Statement by Prof. Dr. Arif Ergin, President of TÜBİTAK, on the work carried out at TÜBİTAK-MAM
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Prof. Dr. Arif Ergin, President of TÜBİTAK, and asked him to tell me about the work being done at TÜBİTAK-MAM.
I got to know Arif Hoca when he was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Informatics and Information Security Advanced Technologies Research Center (BİLGEM) and TÜBİTAK Marmara Teknokent...
As for what he said; "In order to sustain economic growth and maintain our competitiveness in the future, we need to move to a high value-added production structure and at the same time increase the share of high-tech sectors in our production and exports.
Turkey's exports per kilogram to Europe and the Far East countries are quite low.
The main reason for this is that a significant portion of the products we export are low and medium technology products.
Considering that developed countries are gradually catching up in this area, it becomes clear that we need to make a technological leap. The way to make this leap is to focus on R&D, innovation, branding and design. Producing the products and services we import domestically is the right growth strategy for countries like Turkey, provided that they are competitive.
At TÜBİTAK-MAM, special emphasis is placed on nationalization and many critical technologies are developed with domestic capabilities. Continuing to work within the framework of this vision, TÜBİTAK-MAM has carried out many successful projects and activities in the past three years.
I would like to share the main ones with you on an institute basis.
- We monitor the water quality of all our seas with the Marine Integrated Monitoring Project carried out at the Environment and Cleaner Production Institute. Preparation of Basin Protection Action Plans and Identification of Sensitive Areas projects were carried out in order to reveal and improve the current water quality status of our drinking water resources, lakes and rivers.
The Development of Organic and Inorganic Passive Samplers project aims to develop passive samplers that are used to determine air quality and are commercially produced and sold in a few countries in the world. - With the project aiming at enriched Boron 10 and Boron 11 isotope products within the Institute of Chemical Technology, boron isotope enrichment technologies will be developed and boron products, which are likely to be used in nuclear power plants planned among the strategic energy resources of our country, will be obtained. Thanks to this domestic technology, we will be able to take part in the international nuclear supply chain. In the Production of Various Cellulose Derivatives project, products with high mechanical strength were obtained by adding nanocellulose obtained from bleached linter cellulose to polymeric materials.
- In collaboration with the private sector, the Institute of Gene Engineering and Biotechnology has developed the first biosimilar drug against cancer in Turkey, developed new and unique biomarkers for the early diagnosis of lung cancer, which has a very high mortality rate due to late diagnosis, developed Immunreactive Trypsinogen (IRT) and Pancreatitis Associated Protein (PAP) ELIZA kits for the early diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in newborn screening, and the Genome Array Analysis Center.
- Within the scope of the Project for the Development of Nickel Superalloy Materials and Production Processes Used in Aviation within the Institute of Materials, "Nickel Superalloy Single Crystal Aircraft Engine Turbine Blade" was developed within the scope of a project aiming to bring advanced manufacturing technologies for the turbine blade, which operates under the most difficult conditions among engine components, to our country and our defense industry.
- Within the Energy Institute, prototypes have been prepared for the development of domestic electric vehicles. In terms of battery technologies, which are at the heart of all mobile technologies, especially electric vehicles, lithium-ion battery development studies are continuing at full speed.
- A project supported by the Ministry of Development was initiated to establish a Food Analysis Kit Development Center at the Food Institute to produce fast and reliable data for food analysis. This project aims at the domestic production of consumables and reference materials used in food analysis. There are 7 projects supported by the private sector, covering various food fields.
- At the Institute of Earth and Marine Sciences, a "National Laboratory" was established and put into operation, eliminating our dependence on foreign sources for Carbon 14 dating, which is needed in Archaeology, Earth and Environmental Sciences."
I have summarized the information provided by Prof. Arif Ergin on the work of the institutes located in TÜBİTAK-MAM and carried it here.
