THE GOOD NEWS
It seems Professor Hilmi Volkan Demir of Bilkent University has something to be proud of. He and his research students were able to develop white light generated from using nanocrystal hybridization on a light emitting diode (LED), with tunable color properties. Apparently, this is the first time this has been done. An article highlighting this (no pun intended) was published in the Journal of Nanotechnology.
According to an article in the TDN, international interest has started coming in. With Turkish universities and government funding being a guarded and bureaucratic source for innovation in Turkey, it is difficult to tell where this may be heading, but it does give hope that the steering of Turkey's young minds may be breaking free in the right direction. The acid test will be continued management and success of future proposals, and hopefully we will see further spinouts. Then maybe all the money being spent on Technoparks may start to payoff.
Alternate Source: Todays Zaman (Turkish researchers challenge Edison’s light bulb)
NOW THE BAD NEWS...
But here is where I turn to some bad news about patents just released by the OECD, again the story courtesy of the TDN.
"Turkey's patent applications to the Triadic Patent Families increased by 700 percent between the years 1990 and 2003. However, with seven applications (up from one application in 1999), Turkey ranked at the bottom of the OECD patent index with Portugal and Slovakia."
This is astounding that a country with a population of 72 million people has this record of innovation. Something needs to be done to the educational system in order to stimulate more creativity (are any politicians listening?).
I also cringe when I see such reports from Capital Magazine listing the top innovative firms of Turkey (Turkish link). 142 CEOs were surveyed by IBM Turkey, Capital and Ekonomist Magazines for the report and the winners, announced in April, were Arçelik, Turkcell and Petrol Ofisi. What ever happened to two guys in a garage? Research and development departments and their perspective budgets aside, the results shouldn't really be suprising considering who were asked the questions. What do you think - where does Turkey's innovation really exist?
 Technorati Tags: Hilmi Volkan Demir, Bilkent University, Nanotechnology, Patents, OECD, Turkey, Capital Dergisi, inovasyon, innovation, Ekonomist Dergisi, IBM Turkey, Arçelik, Turkcell, Petrol OfisiLabels: Bilkent University, Innovation, nanotechnology, OECD, patents
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Publisher: Jon H. Black
