ITU Air and Space Vehicles Design Laboratory is Opened

The opening ceremony of Air and Space Vehicles Design Laboratory, established in ITU Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, took place with the participation of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) General Manager and ITU Department of Aeronautical Engineering 1983 graduate Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil.

The opening ceremony of Air and Space Vehicles Design Laboratory, established in Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, took place with the participation of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) General Manager and ITU Department of Aeronautical Engineering 1983 graduate Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil. At the ceremony, which was broadcast live from ITU's social media accounts, Temel Kotil talked about the importance of the laboratory and the position of ITU engineers in the sector, based on his experiences.

Stating that Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), which will be used in Air and Space Vehicles Design Laboratory, is a new design concept, Kotil said, “There is a brand new world ahead of us. We experience this in TUSAŞ. We teach this system to new engineers. This system is a cultural transformation: to do something electronically from A to Z…” 

Kotil expressed that this laboratory will strengthen engineering education and contribute greatly to the development of Turkish aviation and said, “Thanks to this laboratory, our engineers who will take part in our domestic and national projects will join us as already trained at the university. As Turkish Aerospace Industries, we are in the back of house. We maintain the importance of raising engineers with concrete breakthroughs. Our engineers will be able to gain end-to-end engineering experience in this laboratory, so they can improve themselves and add value to large projects.”

At the opening of the laboratory, to which Siemens provided software support, the company’s Industrial Software Turkey Director Alper Başer, emphasized the importance of such laboratories for the development of the sector and said: “The support we have provided in the field of education on a national scale will continue from now on as it has been up to now. In this sense, we find the contributions of our valuable engineers, especially those trained by ITU, important for our sector.”

“We have 250 years of experience behind us”

In his speech at the opening, our Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu emphasized that ITU is the educational institution that attaches the greatest importance to university-industry cooperation and obtains the highest output with high added value. Underlining that each well-trained ITU graduate will shape the future of Turkey, Koyuncu said that these students will undertake works that will carry Turkey's vision and brand value to the top. 

Koyuncu said, “Especially in the Republican era, those who contributed to the technical development of our country have always been ITU graduates and will continue to do so in the future. We know this very well. Because we have 250 years of experience behind us.”

“Our students will be more equipped and experienced”

Stating that the primary purpose of the Air and Space Vehicles Design Laboratory is to provide a fully equipped working environment for the undergraduate students of Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering, especially during the two-semester high-level design courses they take in their final year and while working on their design projects, the Dean of ITU Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics Prof. Dr. Zahit Mecitoğlu said, “In our newly established laboratory, our students will be able learn the PLM program, a Siemens software used in companies such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce, TUSAŞ, as well as the most up-to-date engineering software. This way, they will be more equipped and experienced when starting their professional life.”

At the opening of the Air and Space Vehicles Design Laboratory established in ITU Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) made a great contribution to the newly opened laboratory by providing 20 workstations to run the design programs to be used, while Siemens provided software support.