ITU is Transforming the Future in its 250th Year

Our University’s 2022-2023 Academic Year started with the ceremony held at Ayazağa Campus Süleyman Demirel Cultural Center. Emphasizing ITU’s 250th Academic Year, our Rector stated that 2023 will be the year of “Transforming the Future”.

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) started its 250th Academic Year with a ceremony held at Ayazağa Campus Süleyman Demirel Cultural Center on September, 15. Our Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu made the opening speech of the ceremony, which started with a concert by ITU 250th Anniversary Turkish Music Chorus, and talked about the 250th Anniversary Events to be held in the 2022-2023 academic year while leaving behind two and a half centuries of history of the Technical University.

After Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu, E. Turan Erdoğan, our ’76 Mechanical Engineering graduate and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Vestel Group of Companies, came to the stage to give the first lecture to our new students and offered advices by giving examples from his own life.

“Transforming the Future”

Expressing that their 2023 motto is “Transforming the Future”, Prof. Dr. Koyuncu said, “In the near future, when sustainability will gain much more importance, we will try to demonstrate the power of transformation with the identity of a research university.”

Prof. Dr. Koyuncu stated that the new goal of ITU, which has achieved a great momentum in YKS placement results for the last two years, is to gain 200 students from the first thousand, and proceeded as follows: “Our new friends who have just joined us will also see this in a very short time: Being at ITU will give you new ideas and different perspectives as well as breathing in an academically rich environment; it will instill the excitement of asking new questions about research and learning.”

Speaking about the studies, achievements and especially the developments in the fields of R&D and commercialization at ITU, which has repeatedly become the best in Turkey and ranked among the best in the world in academic rankings and has always been a pioneer and a leader with its achievements, Prof. Dr. Koyuncu emphasized that ITU’s vision is based on active learning, impact-oriented research and technological/digital transformation..

“Do not lack self-confidence”

E. Turan Erdoğan, ’76 graduate of ITU Mechanical Engineering Department and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Vestel Group of Companies, who was invited to the stage to give the first lecture at the ceremony, talked about his life experiences as well as his professional experiences in his “first lecture” speech addressed to the 250th Year students.

Referring to the importance of being self-confident in working life, Erdoğan said that the struggle always continues and that self-confidence must be accompanied by hard work. Stating that young engineers at ITU have achieved many successes thanks to their hard work and self-confidence, our graduate said, “You should definitely go abroad, follow the developments in your field very closely, read and research, but always return home and work for our country.” Expressing that he is always proud to be a member of ITU, our graduate emphasized in his speech addressing the students who have just joined the ITU Family that it is necessary to allocate time for social activities.

Following the speeches, the ceremony ended after the presentation of congratulatory certificates and gifts to our students who were placed in ITU with the highest degrees, the presentation of congratulatory certificates to our teams that ranked in national and international competitions, and the presentation of plaques to our faculty members who received awards from various institutions.

Click for all the photos taken during the ceremony.