Akçansa, one of the leading building material companies in Turkey, organized the eighth Concrete Ideas Project Contest, which broke its own record with this year’s attendance by 1,340 people from 117 universities throughout the country. The Concrete Ideas Project Contest Award Ceremony was held at Sabancı Center on Wednesday, May 24.
Among those attended the ceremony were Sabancı Holding CEO Mehmet Göçmen, Sabancı Holding Cement Group President Mehmet Hacıkamiloğlu, Akçansa General Manager Şahap Sarıer, as well as Concrete Ideas Project Contest judges, Akçansa employees, business partners, and finalist students.
The projects submitted for the contest were reviewed by a team of judges that included Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Taşdemir from Istanbul Technical University, Sabancı University Manager Training Department Director Dr. T. Cüneyt Evirgen, Brand Consultant Temel Aksoy, and Marketing Turkey Chief Editor Günseli Özen. The contest winners were announced following an evaluation by the judges. Accordingly, Group Karbonmonoksit Karbonla Non-Toksik consisting of Pamukkale University and Istanbul Bilgi University students won the first prize in the 8th Concrete Ideas Project Contest. The second prize went to Group SABU consisting of Yeditepe University and Istanbul Technical University students while Boğaziçi University students’ team Group Cementie became the third. In addition, Group Gravitton consisting of Istanbul Technical University and Istanbul Bilim University students, and Group Yankı consisting of Anadolu University and Istanbul Arel University students won the judge’s special award.
A reinterpretation of cement and concrete by young people
The first prize winner Group Karbonmonoksit Karbonla Non Toksik stood out for their project using active carbon to make sure that life-threatening gases are absorbed by concrete in areas that can only be ventilated through mechanical methods rather than a natural ventilation and, with this very project, they reinterpreted concrete to use it in tunnels, parking garages, and hospitals.
The first prize winners each received a MacBook Air, the second prize winners each received an Apple Watch, and the third prize winners each received a Drone.
Göçmen: “We’re ready to meet the expectations of the new generation”
“Today, innovativeness, creativity, and invention capacities play a determining role when it comes to the order of importance of countries. Therefore, we have to use the minds, creative skills, and entrepreneurial spirits of the youth. We are an engineer-based company. We are the first company in the list of the Turkish companies where qualified engineers most want to work at. And now we are making a new addition to our strengths. We’re ready to meet the expectations of the new generation,” said Sabancı Holding CEO Mehmet Göçmen in a statement made at the award ceremony.
Hacıkamiloğlu: “Our young people will continue to contribute to the sector”
Sabancı Holding Cement Group President Mehmet Hacıkamiloğlu emphasized the importance of collaborations between universities and the industry. “Collaborations between universities and the industry make both sides win; they are important when it comes to using the limited sources with maximum efficiency and helping young people receive hands on training in addition to theoretical training. In many countries such mutual collaborations significantly contribute to the acceleration of economic development. Concrete Ideas Project Contest is a contest that gathers universities and the industry around common expectations. With this contest our young people will continue to contribute to our sector.”
Sarıer: “We, all together, broke a new record”
Akçansa General Manager Şahap Sarıer who stated that Akçansa attaches great importance to young talents and added: “This year, our contest with the theme ‘Go Idea Go’ received 1,340 applications from 117 different universities. We, all together, broke a new record. This interest shows that we have young people who wish to see their ideas receive recognition, notice the problems going on in their communities, worry for their future, and have a desire to eliminate those problems. And we always stand by our young people working for the future.”
Akçansa, on behalf of each of the Concrete Ideas Project Contest judges, made a donation to TOÇEV to meet one child’s educational expenses for a year. Akçansa General Manager Şahap Sarıer also presented the judges with their TOÇEV certificates in remembrance of the day.
