Empowering young women to build social impact through science

The artificial intelligence (AI) class for women, opened as part of the Innovation Campus Program by Samsung Electronics and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Türkiye, celebrated its first graduates. At the end of the AI training, which provided young women with opportunities to advance in the digital field and create innovative solutions with mentorship support, successful projects were awarded in various categories. The training and guidance, combined with the scientific approach and social awareness of the participants, evolved into concrete projects and success stories. 

UNDP Türkiye and Samsung launched this special AI class on 8 March International Women’s Day to raise awareness of gender equality and encourage young women to think critically, solve problems, and generate creative ideas. With the mentoring support provided after the training, participants developed science projects designed to contribute to their personal and professional growth while also supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Young women developed innovative projects, combining the power of science with a focus on social impact

Young women who participated in the AI training gained expertise in areas such as machine learning, natural language processing, language models, neural networks, deep learning, and exploratory data analysis, all with a focus on the SDGs. They also gained awareness through the Gender Equality in Artificial Intelligence Technologies training provided by the SDG AI Lab. After completing the special AI class, the young women presented their innovative, creative, and socially impactful projects.

The "Most Innovative Project" and "Best Project" awards were given to the "Impact of Dune Plants on Loggerhead Sea Turtles" project by Ceren Kılıç, Mihriban Özdemir, and Türkan Rişvan, which incorporates machine learning. 

The "Best Technical Implementation" award went to Buket Gençaydın for her "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Prediction" project, where she developed a machine learning model to predict ADHD using neuroimaging data. 

The "Best Alignment with SDGs" award was shared by Tuğba Melisa Güngör for her project on the "Impact of Temperature Increase and Precipitation Variations on Agricultural Production in Türkiye" and the team of Begüm Nur Okur and Melisa Erce for their "Predictive Maintenance" project. 

The "Best Presentation" award was given to Gülce Berfin Ercan for her "Fur Rescue" project, which aims to improve the living conditions of stray animals and facilitate their integration into society. 

Finally, the "Most Feasible and Scalable Project" award was presented to Selin Ataş for her "Skin Mole Classification Web Application," which uses deep learning techniques to classify skin moles as benign or malignant (melanoma). 

Innovation Campus AI class experience was empowering for young women

“My Innovation Campus journey was a great opportunity to learn new technologies and apply this knowledge in the real world. This process helped me enhance my technical skills and better prepare for business life,” said Mihriban Özdemir, one of the creators of the project focused on protecting marine and ocean ecosystems under SDG 14 "Life Below Water," which was selected as the Best Project.

“Innovation Campus is a program that aims to benefit society and the world through technology. The program not only heightened my awareness of social impact but also provided a significant opportunity to improve my technical knowledge and problem-solving skills in artificial intelligence and data science,” said Selin Ataş, who received the "Most Feasible and Scalable Project" award for her "Skin Mole Classification Web Application" project. 

“As an industrial engineer candidate, Innovation Campus represented my first systematic learning experience in the field of artificial intelligence. It gave me the chance to understand the potential of a career in AI and data science, as well as the challenges and rewards it offers," said Begüm Nur Okur, who shared the award for the “Best Alignment with SDGs” with her teammate. 

The Innovation Campus Program aims to equip young people with cutting-edge technologies, knowledge of the SDGs, AI skills, and preparation for business life beyond formal education. The program provides opportunities for participants to channel their creativity and productivity into projects that benefit their communities. Moving forward, the program will continue to support the empowerment of young people and women, preparing them for the future.