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ODTÜ TSSK and BAE Systems Road Show Held in Ankara

Headquartered in Farnborough, U.K. , the global defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems, arr

Date: Issue 54 - July 2014

In the ODTÜ TSSK and BAE Systems road show that took place on 4-5 June at the Ankara Mövenpick Hotel, TSSK Chairman of the Board Hürsel Kendir, BAE Systems Turkey GM Nick Glover, ODTÜ Deputy Rector and ODTÜ Teknokent Chairman of the Board Prof. Dr. Volkan Atalay as well as the British Ambassador Richard Moore gave a speech as the opening. Excluding main contracting companies such as TAI and FNSS,  the majority at the event  included 32 small and medium-scale enterprise (SME) TSSK members that carry out R&D in the defence industry, that found the opportunity to meet face-to-face with BAE Systems middle and senior managers to discuss their technical capabilities and their on-going projects. The Technology Market saw over 60 possible collaboration meetings with BAE Systems and significant gains were obtained on future opportunities with over 80 SMEs that provide a major contribution to the Turkish defence industry technology infrastructure as members of the TSSK.

The gathering took place under the sponsorship of BAE Systems and the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBCCI), with the support of TÜBİTAK 1503 and organised by ODTÜ Teknokent and TSSK. Among the participants, aside from companies, were the ASO General Secretary, the British Ambassador, SSM, the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI), Armed Forces Combat and Electronics Association Turkey (AFCEA), The U.S. Commercial Service, TÜBITAK officials and the Middle East Technical University (METU) researchers and academicians. Indicating that BAE Systems was formed in 1993 with the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems with sales of 16,864,000 million pounds sterling as of the end of 2013, BAE Systems officials pointed out that Turkey has quite a competent technology infrastructure and commented that they were ready to collaborate with the companies within ODTÜ Teknokent as the first and largest technology development zone indicating the success of the organisation.