Held in cooperation between Yildiz Technical University and Çalık Holding for the second time, the competition "My First Job is Entrepreneurship" finale event was held.
At the event, where 261 projects from 42 different cities and 67 different universities competed and 10 projects got to the final, the projects 'Intelligent Graphene Biosensor' won the first place, 'Portable Phosphatemia and Uremia Diagnosis and Follow-up Device' won the second place and 'Immediately Consult/Online Hospital of Turkey' won the third place. The competitors ranking among the top three in the final got the chance to receive up to a total of 1 million TL financing from Çalık Holding. Additionally, the winning project had the chance to benefit from the free office and mentorship services for a year at the Incubation Centre of the YTU Technology Transfer Office.
The competition "My First Job Is Entrepreneurship", which is held for the second time this year for enterprising candidates having practicable business ideas in cooperation between Yildiz Technical University (YTU), one of the longest established universities in Turkey with a history of more than a century, and Çalık Holding, operating in Turkey and around the world, focusing primarily on activities that create benefits for people and societies through its investments, came to an end.
The 10 teams who got to the final in the competition, which was held in Otag-ı Humayun, Yildiz Technical University Davutpasa Campus and with jurors of which included Rector of Yildiz Technical University, Prof. Dr. Ismail Yuksek, and Head of the Financial Services of Çalık Holding, Galip Tozge, displayed a great example of competition in order to win.
Having stated that they aimed at becoming a university operating in the field of Research and Development and educating entrepreneurs, Rector of Yildiz Technical University, Prof. Dr. Ismail Yuksek, said in his speech "We aim at being among the top 10 universities of Turkey in the field of R&D and innovation. One of the cooperation that we have accordingly made is the competition 'My First Job is Entrepreneurship, Emerging and Developing Technology Project Market'. We hereby thank Çalık Holding for this successful cooperation."
Having made a speech after the opening speech at the event, Head of the Financial Services Group of Çalık Holding, Galip Tozge, pointed out that there was substantial potential for entrepreneurship in Turkey and said "The potential for entrepreneurship in our country needs to be evaluated and encouraged in order to develop and become an information and welfare society. The 21st century is the age of entrepreneurship and we are, as Çalık Holding, conducting the competition 'My First Job is Entrepreneurship, Emerging and Developing Technology Project Market' in order to pass on the experience of entrepreneurship of our group, which has made a success at the international level, to next generations. Our aim is to contribute to the emergence of successful entrepreneurs in Turkey."
This year a total of 261 projects from 42 different cities and 67 different universities applied to the competition "My First Job is Entrepreneurship, Emerging and Developing Technology Project Market". Among the applicants there were two institutions and 30 companies. Yildiz Technical University itself made up 15% of the project applications with 38 applications. The jurors of the competition included Rector of YTU, Prof. Dr. Ismail Yuksek, Head of the Financial Services Group of Çalık Holding, Galip Tozge, Chief Editor of Dunya Newspaper Hakan Guldag, E-Tohum Founder Burak Buyukdemir, General Manager of the Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation, Mehru Aygul, General Secretary of Endeavor Turkey Didem Altop, and Vice President of Samsung Turkey, Tansu Yegen.
Up to a total of 1 million TL financing from Çalık Holding for the first three projects
In the competition, Miray Tayfun won the first place with the project named 'Intelligent Graphene Biosensor', Ozem Tavukcuoglu won the second place with the project named 'Portable Phosphatemia and Uremia Diagnosis and Follow-up Device' and Bahadir Odevci won the third place with the project named 'Immediately Consult/Online Hospital of Turkey'.
Other 7 finalists competing in "My First Job Is Entrepreneurship" and their projects are as follows:
