Future Engineers at Üsküdar University with BİLMÖK

Üsküdar University hosted Turkey's largest student congress. BİLMÖK (Computer Engineering Students Congress), which set out in 2005 with the aim of fostering a generation of students who produce ideas and offer solutions, began on May 6-7, 2023, at Üsküdar University NP Health Campus Ibn-i Sina Auditorium, with the participation of engineering students from various universities across Turkey, technology world representatives, sponsors, and academicians. Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Psychiatrist and Founding Rector of Üsküdar University, who delivered the opening speech of the 19th congress, said, “An approach prevails that whoever controls digitalization controls the world. For this, we must be the subjects, not the objects, of knowledge producers in the digital age; we must be producers, not just users.”

The 19th Computer Engineering Students Congress, hosted by Üsküdar University's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, brought together leading institutions and figures from the world of technology. BİLMÖK (Computer Engineering Students Congress), initiated in 2005 by a handful of students at Osmangazi University with the aim of creating a generation that produces ideas and offers solutions rather than just being software laborers, quickly gained significant interest and officially became Turkey's largest national student congress. To preserve its innovative spirit, BİLMÖK is organized at a different university each year, and this year's host was Üsküdar University.
The congress, which commenced at Üsküdar University NP Health Campus Ibn-i Sina Auditorium, opened with the welcoming speech of Organization Committee Chairman İbrahim Bahçekapılı. It then continued with the opening speeches by Prof. Dr. Osman Çerezci, Dean of Üsküdar University's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, and Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan. At the stands set up in the foyer area, students and participants closely examined projects where they could follow innovations, and also had the opportunity to meet important companies from the banking, telecommunications, software, and technology sectors. University presentations also took place at the congress.

“We were dreaming of it in 2018, this year we are hosting it”
Organization Committee Chairman İbrahim Bahçekapılı began his speech by thanking everyone who believed in and supported them, especially Üsküdar University Founding Rector and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, regarding participation and candidacy for the congress. Bahçekapılı said, “While we were dreaming of bringing the congress to our university with our organization committee chairman in 2018, this year we are hosting the congress with the participation of representative students from all seven regions and our esteemed guests. Every unit of our university stood by us during different stages of our congress. Our 17-member organization committee brings the 19th BİLMÖK to you today with the distinct contributions of each member.” He concluded by thanking each committee member.

“We see the importance of software in every field”
Prof. Dr. Osman Çerezci, Dean of Üsküdar University's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, who delivered the opening speech of the 19th Computer Engineering Students Congress, which hosted nearly 20 speakers sponsored by Softtech, VBT, ATP, Logo, BilgeAdam Teknoloji, Turkish Aerospace, Türkiye Finans, Turknet, Fibabanka, AlbarakaTech, Architecht, and enoca, began by saying, “In this information age we live in, we better understand how meaningful a congress like this, organized for the 19th time by computer engineering students, is.”
Çerezci stated, “Today, all countries are investing heavily in information technology. We all personally experience the importance of software in every field, such as space research and health research. We also see very serious work being done in this regard in our country. Therefore, we are very happy that the friends who planned this action, which started 19 years ago, set out with such a broad vision from those times.” He added that hosting such an event as Üsküdar University is a pleasure.

“Add your human sensitivity to your professional competence”
Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör also congratulated the students for professionally organizing such an event for 19 years, stating, “As Üsküdar University, we are proud to host such a sustained, organized, and proven event. You will shape tomorrow because our era is the digital age. The vision you create will guide humanity. You must add your human sensitivity to your professional competence. You can do very beautiful things, but if you don't put your human stamp on it, it will be impossible to predict who will use these technologies in the future and with what intentions.” she advised.

“In the digital age, we must be the subjects, not the objects, of knowledge producers”
Finally, Üsküdar University Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, who took the stage for the opening speeches, stated, “When our university was founded in 2011, we had determined a theme. We had chosen an R&D focus like combining health and engineering fields. In 2013, we held a festival of ideas for the first time related to this. The topic of the science and ideas festival in 2013 was artificial intelligence. It was a little-known, unspoken topic. We realized that the world was heading in that direction in the future and that there were some precursors, so we recognized this and put it into practice.”

Tarhan continued his words as follows: “An approach prevails that whoever controls digitalization controls the world. For this, we must be the subjects, not the objects, of knowledge producers in the digital age; we must be producers, not just users. For this, generate new ideas and try to patent the ideas you produce. As an incubation center at the university, we are conducting R&D studies on this. We have prepared the infrastructure that will enable our friends to contribute to science by producing projects, invest in their future, starting from establishing companies for patents. We support not only our own university students but also other students.”

The speakers of the 19th Computer Engineering Students Congress, held on May 6-7, were:
Softtech, Akın Yenigün, Erdinç Uruç, Şeyma Agalar, Capital Markets Trading Systems Production Team Leader, Senior Business Partner, Human Resources
VBT Yazılım
TUSAŞ, İbrahim Ardıç, Istanbul Technopark Manager
Huawei, Berhan Türkü Ay, Cloud Engineer
ATP, Alper Yasemin, Zenia Software Development Director
Fibabanka, Erkan Derviş, Digital Channels Director
ShiftDelete, Hakkı Alkan, Founder
Türkiye Finans, Kudret Kuğu, BS Core Banking and Cash Management Development Manager
Logo Yazılım, Uğur Sipahi, Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Migros, IT Security Team (Onur Akkepenek, Bedri Orduluoğlu, Elif Seven, Burak Elmas)
TurkNet, Murat Oğuz, DevOps & DBAs Manager
Bilge Adam, Bahadır Özütam, Academy Director