The first “İstasyon Akademi Regional Cooperation and Consultation Meeting”, held within the framework of the “İstasyon Akademi” model, in which Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) is a stakeholder, which aims to strengthen cooperation between universities and which will also lay the foundations of the Silk Road Universities Union, was organised under the leadership of the Gaziantep Governorship and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality with the aim of turning public-university-industry cooperation into an institutional structure.
The meeting, hosted by Çukurova University in Adana, was attended by Governor of Adana Yavuz Selim Köşger, Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Fatma Şahin, Acting Rector of HKU Prof. Dr. Gül Rengin Küçükerdoğan, President of the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters’ Associations Ahmet Fikret Kileci, President of the Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce Tuncay Yıldırım, the Co-Chairs of İstasyon Gaziantep Entity, the rectors of the 21 regional universities within İstasyon Akademi, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şafak Tercan of the HKU Faculty of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali Emre Öztürk of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Director of the Kalyoncu Innovation and Technology Transfer Office (KALİTTO) Cengiz Helvacıkara, General Manager of OSB Teknokent İpek Yardım, and members of the Strategic Planning Board and Working Group.
Speaking at the meeting, Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Fatma Şahin emphasised that Hasan Kalyoncu University ranks 217th among the greenest and most environmentally friendly universities in the world in the GreenMetric Ranking and 4th among foundation universities, and stated that this achievement is an inspiring example for other universities as well.
Assessing the meeting, Acting Rector of HKU Prof. Dr. Gül Rengin Küçükerdoğan said: “The İstasyon Akademi model is not only a platform for cooperation; it is also a strategic step that takes the social responsibility of universities to an institutional level. As Hasan Kalyoncu University, we are proud to be an active part of every structure that supports knowledge-based development. I would particularly like to state that at this stage we are open to all kinds of regional and thematic cooperation. Indeed, our student team, which won first place at Teknofest with the gamification project we developed on the Zeugma theme, is still actively continuing its work. This team, which develops games by modelling our university in a digital environment, is ready to contribute to the projects you are carrying out. With strong infrastructure such as the Digital Game Laboratory we established within our university, the Digital Entrepreneurship Centre we launched with the support of the Silk Road Development Agency and World Bank funding, our Technopark, and our Kalyon Garage Prototyping and Entrepreneurship Centre, we have brought our university to a leading position in entrepreneurship. Indeed, our University ranks 28th among all universities across Türkiye and 8th among foundation universities in the TÜBİTAK Entrepreneurial and Innovative University Index. I would once again like to emphasise that we are ready to turn this accumulated experience into joint projects in line with regional development goals.”
Within the scope of the meeting, which turned public-university-industry cooperation into an institutional structure under the leadership of the Gaziantep Governorship and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, topics such as data and digital communication, projects and R&D were also examined closely and reported on in a workshop setting with academics. The meeting is planned to make an important contribution to regional sustainable development, technology-based cooperation and the role of universities in local development.
