Interview with HKB student Ayse Sine Serbes

From a young age Ayse Sine Serbes was fascinated by water. Born on «World Water Day» her big dream was always to create boats that have the capacity to make a positive impact in how we treat our world. After her studies in Türkiye and owning her own company, which focused on building environmentally friendly boats, she relocated to Switzerland and found her way to the HKB. Just before we met her, Ayse Sine Serbes had her colloquium for the master thesis in the study programme Master Design, specialising in Design Entrepreneurship.   

Your career is very interesting so far. How did you end up at the HKB?  

Five years ago, I moved to Switzerland and two years ago I started my master in Design. I had been searching on the Internet for a study programme that I could do in English, because at that time, I didn’t speak German very well. I was looking for something relating to social design and entrepreneurship, when I found the Master Design on the HKB website I said: Oh, it’s the place where I want to study.  

What makes the Master Design special in your eyes?  

I am a naval architect and a boat designer. I know that the things we design do have an impact on society, so I wanted to focus on social design. Five years ago, I was in Türkiye with my own boat building company designing different boats with high density polyethylene materials. I can confidently say that these boat types and materials are achieving all the functions and functional properties in a circular economy. The Master Design gives me the opportunity to use my creativity and combine it with business cases. I think the combination of creativity and business has the power to overcome real issues of the world.  

  Where does your technical background overlap with art?  

As part of my bachelor degree I studied design, as well as naval architecture and marine engineering. Designing a boat requires creativity and technical knowledge. I’m designing boats but at the same time I'm designing a system. I’m trying to create a unique system which combines the advantages of the material and the social aspects in order to find a more sustainable solution for the future. 

What were the biggest benefits you got from your time at the HKB?  

I have a dream to make a positive impact and I was questioning myself at times if I could achieve it. After the past two years I can easily see that I can achieve my goals with the project that I developed at HKB . I already have a master’s degree, but the difference to the Master Design is that it is about entrepreneurship. At Master Design we are able to develop an entrepreneurship project and get reliable support from individual coaches. For example: I’m working with a material science  expert, with an expert on researching social issues and an expert in business psychology and behavioral change on sociotechnical systems. This individual coaching support was very important for me to develop my project.