career

Our first guest in April was Mr. Deniz Aslan, Architect/Landscape Architect, the founder of DS Architecture. He started his talk explaining the starting point of the title of his presentation: “Encounters.” He continued his presentation giving details on the projects such as One Ortaköy, Ulus Savoy, Torun Center Quasar, Zorlu Center, İSKİ Terkos, RİVA Housing Project, Sakarya Forest Park, Zeynep-Sami Erol House ASOS ve Hande Bozdoğan House SAROS.

Our guest in March was Tanzer Tunçalp, Production Planning Manager at ARÇELİK A.Ş. He started his talk introducing himself, and then he summed up what’s in store for the Industry Engineering students in their business life after graduation, what are the expectations of companies from them and what are they likely to experience in the course of their careers.

Our guest in February was İsmet Atalar, retired vice president of ASELSAN Technology and Strategy. He started his talk telling our students about the fields of defence industry they can work in. He stated that the particular needs of the armed forces should be determined at the first step. He added that many institutions contribute to the cycle of process including the planning of solution, development of the product, manufacturing the prototype, testing and evaluation, mass production, taking into operation and the utilization.

The first career pioneer of December was Mr. Nevzat Sayın, an architect and an author. He started his talk stating that he based his conversation on “Beginnings,” which he underlined as one of the most difficult subjects for architecture students. Sayın said that the magic of architecture lies in the beginnings, in being prepared.

Our guest in April was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selin Sayek Böke, who is an Economist, a Lecturer, and a Member of Parliament. Mrs. Sayek Böke began her visit with an interview on Radio TEDU and then carried on with her presentation. She stated that she is currently serving as the Member of the Parliament for İzmir and that, before her active political life, she had carried out various duties at institutions such as Bentley University, Georgetown University, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bilkent University, World Bank, TÜBİTAK and Social Sciences Research Group.

Our guest in March was the CEO of Bülbüloğlu Crane Industry, Mr. Önder Bülbüloğlu. Mr. Bülbüloğlu started his conversation by stating that during his university years he frequently organised events for his friends since he was a very social student. Due to this, he explained, he had to stay in school longer, though his social experience helped him to start on his business life very quickly.

The last guest of December was the Founder of BT Architecture Berna Tanverdi. Ms. Berna Tanverdi briefly presented herself and the profession of architecture. She specified the importance of taking on responsibilities even as a student, the stress you are under during the project presentations in front of a jury and added that in architecture there are no working hours. 

The second guest of December was METU Department of Psychology, Faculty Member Nebi Sümer. Mr. Sümer began the conversation by introducing himself and he briefly explained his research activities, psychology and its subfields. He specified that psychology is a science which requires an objective, ethical and open-minded attitude. Mr. Sümer also explained in detail the different fields of psychology which students might prefer to pursue following their education.

The first guest of December was Turkish Educational Foundation, Ankara Department Manager and Operations Manager of Student Residences, Ömer Turna. Mr. Turna began the conversation by talking about Industry 4.0, digitalization and artificial intelligence and explained that standardization of education is wrong because learning process differs from one person to another. He stressed that educational methods have developed in a way that leads the teachers to guide the students, rather than just transferring the knowledge.

The second guest of the week in Conversations with Turkey’s Career Pioneers was Louis Vuitton Turkey, Retail Operations & Marketing Manager Aslı Yaylalı Ayhan. She indicated that she has been working for the company for 7 years and began the conversation by explaining how she decided to expertise in retail & marketing following her graduation.