Bayraktar urges young scientists to look ahead

ISTANBUL

Baykar chairman and chief technology officer Selçuk Bayraktar urged young scientists on Oct. 30 to anticipate future technological needs and pursue their work with integrity, saying titles and awards should not define success.

Speaking at the 12th Turkish Medical World Congress in Istanbul, Bayraktar said he had sought to anticipate “tomorrow’s race” in his own work.

Competing at the forefront mattered less than the purpose behind that effort, he said.

The congress was organized by the Health Ministry and the Health Institutes of Türkiye (TÜSEB) under presidential auspices.

“How you do it is more important than what you do,” Bayraktar said, emphasizing the ethics and principles guiding scientific work.

He contrasted the years researchers devote to helping patients with attempts to acquire wealth and status through what he described as unethical means.

He urged young people to set ambitious goals, work hard and remain honest.

Bayraktar also cited Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci’s work on a COVID-19 vaccine as an example of science benefiting humanity, pointing to advances toward personalized medicines.

At the same event, Nobel chemistry laureate Aziz Sancar recalled receiving a Baykar jacket from Bayraktar bearing the name Kızılelma, the company’s unmanned fighter jet.

Sancar said he regularly wore the jacket while walking to his laboratory in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

“All of Chapel Hill knows what Kızılelma is,” he said.