Joint mind meeting for "Smart Sieve" at MAKÜ before the international competition

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ) hosted young inventors preparing to represent Turkey in an international competition. 8 students and 2 academicians from Denizli Science and Art Center presented their "Smarting (Smart Sieve)" project to the faculty members of the MAKÜ Archaeology Department and received training from expert academicians.

The team, coached by Ayten İlhan and advised by Muhammet Başar Dinçel, continues their work within the Martyr Soner Kutlu Science and Art Center. The project is based on an automatic smart sieve system aimed at facilitating the labor-intensive sieving process in archaeological excavations.

Goal: from national to international arena

Ayten İlhan stated that they established the SmartG. team in 2023 to participate in the international First Lego League Challenge tournament. İlhan, who mentioned that they have been participating in the competition for three years and advancing to the national tournament by winning awards each year, said they will represent their district among 70 teams in the National Tournament to be held on March 7-8.

Emphasizing that they competed as the only state institution among 36 teams in the local tournament and that advancing to the national stage as the second place in the tournament despite a limited budget was a great source of pride for them, İlhan noted that this year's theme is archaeology. İlhan explained that students needed to produce an innovative solution to a problem in the field of archaeology in addition to robot design and performance, and as a result of meetings with archaeologists, they designed the "Automatic Smart Sieve System."

System to lighten the load in the field

With the developed system, it is aimed that archaeologists will largely be relieved from the labor-intensive sieving process in the excavation area. With the camera system integrated into the smart sieve, experts will be able to monitor the sieving process in real-time via remote connection. Thus, it is aimed to save both time and labor.

"Interdisciplinary learning is the greatest gain"

Project advisor Muhammet Başar Dinçel pointed out that engineering is an interdisciplinary field and said that they created an environment where students can simultaneously develop analytical thinking, problem-solving, and research skills.

Dinçel stated that the projects provide children not only with technical knowledge but also with the ability to produce added value, evaluate different disciplines together, and analyze encountered handicaps, emphasizing that such studies are of great importance in terms of education.

This meeting held at MAKÜ strengthens the cooperation between the university and secondary education institutions, contributing to the participation of young people in international projects with more academic support.