Turkey is one of the newest members of
the ICO. Since it is a
less-developed
country with a relatively low ratio of scientists to the general
population,
optics researchers and academics are mostly scattered in different
departments
of different universities, as well as in a number of national
institutions.
Thus despite the fact that our members include many first-rate
researchers(for
instance, such as 1997 Adolph Lomb medalist Ekmel Ozbay), their lack of
interaction to date has prevented the emergence of an independent
optics
community in Turkey. The primary purpose of the Optical
Committee of Turkey, which is the territorial committee
representing
Turkey at the ICO, is to
connect
these relatively isolated scientists and researchers in the hope that
"the
whole will be more than the sum of the parts." By increasing the
awareness
of these researchers of each other and fostering relationships between
them, we hope that the visibility of optics research and education in
Turkey
will increase, both among members of the scientific and industrial
community,
as well as the general population.
We began several years ago by contacting
virtually all institutions that might harbor optics researchers, asking
for their areas of interest, short biographical information, as well as
their complete contact information. A founding committee was
established
among volunteers representing most major institutions, After obtaining
the authority to represent Turkey from the
Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey and acceptance
of our application at the ICO
meeting
at South Korea, Turkey became a member of the ICO
as of 1 January 1997.
Cem Öztürk, President
H. Volkan Demir, Vice President, Treasurer
Özgür E. Müstecaplioglu,
Vice President
Ekmel Ozbay, Founding Vice-President
responsible
for the treasury
Haldun M. Ozaktas, Founding
President
Ali Serpengüzel, President,
Founding Vice-President
Meriç Özcan, President (2003-2006)
