At the "Capstone Fair and Contest" of the Department of Industrial Engineering at Abdullah Gül University (AGU), student projects undertaken with companies Bellona, Kumtel, Metro Market, Simfer, Stryker, and Yataş competed.
The fifth edition of the event, held traditionally every year, was at the Rectorate Conference Hall on the Sümer Campus. The event, starting with a music recital and dance performance, continued with project presentations and jury evaluation.
Six projects done with Bellona, Kumtel, Metro Market, Simfer, Stryker and Yataş were on display for the contest. They were carried out throughout the 2021-2022 academic year by the students under the academic guidance of Prof. Dr. İbrahim Akgün, Chair of Industrial Engineering, and faculty members Dr. Selçuk Gören, Dr. Gökmen Kara and Dr. İsmet Söylemez.
The jury for the contest was composed of Prof. Dr. Emel Kızılkaya Aydoğan from Erciyes University, Assoc. Prof. Özgür Demirtaş from Kayseri University, Assoc. Prof. Oğuzhan Arık from Nuh Naci Yazgan University, Vice General Manager Funda Kızıklı from Akprofil, Vice General Manager Oktay Karaca from BRN Yatak, and Vice General Manager Hüseyin Karadeli from Mondi.
In the jury's evaluation, Özgenur Kaplayıcı, Ahmet Güzelce and Melik Fırat Karaboğa's project "3D Packaging" came first. They did their project at Bellona with the company supervisor Mustafa Konuk. Hakan Kocabaş, Ensar Uslu, and Gamzenur Arıkan's project "Flexible Workshop Scheduling with Dependent Setup Times", carried out at Kumtel with company supervisor Muzaffer Boğazköy, took second place. Third place was given to Özgül Demirel and Kübra Kurtoğlu's project "Warehouse Optimization Using Scenario-ba
At the end of the contest, sponsored by Arkopa and Kipaş Holding, the students who ranked in the top three received monetary awards.
Rector Prof. Dr. Cengiz Yılmaz spoke at the fair and stressed the importance of cooperation between universities, industry and businesses. In that context, the Rector stated, the Department of Industrial Engineering implemented project-oriented education successfully. Prof. Yılmaz added that the program's graduates could find jobs in short periods and work at good companies.
Also commenting on the students' music recital and dance performance, Prof. Yılmaz said they showed beautifully how versatile the University's graduates were.
Industrial Engineering Chair Prof. Dr. İbrahim Akgün also spoke at the fair and said since its establishment, their department has valued university-industry cooperation; various mechanisms have been put in place to that end; lastly, one of those mechanisms and critical leg and driving power of the university-industry cooperation is the capstone projects.
Prof. Akgün emphasized that capstone projects are the last ring in the chain of the university-industry cooperation, consisting of several components such as three different internships lasting at least six weeks in total, creating industry-focused projects in each class, and having some classes entirely in companies.
Reminding that students work on capstone projects for two semesters under the guidance of their academic and company advisers, Prof. Dr. Akgün highlighted that the projects focus on real problems, how this aspect teaches students academic and social skills, and how students' software programs, decision support systems and models add significant value to companies.
The music recital by AGU students Sami Kaya, Aybala Kılıç, Güneş Karataş, Şafak Bera Şafak, Melih Öztorun, and Ufuk Karakaş and dance performance of AGU students Şule Melemezoğlu and Harun Çetinkaya were also followed with enthusiasm at the fair.
Academics and students from various universities, managers and employees from Abra Teknoloji, Ak Profil, Almila Mobilya, Arkopa, Aspilsan, Bellona, Boyteks, BRN Yatak, Denge Kulübü, Gümüşsuyu, Kaytim Akademi, Kilim Mobilya, Kipaş Holding, KOSGEB (Small and Medium Industry Development Organization) Kayseri Directorate, Kumtel, Metro Market, Mondi Home, Orta Anadolu, Proaks Yazılım, Serhat Mobilya, Simfer/Sersim, Somçelik, Spectrum Bilişim, Stryker, United Doors, and Yataş, and many other invitees joined the fair.
