Associate Professor Havva Kazdal Zeytin is one of many female scientists contributing to Turkey’s goal of being self-sufficient in its development rather than relying on imports.
A scientist at one of the country’s leading scientific institutions, Zeytin said on International Women’s Day on Monday that she was proud to play a role in the production of the turbine blades used in Turkey’s first national helicopter engine.
Zeytin has been conducting studies at the Marmara Research Center (MAM) of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK) for 30 years.
Working in the private sector as an engineer for four years after her post-graduate studies, Zeytin began her career at TÜBITAK-MAM in 1991 due to her strong passion for research. Having made strides for the Turkish industry through her work, Zeytin recently played a significant role in producing single-crystal turbine blades, which are among the most critical technologies, in cooperation with TÜBITAK and Tusaş Engine Industries (TEI).
Zeytin told Anadolu Agency (AA) she was born in the village of Muradiye in Rize in the Black Sea region and lived there until finishing primary school. Noting that her father took the family to Istanbul where he started a business, she said: “I left Rize in 1973. When you leave Muradiye Primary School and start studying in Nişantaşı, Istanbul, you feel like a fish out of water. My speech was not smooth; I was speaking with an accent peculiar to the Black Sea. I was discriminated against in the classroom when I started secondary school, but I got accustomed to it shortly.”
Zeytin said she graduated from the Metallurgical Engineering Department at Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) and worked in the private sector after completing her master’s degree at the same university. “As a 24-year-old female engineer, I started working in an aluminum piston factory with 150 workers. I worked in the foundry for about 2.5 years. I was the only female engineer. That place taught me a lot.”
