iL-INSIDE
November 21, 2023
Ozan Karakaya:
The art of collaboration
"I've never met a person who wasn't nice," is how Ozan Karakaya sums up his work in the research rooms at iL. Ozan is part of the research group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) headed by Professor Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa. The group from the Institute of Light Technology fills some of the rooms on the fourth floor and breathes scientific life into them. Once the renovation work has been completed, more groups will be located there again so that research activities can return to their former strength. To show the people, their backgrounds and motivation in the "iL Inside" series, we met with Ozan, who is one of them.
By chance to iL
The 27-year-old grew up in Turkey, graduated from school there and studied chemistry at Bachelor's and Master's level. He came across the iL research group by chance: "I was looking for a position for a doctorate after my Master's degree. My specialty is syntheses and optoelectronic applications of conjugated polymers, and I attended an online conference where similar topics were discussed. One of them was Gerardo's group. Gerardo presented what he is doing with the group and at InnovationLab, what the work looks like and what exactly they are researching. I was interested because the description fit and sounded interesting, so I sent him an email and ended up coming from Istanbul to Heidelberg." In addition to the KIT group, Ozan is also part of the Cluster of Excellence "3D Matter Made to Order", or "3DMM2O" for short. The cluster is a cooperation between KIT and Heidelberg University and pursues an interdisciplinary approach by combining natural sciences, engineering and social sciences. "3DMM2O" deals with molecular, technological materials.
In the lab: Ozan Karakaya is enthusiastic about the possibilities, the infrastructure and the equipment that form an essential basis for his research. Picture: InnovationLab
Printed electronics
Ozan is also researching just such a project: "I'm working on 3D printing electronics. Electronics are important for 3D printing because you can use the dimensional accuracy of 3D printing to produce different shapes. The integration of electronics into printing is interesting precisely because you could use it to print with the conductive path. Once printed, manufacturing can be done in fewer steps, making it faster. That's why work and research in this area is so important. In other words, I'm developing inks for 3D printers that are conductive, so that the prints can be conductive too."
Ozan is delighted with his workplace at iL. His work is mainly located in the clean room, but also takes place in the rooms on the fourth floor from time to time. "The facilities and infrastructure in the rooms are really good, the equipment works and provides me with a basis for research. But most importantly, the people here are always nice and helpful and know what they are doing. The friendly environment is, in my opinion, the most important thing," says Ozan. InnovationaLab is therefore not only a research city, platform and producer of various products, but also a place where employees and researchers can feel at home. He spontaneously suggests an even better exchange of ideas. "There are so many smart people here who are all really good in their respective fields. I believe that if we exchanged ideas more, we could come up with different and perhaps even better solutions together. Sometimes others have completely different perspectives or different approaches to a problem, which also leads to solutions and progress."
The combination of research and application is what makes Ozan's work at iL so special. In his research, he is primarily concerned with 3D printing electronics, i.e. the integration of electronics into printing. Image: InnovationLab
Enthusiastic about the cluster
The combination of research and application is what makes working at iL special for Ozan. "InnovationLab is focused on commercialization, KIT is more focused on research, so they bring it together: Doing research and at the same time thinking about how to adapt and commercialize things," he summarizes the focus. The 27-year-old is also enthusiastic about his work in the 3DMM2O cluster. "The cluster deals with the synthesis, application and use of the material, mostly with 3D printing such as bioprinting or light printing. Many people in the cluster are experienced in these areas. At the same time, we also have supervisors who are really good in their field. Doctoral student meetings are held regularly to share our knowledge, bring everyone up to date and discuss results," says Ozan. You can bet that the human side is also right.
Text: Hannah Gieser, Communications Department
Joachim Klaehn
Head of Communications
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