Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Faculty of Engineering students have achieved a remarkable success. Students from the Department of Computer Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Program within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering participated in the “Project Market and Capstone Projects Competition”, organized as part of the “Young Minds, New Ideas – Cyprus 2026” event, which is supported by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority and the Turkish Informatics Association. The EMU students earned awards in the competition, proudly representing their university. During the initial evaluation stage of the competition, a total of five universities took part. EMU distinguished itself as the only university to have projects selected for the finals in two different categories.
Hosted by the European University of Lefke, the competition attracted 165 project submissions from 12 universities, bringing together nearly 350 students who presented their projects. During the evaluation process, projects competed in the “Software, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Platforms” and “Engineering, Hardware and Sustainable Technologies” categories, where they were assessed by approximately 70 jury members.
The event featured capstone projects and innovative entrepreneurial ideas developed by university students, providing a platform for participants to showcase their work. Students had the opportunity to present their projects to academics, industry professionals, and investors, while the projects exhibited in the project market attracted considerable attention for their technological innovation and entrepreneurial potential. Held to encourage an entrepreneurial approach to capstone project development and to create opportunities for young entrepreneurs to engage with potential investors, the event was also attended by EMU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Kılıç, who conveyed his support and encouragement to the participating students.
EMU Students Achieved Success in Two Categories
Following a full day of project presentations and jury evaluations, the most outstanding projects were recognized with awards. Under the supervision of Assist. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ünveren, faculty member in the Department of Computer Engineering at the EMU Faculty of Engineering, Computer Engineering students Cemre Yeşil, Emirkan Eşme, Dudu Fatma Bolat, and Adem Özer were awarded second place in the “Software, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Platforms” category for their project titled “Web Application for Education: Question–Answer Sharing System”.
In addition, Sheida Parvari and Shahd Hirsh, students of the Biomedical Engineering Program within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, earned third place in the “Engineering, Hardware and Sustainable Technologies” category. Supervised by Prof. Dr. Hasan Demirel from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, the team was recognized for their project entitled “NYSME (Now You See Me): Assistive Navigation System with AI-Based Perception and Multimodal Feedback with Sensor Fusion for Real-Time Environmental Awareness”.
Congratulating both achieving students and participating academic staff members, EMU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Kılıç stated, “We take great pride in seeing our students represent our university with distinction through the projects they showcase at national and international platforms. Their achievements in competitions that foster creativity, research, and entrepreneurship reflect the high quality of education and robust academic environment at EMU. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to our successful students and their academic advisors, and I have every confidence that they will continue to accomplish even greater milestones in the years ahead”.