The Excitement of Undergraduate and Master’s Graduation at ITU

The proud success of ITU’s 2024–2025 Academic Year undergraduate and master’s graduates was crowned with a ceremony held on July 12.

The ITU Undergraduate and Master’s Graduation Ceremony took place at the ITU Stadium on July 12, 2025, with a large turnout. Our students, who successfully completed their academic education at ITU in the 2024–2025 Academic Year, shared their joy with their families and faculty members.

At the beginning of the ceremony, ITU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal and our academics greeted the ITU members, the graduates’ families, and guests, all of whom carried the excitement, happiness, and enthusiasm of graduation.

Following the Moment of Silence held in memory of our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, Technical University members who have passed away, and our revered martyrs, our National Anthem was sung.

Following the screening of a video portraying ITU—a powerful legacy that transforms national achievements into a global vision and remains a lifelong source of pride—the opening speech of the ceremony was delivered by ITU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal.

Our Rector described our graduates as scientists, engineers, and leaders who would directly contribute to Turkey’s development goals and technological initiative. Prof. Dr. Mandal emphasized that graduation is not an end, but a place where one declares “I’m here” under the guidance of science. He asked our graduates to prioritize contributing to society and adding value to humanity throughout their careers.

He stated that ITU, ranked 298th worldwide, 79th in Engineering and Technology, 48th in contribution to Sustainable Development Goals, and 3rd in “Quality Education,” is aligned with its highest goal. Our Rector expressed that this goal is not only to equip students with competence in engineering and technology, but also to raise individuals who are responsible toward society and humanity.

Burak Toprak from our Faculty of Computer and Informatics Engineering, Department of Computer Engineering, became the top undergraduate graduate of our university with a GPA of 3.99/4. Our valedictorian Toprak received his medal from our Rector, Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal.

Following the speech by our top undergraduate student, Burak Toprak, our graduate from the Graduate School of Business Administration, Business Engineering Program, Melis Küçük, delivered a speech on behalf of our master’s graduates.

An emotionally resonant video reminding our graduates of their time at ITU was shown and received great appreciation from the attendees.

A commemorative photo was taken with one of the first graduates of our MasterBee program (who completed her undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and her master’s degree in Management Engineering), Res. Asst. Saliha Belemir Demir, together with our Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal and the Director of the Graduate School, Prof. Dr. Fatma Seniha Güner.

Afterward, more than 500 master’s graduates from this academic year and the undergraduate graduates of each faculty and our conservatory took the stage with their graduation certificates.

In the final part of the ceremony, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. İpek Akın Karadayı led the graduates in reciting their oath. At the end of the countdown, the throwing of caps by our graduates was accompanied by a visual spectacle in the ITU Stadium.