The Summit Hosted Important Brand Representatives…

The third edition of the “Summit” event, organized by the IEEE Uskudar University Student Branch Club, was held this year. Students met with expert names in their fields at the event, which was attended by important brand representatives on a global scale. “The Summit’23” this year aimed to shed light on students' careers by covering topics such as software, electrical-electronics, industry, bioengineering, molecular biology, and genetics. 

Prof. Dr. Sevim Işık: “We are here to guide talented young people in this field”

Prof. Dr. Sevim Işık, a faculty member of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, delivered the opening speech of the event held at the Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall, Uskudar University Central Campus, and spoke about gathering to bring together the innovations and successes of today's technology world. Işık said; “We are excited to open an event that will bring together today’s top technology leaders with the leaders of the future. We have come together to bring the brightest ideas, innovations, and successes of today's technology world under one roof. As you know, IEEE is an international organization active in many countries worldwide, aiming to lead in engineering, technology, and scientific developments. We are here to introduce the technological and scientific advancements that shape the future to our youth and to guide talented young people in this field. We will reach the summit through the guiding speeches and sharing of knowledge and experiences from our esteemed participants. This is a relay race. Our goal today is to take this relay race to the next level by combining the experience of you, our valuable leaders, with the energy of the youth. Everyone present here has an important role in achieving these goals. Therefore, your participation and energy are truly valuable to us.” she stated.

Mehmet Emin Ata: “Our real success was our club’s management team”

Mehmet Emin Ata, President of the IEEE Uskudar University Student Club and an Electrical-Electronics Engineering student, provided information about the club. Starting his speech by welcoming everyone to The Summit'23 event, Ata said, “There are three committees within IEEE Uskudar University. With our committees, we aim for our club members and individuals interacting with the club to be research-oriented, self-confident, and individuals who make a difference technically and socially in their professions. The IEEE Uskudar University Student Branch Club, in a very short time since its establishment, has succeeded in bringing hundreds of students together with experts, learning on-site through dozens of technical trips, and both informing and socializing our fellow students in their fields through the major events we have organized throughout the year. Behind our challenging yet fun activity, our real success was our club's management team.” he said.

Cem Çerçioğlu: “In recruitment, we look at how social you are in real life, not on Instagram”

Cem Çerçioğlu, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at Monster Notebook, pointed out that the best way to reach the top is through social activity; “The biggest thing behind success is essentially playing as a team. Humans are social beings. Let's socialize so we can produce. When a CV comes in, at least for me, the first thing we look at is not the school, but the social activities listed below, because my department is strategy. I prefer social people. You need to make yourself felt, have general culture, and to have general culture, you need to have social activities. You socialize by playing football, you socialize by dancing. This actually leads to networking. You need to socialize because a network is formed. In the business world, 95% of recruitment currently looks at how social you are. Not on Instagram, but how social are you in real life? Because when we research you, we naturally look at your social media too. We also have some software-based artificial intelligences that we use when creating personality analyses, because I don't want to waste my time in any way. I don't want to invest in the wrong person. The best way to reach the top is social activity.” he stated. 

Ata Özarslan: “You need to constantly keep yourself updated”

Ata Özarslan from İstanbul Data Science Academy emphasized that individuals need to adapt themselves to technological developments; “Artificial intelligence is very popular nowadays. Everyone panicked. We also had difficulty understanding it at first. For example, we try it, and since I know the background of the work, it’s not me, but I think many people felt this way; ‘There’s something called ChatGPT, whatever we write, it gives us an answer. How nice, like magic, how does it understand me? How does it generate answers? It’s very logical. It generates answers as if we’re having a conversation. It answers everything I write.’ It's a known fact by everyone that such a product exists. Is ChatGPT good? Yes, we will use it. These are technological developments, to make all our jobs easier, and some people will indeed become unemployed, this is an unknown fact, but we need to adapt ourselves to it. Especially today, to think 'I'll go to university, then get a job somewhere and do the same job for forty years.' There's no such thing. You need to constantly keep yourself updated. You need to change constantly.” he said.

Sabrican Zaim: “Entrepreneurship is a bit like boxers”

Sabrican Zaim, Co-Founder & CEO at Paymes, stated that entrepreneurship is a bit like boxers. Zaim said; “We developed an application that facilitates the sale of products and services, as if you're talking to a friend through a messaging app. Paymes’s general motto is: to mediate payment transactions for individuals selling through social channels. We were a bit lucky; the market evolved with us. When we look at it, entrepreneurship is a bit like boxers. A good boxer quickly recovers after taking a punch to the face. In entrepreneurship, you also need to learn to take punches very well, to get beaten up quickly and continue on your way.”

Mert Hekimci: “One must definitely have their own learning plan”

Mert Hekimci, Director of Technology at Hepsiburada, emphasized the need to be mindful of the fear of missing out when creating a learning plan; “You should not expect to develop yourself by relying on the problems you will face at your next company. You might encounter old technologies in the company you go to. One must definitely have their own learning plan. This plan needs to be valid in every aspect of your life. The real problem is how you will determine this plan. We should make this plan according to our interests and competencies. For this, one needs to try a bit. When making your learning plan, you need to pay attention to the fear of missing out. If I learn one technology, will I miss out on another? This thought leaves you in a void, so focus on one thing. Since you are young, you have the chance to reverse your decisions. I definitely recommend seeing at least two companies in the first 6 years of your career.” he stated. 

Erkan Mankan: “We have also seen how important the health sector has become”

Erkan Mankan, Board Member of Trustlife, provided information about Trustlife. Mankan said; “Trustlife is Turkey’s National Health Technologies fund. It was established to invest in the field of health technologies as a fund for the first time in Turkey. The main point here is that we are actually a bit behind in the technological process globally, but processes like Covid have greatly helped shorten intermediate steps. Suddenly, a huge problem affected everyone. We have seen how important the health sector has become worldwide, as much as the defense industry.” 
The event concluded with a group photo session after the plaque presentations and the finalization of the draws.