TASSA 2012 Conference Program

Saturday, March 3, 2012

7:30 - 8:30am

Breakfast and Registration

8:30 - 8:45am

Conference Greetings

Murat Tarımcılar, Conference Chair, The George Washington University

Haluk Ünal, Acting President, TASSA, and  Robert H. Smith School of Business

G. “Anand” Anandalingam, Dean, Robert H. Smith School of Business

8:45 - 9:00am

Conference Welcoming Address

H. E. Namık Tan, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey

9:00 - 10:00am

Social Sciences & Humanities

"The World Our Grandchildren Will Inherit"

Daron Acemoğlu, MIT

"Perspectives on the World Economy"

Kemal Derviş, Brookings Institution

10:00 - 10:30am

Coffee Break and Poster Session

10:30 - 11:45am

Life Sciences

"Advances in Genome Sciences and Applications for Human Health"

Murat Günel, Yale University

"Warding off a Deadly Disease: Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cells"

Mehmet Toner, Harvard University

"Gilgamesh to Genghis Khan: Hunting for Treasures in Fat"

Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, Harvard University

11:45 - 12:30pm

Plenary Session

"Science Advice to Government and Society: The Importance of Credible, Independent Sources”

Bruce Alberts, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco. Editor-in-Chief of Science, United States Science Envoy

Welcoming Remarks:

Wallace D. Loh, President, University of Maryland

12:30 - 13:15pm

13:15 - 13:45pm

Lunch

Poster Session

13:45 - 14:45pm

Parallel Sessions

Engineering & Applied Sciences

“Photonics based Telemedicine Technologies toward Smart Global Health Systems”

Aydoğan Özcan, UCLA

“Autonomous Cars and the Future of Driving”

Ümit Özgüner, The Ohio State University

Social Sciences

“Turkey as the Chair of G20 in 2015 - Research Opportunities”

Ahmet Faruk Aysan, The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey

Tuğrul Gurgur, The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey

“Expectations of the Business Community”

Emre Doğru, TUSIAD

14:45 - 15:00pm

Coffee Break

15:00 - 16:00pm

Young Scientists - Parallel Sessions

Discoveries, Decisions, and Destinations: A Discussion Among Young Biomedical Scientists and Bioengineers

"Characterizing Protective Mucosal Immune Responses to HIV"

Moderator: Melis Anahtar, Harvard University

"Targeting Cancer’s Metabolism: Revisiting an Old Phenomenon"

Kıvanç Birsoy, Whitehead Institute

"Molecular Mechanisms of Brain Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases"

Gizem Dönmez, Tufts University

"A Nanoliter-Scale HIV Neutralization Assay for Single-Cell Screening"

Ayça Yalçın Özkumur, MIT

Engineering Future Energy Systems

"Computational Intelligence for a Smart Electric Grid"

Moderator: Şeyda Ertekin, MIT

"Turning Sunlight into Clean Fuels"

Anıl Ağıral, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs

"Applied Photonics for a Sustainable Earth: High Efficiency Light Emitting Diodes and Solar Cells"

Can Bayram, IBM Research Labs

"Electroelastic Dynamical Systems for Energy Harvesting"

Alper Ertürk, Georgia Institute of Technology

16:00 - 17:00pm

Coffee Break, Networking, "Meet and Discuss Workshops"

Engineering and Natural Sciences

Life Sciences

Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities

17:00 - 18:00pm

"Strengthening Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Turkey and the United States"

Davut Kavranoğlu, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science, Industry, and Technology

Jonathan Margolis, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State

19:30 - 21:00pm

Reception at the Turkish Embassy

Hosted by H.E. Ambassador Namık Tan

Sunday, March 4, 2012

7:30 - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:00 - 9:30am

Parallel Sessions

TASSA Business Session

(8:00 – 9:30)

Immigration Law Workshop

(8:30 – 9:30)

"U.S. Visa Strategies: Challenges and Opportunities"

Çiğdem Acar, Acar Law Firm

9:30 - 10:15am

"Developing Science and Technology in Developing World: Roadblocks and Solutions"

Conversation with Barry Bloom, Harvard University

Moderated by Gökhan Hotamışlıgil

10:15 - 10:30am

Coffee Break

10:30 - 12:30pm

Higher Education Models for Turkey

Introductory Remarks:

Gökhan Çetinsaya, President, Council of Higher Education

Moderator:

Erhan Erkut, President, Özyeğin University

Speakers:

Üstun Ergüder, Sabancı University

Öktem Vardar, President, TED University

Panelists:

Abdullah Atalar, President, Bilkent University

Mustafa Aydın, President, Kadir Has University

Murat Barkan, President, Yaşar University

Nilgün Halloran, Vice President, Ankara University

Ali Güngör, Vice President, Bahşeşehir University

Ümran İnan, President, Koç University

Kemal Köymen, President, Maltepe University

Ender Suvacı, Vice President, Anadolu University

Funda Sivrikaya Şerifoğlu, President, Düzce University

Derin Ural, Vice President, İstanbul Technical University

12:30 - 13:30pm

13:30 – 13:45pm

Lunch

The NeXXt Scholars Initiative

Sandra J. Laney, Office of the Science & Technology Adviser to the Secretary (STAS) U.S. Department of State

13:30 - 15:30

Information Session: Recent Developments and Accomplishments at Turkish Universities

Anadolu University, Ankara University, Atılım University, Bahçeşehir University, Bilkent University, Boğaziçi University, Düzce University, İstanbul University, İstanbul Medeniyet University, İstanbul Technical University, Kadir Has University, Koç University, Maltepe University, Özyeğin University, TED University, TOBB University, Yaşar University, Yıldırım Beyazıt University

15:30pm

Conference Closing Remarks & Thank you

Job Market