Young Inventor Asaf Emir Özdemir Makes a Mark at the Science and Idea Festival!

At the 11th Science and Idea Festival organized by Üsküdar University this year, not only projects but also a real-life story told by a young student was etched into memories. The speech of Asaf Emir Özdemir, a student of Atatürk Science High School and last year's first-place winner in the Science and Technology category, created emotional moments in the hall.

Young inventor Asaf Emir Özdemir, one of the opening speakers of the ceremony, explained that the artificial intelligence project they developed contributed to the early diagnosis of MS disease in a child. 

Asaf Emir Özdemir: “If you want to contribute to society, touch people's lives, solve problems, and develop yourself, I have only one piece of advice for you: Do projects, do projects, do projects.”
 

At the 11th Science and Idea Festival organized by Üsküdar University this year, not only projects but also a real-life story told by a young student was etched into memories. The speech of Asaf Emir Özdemir, a student of Atatürk Science High School and last year's first-place winner in the Science and Technology category, created emotional moments in the hall.

Approximately 3,000 students competed with 750 projects in the organization, which holds the distinction of being Turkey's first science and idea festival. Students from Istanbul, Bursa, Kocaeli, Sakarya, and Yalova presented their developed projects to the jury members and were awarded. One of the festival's opening speeches came from young inventor Asaf Emir Özdemir.

“Producing Science Requires Courage”

Özdemir, who won first place at the festival last year with his project named YABAN, a plant adaptation analysis developed with the software they created, came to the stage this year not with a success story, but with a real event that touched human lives. Özdemir began his speech by thanking the advisory teachers, students, and Üsküdar University for their support, stating that producing science requires courage. 

“I would like to salute all our students who, despite being under a very intense program, immense pressure, and significant stress, took time out to come here and bravely engage in science and projects,” said Özdemir, explaining that after their achievement last year, their projects received great support from the university during the international patent process.

Özdemir continued his speech by thanking the institutions and academics who supported them, stating:

“I especially thank Üsküdar University and all its faculty members for providing us with unlimited support for the international patenting of our project, following the achievement we made last year. We won first place here last year. As a result, I have the opportunity to deliver the opening speech here today. This is truly very exciting for me. Actually, I had prepared a wonderful speech for today, but I will not present it to you. Because yesterday I received a very important and valuable message. Therefore, I want to continue my speech by telling an incident.”

“Artificial intelligence detected the risk of MS disease in a 7-year-old child whom we considered healthy”

Özdemir noted that about a year and a half ago, they developed an artificial intelligence that could detect neurological and orthopedic diseases from gait disorders, and continued:

“We also created an experiment to see if this artificial intelligence was working. The experiment had two control groups, one consisting of healthy individuals and the other of sick individuals. During this process, the artificial intelligence detected a risk of MS disease in a 7-year-old child whom we considered healthy. At first, we thought this was a systemic error. However, we still informed the child's family. Subsequent checks indeed revealed that the child had MS disease. We followed this process for a year and a half. Yesterday, I received a message from the child's mother. I want to share it with you:

“I'm glad I took you seriously instead of underestimating you!”

‘Asaf, hello son, I am Züleyha. A year and a half ago, you conducted a test with my son as part of your high school project. At that time, you had said he might have MS. I'm glad we took you seriously instead of underestimating you or disregarding what you said. For a year and a half, I waited by my son's bedside in the hospital every day, crying. On Tuesday, the doctors said the disease was largely overcome. We are being discharged on Monday. I cannot thank you enough. Because it is very difficult to describe what it means for a mother to be reunited with her child. I hope young people like you always exist in this world and continue to be a remedy for people.’”

“Do projects, do projects, do projects”

Özdemir stated that there was not much more to say after this message, but added, “But I still want to say this; if you want to contribute to society, touch people's lives, solve problems, and develop yourself, I have only one piece of advice for you: Do projects, do projects, do projects. I also have a humble suggestion for my young friends who are starting to produce projects; please do not give up on the path you have taken, continue until the end. Because, rest assured, you will experience the most beautiful and most instructive days of your life.”

Praise from Deputy Minister Gürsoy to Asaf Emir…

Assoc. Prof. Safa Koçoğlu Gürsoy, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, speaking at the festival, drew attention to Asaf Emir Özdemir's story and stated that young people want to produce and contribute to society.

Gürsoy said, “As we also saw in Asaf Emir’s speech; our youth want to produce, they want to think, they want to contribute. Provided that opportunities are opened up for young people, they are trusted, and given the means.”

Emphasizing that the festival is not just a project competition, Gürsoy said, “Here, not only projects are prepared. Ideas, hope, and responsibility for the future are also produced.”

Stating that they met with students within the scope of Youth Week, Gürsoy expressed that as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, they support not only the academic success of young people but also their capacity to generate ideas, solve problems, and develop projects.

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan also emphasized Asaf in his speech

President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan also drew attention to Asaf Emir Özdemir's words in his speech, stating, “Our brother Asaf saying ‘project, project, project’ is very important. Life is truly a project, daily life is a project…” Tarhan emphasized that young people can develop projects in all areas of life by asking the right questions. 

Tarhan also stated that he was greatly impressed by the projects exhibited at the festival, saying, “This year's projects surprised us. There are many wonderful projects. In many of them, we saw the potential for patentability, utility model, or transformation into an academic article.” 

Prof. Ergüzel: “The aim is to create an ecosystem for young people with a passion for project development”

Vice Rector of Üsküdar University, BFF Coordinator Prof. Türker Tekin Ergüzel emphasized that the festival aims to create an ecosystem that supports young people's passion for project development. Prof. Ergüzel said, “The purpose of our Science and Idea Festival is to find the many Asaf Emirs among us and to create an ecosystem for young people who have a passion for learning and project development in health, engineering, and social sciences, and who are in need of support.”

Hundreds of projects were evaluated in the Science and Technology, Health Sciences, and Social Sciences categories at this year's festival, held with the motto “Invent Something for Us.” At the end of the festival, the name that left its mark on the night was young inventor Asaf Emir Özdemir, who demonstrated how science can touch human lives with the story he told.