Şişecam Group, a global player in all main areas of the glass industry, as well as soda and chrome compounds, organized the 33rd Annual Şişecam Glass Symposium in Istanbul. At the Şişecam Glass Symposium attracted great attention and held with 525 participants, the world leading glass industry representatives and scientists discussed the future of the glass industry and new technologies.
Şişecam Group Vice President and CEO Prof. Ahmet Kırman stated the importance of the organization that brought glass professionals and academicians together in Istanbul, “First held in 1985 with the objective of sharing the in-house knowledge, strengthening skills and competencies within our Group, the Şişecam Glass Symposium has become the most important synergy of the glass industry in our country in recent years that brings scientists, industrialists and executives together. The increasing interest of the national and international universities, research institutions and companies in the Şişecam Glass Symposium and the number of participants which honours us are strong indications that the steps taken so far have been in the right direction,” said Prof. Kırman.
Stating that Şişecam Group and other global industry actors had taken important steps to move the glass industry and technology further, Kırman said, “Scientific and technological developments redefine the glass and the areas of its use. While there is no sector left without glass, functions given to glass, glass products and its areas of use today increase at such scale that it forces the imagination of all of us. Scientists and industrialists who work continuously to expand the boundaries of the glass industry state that this century will be the age of glass.”
Şişecam Group Chief Research & Technological Development Officer Prof. Şener Oktik noted that Şişecam is one of the first institutions in Turkey that carried out R&D activities and added, “We carry out our research and technological development activities at 28 separate specialty laboratories within Şişecam Science Technology and Design Center established in 2014 with a closed area of 9,400 square meters.”
Stating that the increasing interest of the national and international universities, research institutions and companies as well as Şişecam researchers and employees in the only and most powerful platform in the area of glass science and technology is encouraging for future steps, Prof. Oktik said, “A total of 525 glass industry professionals registered for the 33rd Annual Şişecam Glass Symposium. At the symposium that began with a special opening session and lasted with six parallel sessions, 14 speakers invited from abroad and locally shared their knowledge and information. As part of the symposium, 80 papers in total including 78 oral and two posters were presented.”
One of the most established enterprises in Turkey, Şişecam Group is a global actor in business fields including all main areas of the glass industry, i.e. flat glass, glassware, glass packaging and glass fiber, as well as soda and chromium chemicals. Today Şişecam, the world’s leading supplier of chromium compounds and the 10th largest soda ash producer in the world, is the 3rd largest glassware, the 5th largest glass packaging and flat glass manufacturer globally.
The Group, which has 43 production facilities in total, has manufacturing activities in Turkey, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Russian Federation, Georgia, Ukraine, Egypt and India. With its more than 80 years of experience, nearly 22,000 employees, production in 13 countries, and sales in more than 150 countries, Şişecam is a group at international scale and continues on its journey to become one of top three global producers in its all-main business fields.