Speaking at the opening of the award ceremony, Prof. Dr. H. Selçuk Geçim, Vice Rector of Hacettepe University and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hacettepe Technopark Inc., noted that a total of 79 projects were submitted to the Hacettepe Technopark Innovation Project Competition, which was held for the fourth time this year, and that 9 of these projects won awards.
Geçim stated that the projects were evaluated by independent jury members from the participating organizations, and that these members consisted of experts in their fields from various universities and organizations.
Providing information about Hacettepe Technopark and the projects being carried out in the region, Geçim stated that Hacettepe Technopark is operating at 100% occupancy and that currently 835 personnel are working on research and development and software activities in over 300 projects in 124 companies in the region, and that the total turnover of these companies exceeds 250 million TL.
Prof. Dr. H. Selçuk Geçim, Vice Rector of Hacettepe University and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hacettepe Technopark Inc., stated that Hacettepe University Technopark Inc. organized an Innovation Project Competition in the fields of "Health Sciences and Technologies - Science and Engineering" with the aim of supporting and encouraging applied studies carried out in universities, SMEs and industrial organizations, transforming them into advanced technological products, and then making them available to science and humanity in the Turkish and world markets.
Hacettepe Technopark Inc. General Manager and Deputy Chairman of the Board İlyas Yılmazyıldız, in his speech at the ceremony, stated that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Co. provided the main sponsorship for the "Health Sciences and Technologies" project competition and Vimjo provided the main sponsorship for the "Science and Engineering" Project Competition, adding significant momentum to the Hacettepe Technopark Innovation Project Competition.
Yılmazyıldız emphasized that with the Hacettepe Technopark Innovation Project Competition, which they organize every year, they attach importance to developing advanced technological products and bringing them into the economy, and that their aim is for Turkey to take its rightful place in the international market.
İlyas Yılmazyıldız expressed his gratitude to Pfizer and Vimjo officials, the main sponsors of the Project Competition, and to the supporting organizations, noting that the winning projects would be given priority in being placed in KOSGEB Hacettepe TEKMER, if requested, and supported in their transformation into products.
Following the opening speeches, Dr. Salomon Azoulay, Vice President of Medical and Pharmaceutical Development for Pfizer's Global Emerging Markets, who participated in this year's competition as an invited speaker, provided information about his company's projects and partnerships in Türkiye.
Azoulay stated that their main goal is to develop different and new drugs with new molecules, and explained that to achieve this goal, they are carrying out partnerships not only at the company level but also with research centers in many countries around the world.
Azoulay stated that pharmaceutical companies have incurred cumulative costs of approximately $800 million to develop drugs, and added the following:
"However, spending such high amounts on a product without being able to patent it was not sustainable. From then on, we started focusing on diseases and decided to strengthen our R&D units. By 2012, we will reduce our research spending from $9 billion to $7 billion. This may seem surprising, but we are increasing efficiency along with our investments. Our main goal is to focus on releasing at least two products a year by increasing R&D and productivity. In short, we are reducing costs and increasing efficiency."
Azoulay pointed out that one of Pfizer's main goals is to produce necessary vaccines for all geographies, and also stated that they want to develop tailor-made treatments specific to each patient for "error-free medicine."
Azoulay emphasized that Türkiye is the 6th largest market in Europe and added that the country is expected to rise to 12th place in the global market.
Later, the Pfizer awards were presented to the winners of the "Health Sciences and Technologies Project Competition," primarily sponsored by Pfizer, by Dr. Turgay Aydınlar, Medical Director of Pfizer Turkey.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Turgay Aydınlar said the following:
“The Pfizer-Hacettepe Technopark R&D collaboration, which we initiated in 2009, is of great importance in terms of initiating fundamental research studies aimed at the discovery of drugs, vaccines, new treatments, and technologies. We believe that our country has a strong scientific capacity in the field of health. It is crucial that this capacity is opened up to the world, increasing our competitiveness and enabling the application of new technologies developing globally in our country, by fostering a suitable innovation environment. At this level, university-industry and government collaboration is the most critical issue. With the R&D collaboration we established with Hacettepe, we aim to enable Pfizer and Hacettepe scientists to develop fundamental research projects that will serve global health. The R&D office we established at Hacettepe Technopark to manage this unique structure also creates a bridge between the global pharmaceutical R&D network and Hacettepe scientists. In line with the importance we place on the development of innovation in our country, we are awarding innovation in the field of Health Sciences and Technologies in the Teknovasyon innovative project competition.”
In the "Health Sciences and Technologies" Project Competition, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Avni Öktem and his team won first place with their project titled "Development of DNA Chip-Based Diagnostic Platforms".
Second place went to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erem Bilensoy and his team for their project titled "Effective and Safe Intravesical Treatment of Bladder Cancer with BCG and Mitomycin C Loaded Cationic Nanoparticles," while third place was awarded to Cem Türkmen and his team from MEDSAV Ltd. for their project titled "Drug and Consumable Material Automation and Management for Hospitals."
On the other hand, in the "Science and Engineering" Project Competition, primarily sponsored by Vimjo, the Vimjo awards were presented to the winning project owners by Vimjo General Manager Ahmet Hakan Özgür.
In his speech at the award ceremony, Özgür noted that with the main sponsorship of Teknovasyon 2011, which is one of the many initiatives they have taken to best explain and establish the concept of personal care in Turkey, they supported the commercialization of technology-based personal care business ideas.
Expressing his pleasure at meeting the Hacettepe University family, Ahmet Hakan Özgür said, “In this sense, projects, products, and ideas with economic value come to life with Vimjo. We are ready to implement all projects that develop new products or technologies and reduce costs. We will continue to participate in this and similar projects in the future. As the Vimjo family, we are always supportive of new ideas. We aim to be the biggest supporter of projects that make people's lives easier and support their health in personal care in future competitions as well.”
The project titled "Development of a Total Organic Carbon Device," led by Bülent Atamer, won first place in the "Science and Engineering" Project Competition.
Prof. Dr. Özcan Yıldırım Gülsoy came in second with his "Optical Separator" project, while Yücel Demir received the third-place award with his project "Kuzgun-1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle".
A total of 79 projects were submitted to the Teknovasyon 2011: Hacettepe Technopark Innovation Project Competition, including 37 in the "Health Sciences and Technologies" field and 42 in the "Science and Engineering" field. Five projects in the "Health Sciences and Technologies" field were deemed worthy of awards, while four projects in the "Science and Engineering" field won awards.
In both project competitions, the first-place winner received 15,000 TL, the second-place winner 10,000 TL, the third-place winner 5,000 TL, and the honorable mention winner received 1,000 TL in prize money.
In addition, Pfizer and Vimjo officials, who supported the Hacettepe Technopark Innovation Project Competition as main sponsors, were presented with plaques to commemorate the occasion.
