Department of Mechanical Engineering

By its general definition, engineering is a profession that presents matter and energy in nature for the benefit of mankind by developing economic methods, using the knowledge gained by theoretical and experimental research revealed by mathematics and basic sciences. Mechanical Engineering, on the other hand, is a discipline that deals with the design and production of tools, devices, machines, systems and processes that society needs in daily life, and its history dates back to ancient times. Today, modern mechanical engineering discipline covers the main topics of mechanics, thermo-fluid systems and energy, control, materials and manufacturing, as well as computer-aided design, modeling and analysis of systems. It is also necessary to see mechanical engineers as the professionals responsible for designing and performing their functions defined as tasks in a way that is efficient, safe, economical and respectful of the environment and ethical values.

It is possible to accept the profession of Mechanical Engineering, which currently has the widest field of study in our country and in the world, as well as today's profession as in the past. First of all, it is worth noting that the areas and topics of mechanical engineering discipline are very wide. From heating installations to nuclear power plants, from bicycles to sports cars, from washing machines to petro-chemical plants, from refrigerators to ice rinks, all topics are of interest to mechanical engineering. Design and manufacturing of machines and/or equipment for petro-chemical, food, iron and steel, shipbuilding, aerospace, automotive and textile industries; hydro-electric, nuclear and thermal power plants, air-conditioning systems are the basic functions of mechanical engineers and they take on duties R&D (research and development), operations, maintenance, production, quality control, design, project development, marketing, contracting, consulting and administrative tasks within the scope of services.

Department of Mechanical Engineering was established in 2007 and its first mechanical engineers were graduated in 2011. Currently, four undergraduate programs and one graduate program are conducted in the Department:

Mechanical Engineering (English) (Program started to enroll students in 2007 and is still being conducted),

Mechatronics Engineering (English) (Program started to enroll students in 2011 and is still being conducted),

Automotive Engineering (English) (Program started to enroll students in 2012 and terminated in 2019. The program will continue to be run until the graduation of the enrolled students),

Mechanical Engineering (Turkish) (Program started to enroll students in 2013 and terminated in 2020. The program will continue to be run until the graduation of the enrolled students).

The Department also offers master's degree programs in Mechanical Engineering (English) with and without a thesis dissertation.

 

In a world that faces to the reality of globalization, English still retains its validity and importance as a common language, especially used in technical sciences. Currently, the professionals who manage industrial organizations consider it necessary for engineers to have an English language and use it effectively. With the university administration's decision to offer education and training opportunities to international students, and considering the available technical resources on earth are in English, the language of the conducted programs has been decided to be English.

By taking the advantage of strong mechanical engineering infrastructure of the Department, education/training is also provided in Mechatronics Engineering Program, whose employment and applications are becoming prominent today and which significantly overlap with Mechanical Engineering subjects in terms of their contents. In the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Programs carried out by the Department, besides professional knowledge and skills, education that provides a good infrastructure is offered to those who aim to move to different fields in the future. In undergraduate programs conducted, skills such as designing, analyzing, problem solving, reasoning, reaching conclusions, creative thinking, working in teams, making experiments, and communication are spread throughout the courses, and they are tried to be acquired by students by blending them with professional knowledge in a programmatic and systematic way.

Students studying in the undergraduate programs of the Department are also offered double major and minor opportunities, including a wide range of other undergraduate programs conducted in the Faculty of Engineering.

The vision statement of Mechanical Engineering Department at Işık University is defined as:

 

"To be the focus of national mechanical and mechatronics engineering education and training at undergraduate and graduate levels".

The mission statement of the Department is outlined as:

"To graduate contemporary mechanical and mechatronics engineers to the society who;

will be able to work successfully as technical, managerial and R&D staffs of public and private sector industrial organizations, by conducting updated undergraduate and graduate programs with international recognition,

will be able to contribute to science and national values by carrying out independent technological work at the international level as well as national level,

will have self-confidence with the habit of working together and updating ability with respecting environmental, cultural and ethical values."

National and parallelly international accreditation activities of the undergraduate programs conducted by Department of Mechanical Engineering are intensively continued. Mechanical Engineering (English) Undergraduate Program, which had its first graduates in 2011, was accredited by MÜDEK^(*) for the first time in July 2016 for five years, and program graduates were entitled to receive the EUR-ACE^(**) label on their diplomas. The accreditation of the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program has been renewed and its validity period has been extended until 2027. In the same context, the MÜDEK evaluation of the Mechatronics Engineering Undergraduate Program, which had its first graduates in 2016, was made in 2022 and the program was accredited for five years until 2027. Similar to the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program, the graduates of Mechatronics Engineering Undergraduate Program are also entitled to carry the EUR-ACE label on their diplomas.

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^(*) MÜDEK is the nationwide, engineering program evaluation/accreditation organization of Turkey, whose competence and authority are recognized by YÖK (Higher Education Council of Turkey) and is an active member of ENAEE and IEA international engineering program accreditation head organizations currently.

 

^(**) EUR-ACE label is a certificate issued to engineering undergraduate programs accredited by the accreditation organizations authorized by ENAEE (for example, MÜDEK of Turkey) and it is important for the recognition of the diplomas of the program graduates by the relevant institutions of European countries, within the same framework of ENAEE.