A collaboration meeting between Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) and industry was held. Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Dalgar, vice rectors, advisors, MAKU Secretary General, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yusuf Keyik, KOSGEB Provincial Director Davut Tolga Uğur, MAKU Technology Transfer Office Director, MAKU-BAKA Technopark Director, expert academics in their fields, leading industrialists and business people of the region attended the meeting held at Lavanta Tepesi Hotel.
At the meeting held with the aim of strengthening relations related to the internship training of academics and students between MAKU and the leading industrial organizations of Burdur, establishing a solid cooperation, sharing knowledge and experience in the field of education and R&D activities and conducting joint studies, the first speech was made by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yusuf Keyik.
President Keyik stated that they wanted to do their best as the presidents of non-governmental organizations since the decision to establish the university was made, other NGO presidents also supported and they are now in a university that has completed its infrastructure in a short period of 17 years since those days and provides education and training to 37,000 students and has a good ranking in Turkey. He said, “Thanks to our Rector Hüseyin Dalgar, we organized such a meeting. We have a university that provides economic contribution to our city and districts in every need from boarding to restaurant, cafe to stationery, not only providing education to 37,000 students. Now, if we have a university that has reached a certain point, we need to put forward what we can do in every field from agriculture, tourism, industry in our region and our city in Burdur. We have a teacher who says, 'We have a good academic infrastructure and physical infrastructure, we need to use them for this nation, for this city', who has sincere and determined thoughts. As the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I have been a member of the board of directors since the establishment of MAKU-BAKA Technopark. Let's benefit from the ideas of our academics from MAKU. It is very difficult for us to bring our companies, which we manage in the way we see from our ancestors, to an international level. While there is such academic support here, we need to take advantage of this support and make our businesses sustainable competitive. Burdur is a city located in the triangle of Antalya-Isparta and Denizli. Our young people are migrating to other provinces. We need to prevent this and therefore we need to get academic support. We need to reduce input costs and increase our productivity. To achieve these, we must cooperate with MAKU. Let's take advantage of this beautiful opportunity." he used the expressions.
Then, Technology Transfer Office (TTO) Director Dr. Faculty Member Ömer Çatal made a speech and explained the TTO's work and the University-Industry Collaboration Policy. Director Çatal, who provided information about the supports given to projects aimed at the development of the region and the grant supports provided to SMEs in the region, said, “It is enough for our region and our country's private sector enterprises, public and non-governmental organizations to apply to TTO to benefit from the knowledge accumulation of our university and to support the establishment of continuous collaborations. We are ready to use our knowledge accumulation and the supports provided to the end.” he said.
KOSGEB Provincial Director Davut Tolga Uğur also made a speech and announced their support. “As KOSGEB, we are constantly in communication, cooperation and work with the university,” said Director Uğur, “We especially care about the participation of our universities and teachers in our support programs. We want our teachers to take part in our boards in our support programs and to take part in the evaluation of the projects submitted by the enterprises and in the follow-ups after the project,” he said.
In the continuation of his speech, Director Uğur, who talked about the supports provided by KOSGEB, said, “We have a newly announced support program. We provide support for the green transformation in the industry and especially for roof solar panel systems within the enterprise boundaries. This is the highest limit support offered in KOSGEB history. We can support roof panel systems up to 14 million TL per enterprise,” and gave information about the details of the project.
Everything Belonging to This University is Also Belonging to the People of Burdur!
Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Dalgar, who made the last speech at the meeting, stated that they train ready-to-work staff with the 3+1, 6+2 and 7+1 education models, which are a model that can set an example for Turkey, and that the students have no difficulty in starting to work after graduation, and said, “There is something we have been saying sincerely from the first day: First of all, we are the children of Burdur and we are doing this duty as required by the responsibility given to us by the people trained by this nation. However, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University is the common value, the common institution of everyone in Burdur. We think that you have as much rights in the university as I do. Within this understanding, this infrastructure and accumulation created with public resources financed by the taxes you and we pay should be used to the end by you. Here, with the resources of the state, infrastructures, laboratories established by spending millions of dollars in today's money, and 1100 academics, a total of 2 thousand employees including administrative staff, 35 academic units, our faculties, vocational schools and 37 thousand registered students. We want our Burdur to benefit more from this big organization. The jobs you do are sacred; you create employment and added value, pay taxes and contribute to the development of this country. If you do not deal with these jobs, public finance in the country cannot be provided either. It is very difficult to compete in the global economy with methods inherited from father. We have to make decisions not with instincts, but with data and information. We have to measure everything and take people who can read or read reports next to us. We have been talking about university-industry cooperation for years; we say let's work together but then we turn to our routine jobs. The routine agenda takes us away, distances us. Therefore, we need to produce a mechanism that will truly implement university-industry cooperation. We have a Technology Transfer Office; It works on the task of transferring knowledge and technology in the university to the industry. Everything of this university belongs to the people of Burdur,” he said.
We are the First University to Implement the Applied Education Model in Turkey
Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, which is a pioneer in applied education in Turkey, sends students to practical education entirely at work in the last year of four-year university education. We take over the insurance of the students as a university. Thus, you can employ a student who has completed his theoretical and academic education for a year. As the first university to implement this model in Turkey, the Higher Education Institution (YÖK) recommended other universities to implement this model in suitable departments about 5 years later. This is a great source of pride for the University of Burdur and for Burdurlular. Today, we have risen 187 ranks in the World Universities ranking announced. In the universities in Turkey that entered this ranking, our university, which was 91st last year, rose to 74th this year. With your support, we will carry the university to a point where we will all be proud,” he said.
The meeting ended with mutual idea exchanges and good wishes.
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