A Strategic Move for Creative Industries at METU: Opening Ceremony of METU Crea

Middle East Technical University hosted the launch of two significant new projects in the fields of creative industries and digital transformation. During a ceremony held at the METU Culture and Convention Center, METU Crea and the METU-DTX were officially inaugurated.

Established under the "Economic Development through Creative Industries (ECITE)" Project, which is co-financed by the European Union and the Republic of Türkiye and managed by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, METU Crea aims to provide technical infrastructure, training, and collaboration opportunities to SMEs, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals working in areas such as gaming, wearable technologies, and next-generation filmmaking.

Developed with the contributions of METU Design Factory, GİSAM, and ATOM, METU Crea creates a multi-stakeholder ecosystem to support the growth of the creative sectors. With its interdisciplinary production culture and practice-based design approach, the METU Design Factory stands out as a cornerstone of METU Crea. It plays a key role in enhancing the competitiveness of Türkiye’s creative industries through its infrastructure that enables the transformation of creative ideas into prototypes and its mentoring processes.

Design Factory at METU Engineering Summer School

Middle East Technical University (METU) brings high school students together with the creative and dynamic world of engineering through its Engineering Summer School. Launched with the slogan “Code Your Future at METU,” the program offers students the opportunity to learn the basic principles of fields such as space technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and earthquake engineering, while also gaining hands-on experience in advanced technology laboratories.

One of the courses in the program, “BIOINSPIRED 101: Nature-Inspired Designs,” will have its practical component conducted at the METU Design Factory. In this course, students will develop an innovative perspective on engineering and design by drawing inspiration from the perfect systems and forms found in nature. Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Arzu Gönenç Sorguç, participants will have the chance to produce their own nature-inspired models using 3D printers.

At the end of the two-week summer school, students will receive a METU-certified certificate of participation. The program offers a unique experience for young people interested in engineering, providing both knowledge and skills development as well as social interaction.

For high school students who want to build the future of their dreams, the METU Summer School is an inspiring starting point.

More information and applications:
https://metusummerschool.org/

Computational Methods and AI-Assisted Design of Acoustically Performative Generative Panel Systems

In recent years, with regulations and awareness raising activities of health organizations, prevention of noise pollution and the management and control of environmental noise have become increasingly important. At the same time, collective use areas such as common spaces and multi-purpose halls have started to gain more and more importance. However, the rethinking of how to use these common areas more rationally, especially with the recent COVID-19 processes, has created a potential at the intersection of these two situations. Acoustic design proposals, which have mostly been suggested in the literature to respond to a constant need, have been addressed as an adaptive solution in this research. In this context, an absorber panel system has been proposed to respond to different usage scenarios and different acoustic performance needs. In the proposed three-stage research, it is planned to first create the parametric model of the system and then create the generative system with artificial intelligence supporting computational design tools in this model. Finally, design alternatives are fabricated by additive manufacturing technologies.

ECITE Pitching Event: Creative Projects Took the Stage

As part of the project “Games, Wearable Technologies, and Next-Generation Films: Economic Development through Creative Industries (ECITE),” creative projects took the stage following a gathering held at the METU Design Factory.

At the ECITE Pitching Event, project developers working in the fields of film, games, and wearable technologies had the opportunity to present their ideas to industry professionals, representatives from the entrepreneurship ecosystem, and members of the creative community. Organized under the leadership of METU Crea, participants introduced their projects, received feedback, and took the first steps toward potential collaborations.

The event was not limited to the sharing of creative ideas; it also provided a platform that fostered cross-sectoral interaction and a culture of multidisciplinary production. METU Crea continues to support creative industries and host projects that bring together technology and art.

Intersection of Creativity and Technology: The ECITE Project Brought Industries Together at METU Design Factory

As part of the "Games, Wearable Technologies, and Next-Generation Films: Economic Development through Creative Industries (ECITE)" project, project developers gathered at the METU Design Factory.

METU Crea, which bridges the film, gaming, and wearable technology sectors, continues to bring together technology and creativity, generating future-oriented solutions and opportunities. Through the work carried out under the ECITE project, METU Crea extends its impact beyond academic circles via strategic partnerships, supporting project developers in interacting with global industry leaders, tech startups, and creative communities.

During this gathering, project developers had the opportunity to meet with the METU Crea team, share their experiences, and exchange ideas about their future goals, visions, and expectations.

Noise Removal in Building Documentation by Generative Adversarial Networks

In our day, it is possible to document existing buildings and transfer to digital medium in 3D owing to the advancements in the technology. In the course of this transfer, temporary, permanent or seasonal obstacles may reside between buildings and data capturing devices regardless of the method of data collection and as a result preventing the precise and correct documentation of the buildings. In the scope of this project, it is aimed to obtain high precision 3D models reflecting the real case of buildings with the utilization of deep learning based models to clear these obstacles which can be regarded as noise in the data autonomously. In this context, a method which the noise in building photos are autonomously detected and noise regions are inpainted with respect to the building for 3d reconstruction software from multiple photos is proposed. Semantic segmentation and generative adversarial networks based inpainting models are utilized in an end-to-end manner. The testing of the proposed method is conducted in both indoor spaces and building facades and the results revealed an increase in the precision of the 3D models with respect to the models obtained from unprocessed photos.

EU-Funded KPI Project from METU Design Factory: CoARA

We are proud to announce that METU Design Factory, an interdisciplinary R&D center operating under Middle East Technical University, has been selected for funding by the European Union to lead a pioneering initiative aimed at developing and piloting qualitative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for research assessment in the creative industries.

The project will be implemented under the umbrella of METU Crea, focusing on three rapidly evolving creative sectors: new-generation filmmaking, game development, and wearable technologies. Leveraging the applied research capacity of METU Design Factory and its expertise in creative ecosystems, the initiative aims to establish a scalable and responsible model for evaluating creative research outputs.

In line with the principles of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA), the project centers on qualitative evaluation methods, supported by the careful use of quantitative indicators. Through stakeholder workshops and collaborations with experts from Türkiye and various European countries, KPIs will be defined to reflect innovation, societal impact, and creative excellence.

These indicators will be tested through pilot implementations in selected research projects within METU Crea, accompanied by comprehensive training programs for researchers and evaluators. The project will also draw on methodologies and insights developed by CoARA working groups, contributing to the transformation of research assessment systems across Europe.

With the strong institutional support of METU and its academic community of over 2,500 faculty members, METU Design Factory continues to play an active role in shaping inclusive, impact-driven, and forward-looking research environments.

METU Crea II. Info Day @ Eskişehir

The "METU Crea Info Day 2 - Eskişehir" event was held on April 25, 2024, at Park Dedeman Eskişehir. It featured updates on the ECITE Project and METU Crea, providing valuable information to attendees which included small and medium-sized enterprises within the creative industries, industry workers, entrepreneurs, and students. These participants received insights into the latest developments in their sectors and the current state of the industry.

Following the opening session, attendees were invited to the specially designed concept space, Crea Café. This café facilitated the exchange of experiences and interactive discussions focused on the targeted sectors of Gaming, Next-Generation Filmmaking, and Wearable Technologies, as well as cross-sector entrepreneurship. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about METU Crea's sectoral services and the project application processes from academics and industry experts.

The event continued with the PROJECT Me activity, where entrepreneurs who applied had the opportunity to present their project proposals in front of an audience and a panel of judges. After their presentations, the entrepreneurs responded to questions from the judges and attendees.

“Story Begins…”

Within the scope of “ECITE: Emergence of Creative Industries and Transformation of Economy of Gaming, Wearables and New Generation Film Production” Project, co-financed by the European Union and the Republic of Türkiye, and whose Contracting Authority is the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the Beneficiary is the Middle East Technical University (METU), the first Info Day was organized on 16.02.2024 at CerModern in Ankara.
Creative sectors professionals, freelancers, and students from the fields of Gaming, New Generation Film Production and Wearable Technologies gathered at the “METU Crea Info Days – Ankara.”

Having delivered the opening speech of the event, the rector of Middle East Technical University Prof. Dr. Mustafa Verşan Kök stated that with ECITE Project and METU Crea, METU will home an important structure for enterprises and entrepreneurs and will provide consultancy and training opportunities on product development and commercialization by enhancing competitiveness and sustainability of creative sectors in global extent through the renewed infrastructure of METU Design Factory, TEKNOKENT ATOM and GISAM.

During the event, Project’s Team Leader Rasmus Wiinstedt Tscherning, the Director of METU Design Factory Prof. Dr. Arzu Gönenç Sorguç, Entrepreneur and Experience Designer Yakup Bayrak, and Project’s sectoral experts Dr. Leyla Türker Şener, Dr. Serkan Şavk and Nihat Baran Menteş delivered speeches and presentations.

METU Design Factory Hosts IDFW’23 and DFGN.R Conference II

METU Design Factory, an innovation center where researchers and students from various disciplines come together and work on new products and solutions, hosts an important organization in the fields of design, innovation, and collaboration. Within the International Design Factory Week (IDFW) that will take place between October 2-6, 2023, design factory representatives from many countries will convene at METU for workshops, training and new collaboration opportunities.

Design Factory Global Network (DFGN), comprising 39 design factories across 26 countries as members and promoting international cooperation efforts with a focus on education and innovation through events such as IDFW, gathers its 25 member design factories and nearly fifty representatives at METU Design Factory. The design factories that participate in this year’s event to discuss possible future collaborations and projects in addition to sharing their activities with others are listed below.

Design Factory Javeriana Bogotá (Colombia)
Design Factory Korea (South Korea)
Design Factory Melbourne (Australia)
Design Factory Shenkar (Israel)
DF London (England)
DF Pforzheim (Germany)
DF@Seunisa (Italy)
FORGE Design Factory (Ireland)
FusionPoint (Spain)
Future Design Factory (The Netherlands)
HAMK Design Factory (Finland)
Hannam Design Factory (South Korea)
iCubo UDD (Chile)
Ideasquare @CERN (Switzerland)
Inno.space (Germany)
Kyoto Design Lab (Japan)
Manchester Design Factory (England)
NYC Design Factory (United States of America)
Oper.Space (Italy)
Porto Design Factory (Portugal)
Sino-Finnish Centre (China)
St. John’s University Design Factory (United States of America)
University of Tartu Delta Sandbox (Estonia)
UPV: Generación Espontánea (Spain)

This year in its seventh iteration at the METU Design Factory, IDFW also includes the second international DFGN.R Conference, where diverse applications and educational insights from all over the world in the field of design and innovation are exchanged and explored. This year’s conference, themed “Design for Diversity,” will take place on October 5-6 in collaboration with the CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation (CIJ), and selected research papers will be published in a special issue of this journal. Throughout the remainder of the week, you can get the updates regarding these exciting events by following the METU Design Factory and DFGN social media accounts, or by following the hashtags #IDFW2023 and #DFGNR. For detailed information and updates, you can also click on the links below.

DFGN.R Conference Website: https://www.conference.dfgn.org/
Conference Proceedings Book: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/123732
METU Design Factory Website: https://tf.metu.edu.tr/

Author: wwwtdi