Turkish students' innovative brains: From a high school project to launching firm

IZMIR, Türkiye

When three Turkish girls embarked on a high school project, they had no idea it would lead to an Antarctic expedition and, eventually, the launch of their own company.

“Thanks to TEKNOFEST, we took the project that we started in high school, which took us to Antarctica, to an initiative and corporatization at the university,” Zeynep Ipek Yanmaz told Anadolu after receiving an award from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at TEKNOFEST Izmir.

"It's an incredible feeling for me because something I did as a high school project could now be my job," said 18-year-old Yanmaz, an electrical and electronic engineering student at Istanbul's Koc University.

Yanmaz, along with her classmates, Azra Ayse Bicakci and Hilal Basak Demirel developed the project that produces bioplastics from oak nuts when they were in 10th grade.

At TEKNOFEST Samsun held last year in Türkiye’s Black Sea province, the project won a competition that took the high school girls to Antarctica and allowed them to experiment in the Antarctic Zone.

Earlier this year, they explained their Antarctica adventure at TEKNOFEST Istanbul.

And now, they are back at TEKNOFEST as university freshmen with the project-turned-enterprise that earned them a 75,000 Turkish Lira (about $2,700) investment and the best startup award in the environment, energy, and climate category.

“This plastic dissolves in nature in 45 days, is 20 times more durable than grocery bags and 20% cheaper than conventional plastic,” said Yanmaz.

The third edition of TEKNOFEST 2023, Türkiye's premier technology and aerospace event, has opened its doors to visitors in the Aegean city of Izmir since Wednesday.

It has been jointly organized every year by the Turkish Technology Team (T3) Foundation and the Ministry of Industry and Technology since 2018, in cooperation with other ministries and dozens of other public institutions, private companies, and universities.

Anadolu has been among TEKNOFEST's media shareholders as a global communications partner since the first edition.

The event is ongoing with exciting airshows, as well as several activities for children and adults, including telescopes for stargazing meeting astronauts, and getting a close look at cutting-edge technology products produced in Türkiye.

‘There are very good opportunities for everyone at TEKNOFEST’

Azra Ayse Bicakci, an 18-year-old molecular biology and genetics student at Izmir Institute of Technology, is the project's other collaborator.

Bicakci advises those interested in developing a tech project to “take a chance,” and participate at TEKNOFEST.

“If they have an idea, they should definitely think about it, develop it as much as they can by making as many good contacts as possible, and I recommend them to come here.

“There are very good opportunities for everyone at TEKNOFEST,” said Bicakci.

“TEKNOFEST actually offers very good competitions and support programs for all age groups, and there are also scholarship programs,” she explained.

“I think everyone should take a chance,” she said. “Because we set out without thinking that it would never come to this, but everything is possible with dedication and perseverance.”