A Journey in Science from NASA to METU Met Students at OMU

Dr Umut Yıldız, after many years of work on deep space communication and big data analysis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), met students at a conference titled "The Birth and Death of the Universe" held at Ondokuz Mayıs University. The event, held in the UZEM Conference Hall in collaboration with the OMU Physics Society and the OMU Observatory, examined the cosmic processes that stretch from the beginning of the universe to its ultimate fate, and the fundamental problems of modern science.

Vice Rector Prof. Alper Kesten, the Head of the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science Prof. Ufuk Çoruh, the Director of the Astronomy Education Application and Research Centre Prof. Metin Yavuz, and a large number of academics and secondary school and university students attended the programme.

In his opening speech, Prof. Ufuk Çoruh stressed that science is not only a process of producing knowledge but also a systematic way of thinking. Saying that the scientific method is humanity's most reliable guide, Çoruh stated that questions about the beginning of the universe form the foundation of scientific thought.

In his presentation titled "The Birth and Death of the Universe", Dr Umut Yıldız described the processes that stretch from the beginning of the universe to its ultimate fate. Yıldız, who said that he has been working to contribute to the space ecosystem since returning to Türkiye, said that he currently serves as Director of Science Communication and as a member of the teaching staff at Middle East Technical University.

Everyone who had contributed was thanked at the end of the programme. A plaque of thanks was presented to Dr Umut Yıldız by Prof. Ufuk Çoruh, and the plaque for Özön Grup, a company of OMU Physics Department graduates that supported the conference, was presented by Prof. Metin Yavuz. The event ended with a question-and-answer session and a commemorative photograph.