Istanbul Technical University

Istanbul Technical University
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi
Motto	Pioneer Through The Ages
Established	1773
Type	Public University
President	Prof. Dr. Muhammed Sahin
Academic staff	1990, professor 404
Students	22,280
Undergraduates	14,958
Postgraduates	5,887
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
Colors	Navy Blue and Honey Yellow
Athletics	Turkish Basketball Division II
Mascot	Bee
Affiliations	EUA, TIME, CESAER Association, EAIE ATHENS
Website	itu.edu.tr

Istanbul Technical University (Tr. İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third oldest technical university dedicated to engineering sciences as well as social sciences recently, and is one of the most prominent educational institutions in Turkey. ITU is ranked 108th worldwide and 1st nationwide in the field of engineering/technology by THES - QS World University Rankings in 2009. Graduates of İstanbul technical university have received many TUBITAK science and TUBA awards. Numerous graduates have also become members of the academy of sciences in the U.S.A, Britain and Russia. The university's basketball team, ITUSpor, is in the Turkish Basketball Second League. The university has 39 undergraduate, 144 graduate programs, 13 colleges, 346 labs and 12 research centers. ITU has 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio.

History

See also: List of Istanbul Technical University presidents

Imperial School of Naval Engineering, 1773 Imperial School of Military Engineering, 1795 School of Civil Engineering, 1883 Engineering Academy, 1909 Istanbul Technical University, 1944

Ottoman Empire

Considered as the world's third 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 School of Naval Engineering (Ottoman Turkish: Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Hümayun), 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 in the district of Sisli

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. Alumni also played a significant role in Turkish politics.

Academics

Courtyard of Taşkışla, the building of School of Architecture

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, control engineering, electronics engineering and telecommunications engineering.

College of Civil Engineering

• Civil Engineering
• Geomatics Engineering
• Environmental Engineering

College of Architecture

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

College of Mechanical Engineering

• Mechanical Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering

College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

• Electrical Engineering
• Control Engineering
• Electronics and Communication Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

College of Computer and Informatics

• Computer Engineering
• Information Systems Engineering (Joint programme with SUNY)

College of Mines

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

College of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering

• Chemical Engineering
• Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
• Food Engineering

College of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering

• Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
• Shipbuilding and Ocean Engineering

College of Sciences and Letters

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

College of Aeronautics and Astronautics

• Aeronautical Engineering
• Astronautical Engineering
• Meteorological Engineering

College of Management

• Management Engineering
• Industrial Engineering

Maritime College

• Marine Engineering
• Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering

Technologies and Design

• Textile Engineering
• Fashion Design
• Textile Development and Management

Institutes and Research Centers

• Energy Institute
• Institute of Science and Technology
• Social Sciences Institute
• 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
• 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

University rankings

	2009	2008	2007
THE–QS World University Rankings Engineering/Technology	108	133	157
THE–QS World University Rankings Natural Sciences	221	257	393
Global University Ranking	339

23 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. Minimum score of 213 from TOEFL CBT, or success in the English proficiency exam is one of the prerequisites to register the Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate level courses at ITU. According to THES - QS World University Rankings, Istanbul Technical University is among the top 500 universities in the world and is the top university in Turkey in the field of technology and engineering. Instruction is both in Turkish and English (roughly 70% and 30%, respectively) and it has been announced that departments are going to open English-only programs.

Campus

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.

Mustafa İnan Library

• 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 contemporary and technically richest 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.
• ITU Mustafa Inan Library's Rare Books Collection

Triga Mark-2 Nuclear Reactor

ITU's nuclear reactor of Triga Mark-2 is in the Maslak campus. It is located at the Energy Institute.

Arı Technopolis

Since the foundation in 2003 Arı Technopolis, where 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. Arı-3 building in Maslak and another building in Floria are announced to build. Arı Technopolis has the 49% of export among technopolises in Turkey.

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 was one of the world's top 500 list super computers (240th).

Student life

Ayazağa Campus, ITU Lake

Athletics

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 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, ultimate, 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, archery and sailing.

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, International Engineering Club. 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 dormitories have a capacity of 3000 students. They include Lakeside Housings, IMKB Dormitory, Verda Urundul, Ayazaga Dormitory and Gumussuyu dormitory. Additional dormitories are planned.

Noted faculty and alumni

Ayazağa Campus, ITU Lake

Faculty

• Karl von Terzaghi - Civil engineer, founder of soil mechanics
• Emin Halid Onat
• Cahit Arf
• Kerim Erim
• Nihat Berker - Physicist
• Aykut Barka - Geologist
• Rudolf Belling - Sculptor
• Bülent Evcil - Flutist
• İstar Gözaydın - Political Scientist

Noted alumni

Main article: List of Istanbul Technical University alumni

Most of the engineers and architects who graduated from ITU are successful on their profession. Many of the graduates take role in the development of Turkey, with many of them playing significant roles in constructing bridges, roads and buildings. For instance, Emin Onat and Orhan Arda are architects of Anıtkabir. Süleyman Demirel (civil engineer) and Turgut Özal (electrical engineer) are the two former presidents of Turkey. Necmettin Erbakan (mechanical engineer) is a former prime minister of Turkey.

• 

  Süleyman Demirel, 9th president of Turkey

See also

• Technical university
• Turkish universities
• Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) network of technology universities
• ITUpSAT1, first Turkish university satellite
• Radio ITU
• CESAER Association

External links

• ITU Homepage
• ITU Maslak Campus, interactive