Four women scholars from Turkey have begun their studies at Cranfield University with a welcome from the Vice-Chancellor Karen Holford.
For the second year running, Cranfield has won funding for the British Council’s Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Scholarship programme award.
The scholarship programme aims to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM and increase opportunities for women to advance in the field.
Welcoming the four Scholars to Cranfield, Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen Holford CBE FREng said: “As a female engineer myself, I’m delighted to see these opportunities in STEM subjects open up to international students. This scholarship programme aims to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM – something which is of paramount importance to us, the wider education sector and industries across the globe.”
This year’s British Council Women STEM Scholars are Özgür Didem Özcan, Zeliha Asena Kirik, Gizem Colak and İrem Üstek.
Becoming part of the design revolution
Özgür, who is from Antalya in Turkey, is studying for a Master of Design (MDes) in Design Thinking. She has a background in architecture and has been working in the construction sector for 20 years as a project manager.
“In 5 or 10 years, new technologies such as 3D construction printing will have a very important role in the industry. I want to be part of this revolution and that is why I chose the Design Thinking course at Cranfield University.
“There is no company currently working on this kind of technology in Turkey – when I go back, I aim to be the first!”
Contributing to society through AI
Irem, from Ankara, is studying for an MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence. She graduated from the Department of Statistics at Middle East Technical University before starting work as a Data Scientist at IBM.
She said: “I have always wanted to do an MSc in an AI-related field because I want to contribute to society and resolve real world problems by becoming a valuable researcher.
“I believe the world is changing and growing constantly, and all markets from different sectors have started to keep pace with AI’s growth.
“The MSc at Cranfield has many benefits – specifically, its comprehensive module catalogue, application-focused learning materials, and industry-based projects.
“I plan to apply my knowledge to contribute to the AI sector in Turkey because it is a new and developing area.
“I would also like to motivate and mentor university students, specifically women, who are interested in data science and AI but still need proper training in programming.”
The other two students are Gizem Colak, who is studying for an MSc in Air Transport Management, and Zeliha Asena Kirik, who is taking the same qualification in Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Engineering.