Simone de Beauvoir, Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Augmented Mechanics, Research- and Student-Centric Education

November 29, 2018

"There may be many different ways for an academician to measure his/her success. However, the only one I believe in is the number of students an academician has mentored who surpass himself/herself."

As part of its ongoing Speaker Series, Columbia Global Centers | Istanbul hosted Professor A. Nihat Berker, Kadir Has University Vice President and Dean of Engineering and Natural Sciences, and MIT Emeritus Professor of Physics, on November 29 at Columbia University's Studio-X Istanbul.

Augmented Mechanics

In his dynamic and personal talk titled “Simone de Beauvoir, Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Augmented Mechanics, Research- and Student-Centric Education,” Professor Berker took us his own academic journey through the U.S. and Turkey. Since his return to Turkey in 1999, Professor Berker has taught without letup, undergraduate, graduate and high school students as well as open-access courses on topics ranging from “Material Science”, “Augmented Mechanics” and “Electricity and Magnetism” to “Fantasy, Reality, Science, Society, Law” and “Women’s Rights Given by the Laws and Taken Back by Literature: Reşat Nuri Güntekin”. Professor Berker talked about how he has worked with his own students as well as mentored them during their academic journeys.

He also humbly noted the many prestigious awards he has received; among them are the MIT Physics Department Buechner Teaching Prize, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, Science Award of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK), Fellowship of the American Physical Society, MIT School of Science Teaching Prize for Excellence in Graduate Education, Outstanding Turkish Scientist Citation of the Academy of Sciences of Turkey, Humboldt Research Award (first from Turkey), Best Faculty of the Year Award of KoçPost Student Newspaper, 100 Turks Giving Direction to Science, and the Honor Award of the Turkish Physical Society. Having received many national and international awards, Professor Berker said that these awards are only one way for him to measure his success but the only one he believes in is the number of students he mentored who surpass himself throughout his life.

Augmented Mechanics

He also humbly noted the many prestigious awards he has received; among them are the MIT Physics Department Buechner Teaching Prize, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, Science Award of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK), Fellowship of the American Physical Society, MIT School of Science Teaching Prize for Excellence in Graduate Education, Outstanding Turkish Scientist Citation of the Academy of Sciences of Turkey, Humboldt Research Award (first from Turkey), Best Faculty of the Year Award of KoçPost Student Newspaper, 100 Turks Giving Direction to Science, and the Honor Award of the Turkish Physical Society. Having received many national and international awards, Professor Berker said that these awards are only one way for him to measure his success but the only one he believes in is the number of students he mentored who surpass himself throughout his life.