Istanbul Technical University

Motto:	Asırlardır Cagdas (Pioneer Through The Ages)
Established:	1773
Type:	State technical university
President:	Prof. Dr. Muhammed Şahin
Students:	20,962
Location:	Istanbul, Turkey
Campus:	2,64 km2
Sports:	TBL2
Nickname:	Teknik Üniversite
Mascot:	Bee
Website:	www.itu.edu.tr

Istanbul Technical University (ITU, Turkish: İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi commonly referred to as İTÜ or Teknik Üniversite) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third oldest ^[1] technical university dedicated to engineering sciences but also social sciences recently, and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Turkey.

History

Main article: History of Istanbul Technical University

See also: List of Presidents of Istanbul Technical University

Ottoman Empire

Considered as the world's second institution of higher learning specifically dedicated to engineering education, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has a long and distinguished history which began in 1773. ITU was founded by Sultan Mustafa III as the "Imperial Naval Engineers' School" (Ottoman Turkish: Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Hümayun)(Turkish:Devlet Donanma Mühendishanesi), and it was originally dedicated to the training of ship builders and cartographers. In 1795 the scope of the school was broadened to train technical military staff for the modernization of the Ottoman army. In 1845 the engineering function of the school was further widened with the addition of a program devoted to the training of architects. The scope and name of the school were extended and changed again in 1883 and in 1909 the school became a public engineering school which was aimed at training civil engineers who could provide the infrastructure for the rapidly developing country.

Modern Turkey

By 1928 the institution had gained formal recognition as a university of engineering which provided education in both engineering and architecture. In 1944 the name of the institution was changed to Istanbul Technical University and in 1946 the institution became an autonomous university with architecture, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering faculties.

Maçka Campus

With its long history of 234 years, its modern teaching environment, and well-qualified teaching staff, Istanbul Technical University today is the personification of the engineering and architectural education in Turkey. Istanbul Technical University not only played a leading role in the modernization movement of the Ottoman Empire, but has also maintained its leadership position in the changes and innovations taking place in the construction, industrialization, and technological realms during the modern days of the Turkish Republic. Engineers and architects trained at Istanbul Technical University have played significant roles in the construction of Turkey's highways, bridges, dams, factories, buildings, energy production plants, communication networks, and in the development of its villages, towns, and cities. Alumni also played a significant role in Turkish politics (Turkish presidents - Turgut Ozal, Suleyman Demirel and Necmettin Erbakan were all ITU graduates) Since its establishment in 1773, Istanbul Technical University has managed to keep itself up-to-date by following the technological developments which have occurred worldwide. The university offers its students an educational environment which is rooted in tradition and yet open to the very latest in modern education techniques and settings. By promoting strong international relationships, this public university also offers its students truly universal educational opportunities which are not limited by national boundaries.

List of Presidents (Rectors) of ITU

Number	Name	Background
1.	Prof. Emeritus Osman Tevfik Taylan
2.	Prof. Emeritus Ahmet Hamdi Peynircioğlu
3.	Prof. Emeritus Mustafa Hulki Erem
4.	Prof. Emeritus Emin Onat	Architecture
5.	Prof. Ahmet Özel	Electrical engineering
6.	Prof. Dr. Mustafa Santur	Physics
7.	Prof. Emeritus Hilmi Civaoğlu
8.	Prof. Dr. Mustafa İnan	Civil engineering
9.	Prof. Dr. Fikret Narter	Mechanical engineering
10.	Prof. Dr. Hikmet Binark	Mechanical engineering
11.	Prof. Dr. Sait Kuran	Civil engineering
12.	Prof. Emeritus Bedri Karafakioğlu	Telecommunication engineering
13.	Prof. Dr. Kazim Ergin	Geophysical engineering
14.	Prof. Dr. Galip Sağıroğlu	Mining engineering
15.	Prof. Dr. Kemal Kafalı	Naval architecture
16.	Prof. Dr. Nahit Kumbasar	Civil engineering
17.	Prof. Dr. İlhan Kayan	Civil engineering
18.	Prof. Dr. Reşat Baykal	Naval architecture
19.	Prof. Dr. Gülsün Sağlamer	Architecture
20.	Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Faruk Karadoğan	Civil engineering
21.	Prof. Dr. Muhammed Şahin	Geodesy and photogrammetry engineering

Academics

Court yard of Taşkışla

The structure of each "Faculty" at ITU is comparable to those of "colleges" in the U.S. institutions, where each faculty is composed of two or more "departments." For example, the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering consists of the departments of electrical engineering, computer engineering, control engineering, electronics engineering and telecommunications engineering.

Faculty of Civil Engineering

• Civil Engineering
• Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering
• Environmental Engineering

Faculty of Architecture

• Architecture
• Urban and Regional Planning
• Industrial Product Design
• Interior Architecture
• Landscape Architecture

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

• Mechanical Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering

Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

• ITU Computer Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Control Engineering
• Electronics Engineering
• Telecommunication Engineering

Faculty of Mines

• Mining Engineering
• Geological Engineering
• Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering
• Geophysical Engineering

Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering

• Chemical Engineering
• Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
• Food Engineering

Faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering

• Naval Architecture
• Ocean Engineering

Faculty of Sciences and Letters

• Mathematics Engineering
• Physics Engineering, Chemistry
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Engineering Sciences

Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics

• Aeronautical Engineering
• Astronautical Engineering
• Meteorological Engineering

Faculty of Management

• Management Engineering
• Industrial Engineering

Maritime Faculty

• Marine Engineering
• Deck

Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design

• Textile Engineering
• Fashion Design
• Textile Development and Management

And also Dual Diplom Programs between ITU and State University of New York & Montana State University.

Institutes and Research Centers

• Energy Institute (Former Institute of Nuclear Energy)
• Institute of Science and Technology (serving as the Graduate College)
• Social Sciences Institute (serving as the Graduate College)
• Institute of Informatics
• Eurasia Earth Sciences Institutes
• Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Genetics Research Center (MOBGAM)
• ARI Technopolis
• Center for Satellite Communications & Remote Sensing
• National High Performance Computing Center, Turkish
• Rotorcraft Research Center (ROTAM)

Finally, ITU also has the following departments / educational institutes that are not tied to any of the faculties, but serve as independent departments. These include

• School of Foreign Languages
• School of Fine Arts
• School of Athletic Education
• State Conservatory of Turkish Classical Music
• Advanced Musical Sciences Research Institute

International Perspective

21 engineering departments of ITU are accredited by ABET. Also ITU's faculty of architecture is accredited by NAAB and faculty of maritime is accredited by IMO.

Reputation

According to Academic Ranking of World Universities^[2], Istanbul Technical University is among the top 500 universities in the world and is the best university in Turkey. ^[3]

Campus

Main article: Campuses of Istanbul Technical University

See also: Istanbul Technical University Maslak Campus

See also: List of Istanbul Technical University student clubs

ITU is a public (state) university. It has five campuses, which are located in the most important areas of Istanbul. Among ITU's five campuses, the main campus of Maslak is a suburban campus, covering a total area of 2.64 km². The University Rectorate, swimming pool, stadium, along with most of the faculties, student residence halls and the central library of ITU are located there.

Another suburban campus of ITU is the Tuzla Campus. It serves the Maritime Faculty students and faculty members. It is located in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, which is a dockyard area.

One of the three urban campuses of ITU is the Taşkışla Campus. It was a military barracks in the Ottoman era. Taşkışla is one of the most renowned historical buildings in Istanbul.

Gümuşsuyu (Mechanical Engineering Faculty) and Maçka (Management Faculty) campuses are close to Taksim Square, and they are also among the important historical buildings of Istanbul.

ITU has more engineering programs (21 as of 2005) accredited by ABET (U.S. agency recognized for accrediting science, technology and engineering programs- or in other words suny programme) than any other institution in Turkey.

Instruction is both in Turkish and English (circa 70% Turkish and 30% English).

Mustafa Inan Library

• ITU Mustafa Inan Library has approximately 533,000 books, 500,000 volumes of book periodicals and 6000 rare Ottoman/Latin books. ITU Library has access to international libraries and online databases. It has the largest collection on technical materials (science and engineering) in Turkey. It is Turkey’s most contemporary and technically rich library. ITU Mustafa Inan Library is the central library of the six libraries and coordination center of the library services of the Technical University. ITU Library Services' history goes back to 1795, the printing house of the Mühendishane-i Berri-i Hümayun of Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Empire's engineering school for territorial military applications - the third oldest technical university of the world).
• ITU Mustafa Inan Library's Rare Books Collection

Triga Mark-2 Nuclear Reactor and Supercomputer

ITU's nuclear reactor of Triga Mark-2 is in the Maslak campus. It is located at the Energy Institute. There are also legends which say that the ITU Lake is the cooler for this reactor. Furthermore, ITU has a supercomputer and this computer is the only super computer in top 500 that Turkey has.

Arı Technopolis

ARI Teknokent (Technopolis), which is located at the Ayazağa Campus, provides companies with researching, technology development and production opportunities at the university, in cooperation with the researchers and academicians. The technopolis have two buildings:Arı-1 and Arı-2

National High Performance Computing Center

NHPCC, is located at the Ayazağa Campus. It is the national center for high performance computing. The super computer of this center is one of the world's top 500 list super computers (239th).

Student Life

Atlethics

Having a suburban campus like Maslak has created the opportunity of building many sports areas. Ayazağa Gymnasium is the center of sports in ITU. Ayazağa Gymnasium also has a stadium with a seating capacity of 3500 for basketball and volleyball matches. A fitness center is also located there.

Basketball matches are among the most important sports activities in ITU. ITU Basketball Team, which won the Turkish Basketball League Championship for 5 times, currently plays in the Turkish Basketball League's 2nd Division (TB2L). Ayazağa Gymnasium is the home of the ITU Basketball Team. Needless to mention that the students are the team's biggest supporters.

Despite the successes in basketball, the football team of ITU plays in the amateur league. A football (soccer) stadium is also located in Ayazağa, where the football team plays its matches.

Tennis courts and an indoor olympic swimming pool, which is opened in May 2007, are also available in the Ayazaga Campus. An open-air swimming pool serves the ITU faculties.

Other sports clubs/activities in ITU are: Badminton, fencing, diving, winter sports, dancing and gymnastics, tennis, paintball, aikido, athletics, mountaineering, bridge, swimming, cycling and triathlon, skiing, parachuting, American football, korfball, handball, iaido, capoeira, wrestling and archery.

Social Life

ITU offers many options to students who like doing extra-curricular work during their studying years. The most popular ones are Rock Club, Cinema Club, EPGIK. Also ITU has an option for those who like to organise events and socialise with people from various European countries in the Local Board of European Students of Technology Group which had 40 members in 2007. Despite all these, it can still be a little quiet in the campus from time to time because students can choose the city of Istanbul over the campus life.

Housing

ITU has a capacity of 3000 studeng housings:Lakeside Housings, IMKB Dormitory, Verda Urundul, Ayazaga Dormitory and Gumussuyu dormitory.

Noted faculty and alumni

Faculty

• Aykut Barka - Geologist
• Rudolf Belling - Sculptor
• Ratip Berker - Mechanical engineer and physicist
• Nihat Berker - Physicist
• Bülent Evcil - Flutist
• Mustafa Inan - Civil Engineer
• Kamran Ince - Composer
• Arnold Reisman - Historian and engineer
• Celal Şengör - Geologist
• Karl von Terzaghi - Mechanical engineer, founder of soil mechanics
• Istar Gozaydin - Political Scientist

Noted alumni

Most of the engineers and architects graduated from ITU are successful on their profession. Many of graduates help Turkey developing. Many of the graduates played significant roles in constructing bridges, roads and buildings. For instance, Emin Onat and Orhan Arda are architects of Anıtkabir. Funda Arar and Celik are very famous singers. Süleyman Demirel (civil engineer) and Turgut Özal (electrical engineer) are the two presidents of Turkey. Other famous graduates are listed below:

• Necmettin Erbakan - Mechanical engineer, former prime minister of Turkey, head-designer of the German Leopard tank, the first 27-year-old associate professor doctor of Turkey
• Ali Akansu - Academic, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
• Zeynep Ahunbay - Academic
• Oğuz Atay - Novelist
• Orhan Pamuk - Nobel Prize Winning Novelist
• Bedrettin Dalan - Former mayor of Istanbul
• Çağla Kubat - Model
• Yilmaz Erdogan - Actor
• Ali Erdemir - Tribologist
• Üzeyir Garih
• İshak Alaton
• Şarık Tara - businessman
• Semih Tezcan - Academic
• Mehmet Önder Yetiş - Head of the National Research Institute of Electronics and Cryptology
• Faruk A. Yarman - Head of the National Aeronautics Electronics Corporation (HAVELSAN)
• Sıddık Yarman - Microwave and Electronics Engineer (Specialist)
• Mehmet Toner - Cryobiologist, Professor at MIT and Harvard University
• Ahmet Yalcinkaya - poet
• Hakan Kostepen - Director of Planning and Innovation / Chief Product Strategist - Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America
• Temel Kotil - Mechanical engineer and CEO of Turkish Airlines
• Waleed a. Samkari, Brigadier general. Former director of the Jordanian maintenance corp.
• Celik Erisci Singer
• Ahmet Toprak Director, SF Turkish Radio (http://turkradio.us)

Suleyman Demirel, 9th president of Turkey

Oguz Atay, famous Turkish write