Transport student gets vehicles tattooed on arm

A STUDENT fascinated by modes of transport has had five vehicles tattooed on her arm.

Emine Akgun shows off her new tattoos

So dedicated to her work is Emine Akgun, that she celebrated her lifelong interest in logistics and supply chains by treating herself to the body art.

“I have always wanted to have a tattoo,” Emine said.

“I was fascinated by the notion of people using their bodies as a blank page to portray things on.

“Then one day I was talking to a friend and he said: ‘If you are into logistics so much, why don’t you get a truck?’

“He did not expect me to take the suggestion seriously but I thought ‘why not’. Only I won’t just get a truck.”

The unusual body art has delighted her colleagues at Edinburgh Napier University’s Transport Research Institute, where Emine, 30, is studying for a PhD.

The 30-year-old from Cupar got inked at Studio XIII on the Capital’s Jeffrey Street.

Designing and marking out the five different forms of transport - a truck, bike, container ship, aeroplane and train - took around 45 minutes.

Emine said: “I liked the tattoo straight away and it has become a bit of a talking point at the university. I may even get some colour added in the future.

“The first sketch had a small cute boat but that wasn’t what I was looking for so I got it altered to depict a container ship instead.”

Emine first became enamoured with transportation in her hometown of Izmir, Turkey, which is a crucial cargo hub for the Aegean Sea.

She would watch massive container ships sail in and wonder where they had come from.

She said: “I became very curious about the comings and goings, and also took an interest in the trucks I could see and the supply chains which kept the shops stocked.

“As the years went by the system became more international and the ships got bigger and bigger.”

The interest launched Emine’s academic career. She did her undergraduate degree in Turkey before completing her Masters at Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden.

Now she is investigating how local transport policies can make large logistics hubs more feasible.

She said: “I enjoy the study process, but I am also looking forward to having that degree in my hands.

“I am doing two main things right now. I am writing my first conference paper, which I will present in Dublin in January, and I am also trying to organise interviews with local authorities in Scotland, England and Sweden to discuss policy making processes and how they manage urban freight operations.”