History of İTU

The history of Istanbul Technical University dates back to the period of the Ottoman Empire and during the reign of Sultan Mustafa the 3rd. It was established as “Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Hümayun” (The Imperial School of Naval Engineering) to educate engineering with a Western approach for the first time, in the Ottoman Empire in 1773. At that period, expert employees had been trained in shipbuilding and hydrography. Baron de Tott, a Hungarian Noble, was the founder of the school located in Haliç Shipyard

Baron de Tott, who had played a great role in the innovation movement of Ottomans, also gave lectures in school.

The first Chief Instructor (Baş Hoca) was Algerian Seyyid Hasan Hodja who was proficient in several languages and claimed to have been educated in marine engineering. It is asserted that the school library was enriched with many works translated from foreign languages.

In 1795, Berri-i Hümayun (Imperial School of Military Engineering) was established to train artillery officers during the reign of Sultan Selim the 3rd. The period of study in this school, which was formed by the expansion of Bahr-i Hümayun, was four years. Moreover, Sultan Selim the 3rd donated books from the Topkapi Palace Library by attaching great importance to develop the "Mühendishâne" (Engineering School). Sultan, who had been allowed to set up a printing press attached to the school, also contributed to the school's equipment by donating observation and measurement tools.

Among the lectures, there were subjects such as; bulwork, ball casting, artillery, and astronomy. There were also great contributions from French professors and engineers during the development of the school as well.

In Hasköy, today, the Kara Engineering building which was located in the northern part of Haliç Bridge was destroyed in time, its epigraph, which was situated in Hasköy recruiting office's garden, had been brought to ITU's Taşkışla Building and placed in the entrance hall, with the permission of the Istanbul Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Board No:1, in 1995.

In 1847, by adding classes in the field of architecture to the syllabus of Imperial School of Military Engineering, architecture education began to be given following the Western approach. In 1883, Imperial School of Military Engineering which had been transformed into

Hendese-i Mülkiye (The Civilian School of Geometry), named Mühendis Mekteb-i Alisi (High Engineering School) in 1909, to train civil architecture and engineering.

With the establishment of the Republic, the education of engineering and architecture had been reformed. High Engineering School was formed as a school that host lectures involving, roads, railways, hydraulic works, and construction-architecture. In 1929, education in the field of architecture began by adding a construction branch to the present hydaulogy and road construction. The first students of High Engineering School graduated in 1931. In that period, the students were educated to train technical employees who were essential for the public works of the Republic of Türkiye. In the 1940s, with the participation of the professors who had left Germany and Switzerland, the academic staff of High Engineering School was strengthened and it became distinguished as a pioneering institution for technical studies in Türkiye.

The school, which was first located in the old quarterage in Gümüşsuyu, was later on enlarged by the given buildings of the Taşkışla and Maçka Armories. Along with the number of students, the population of the academic staff also increased.

In 1944, High Engineering School transformed into Istanbul Technical University. At first, the population of the faculty's academic staff was very limited, but in time, it increased along with the specialization and the staffing in branches of scientific fields.

In the early years of Istanbul Technical University, such faculties as; Civil Engineering, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical and Electronics Engineering were established; grew by the establishment of faculties as; Mines, Chemistry, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Science and Letters, Management, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Maritime. All the faculties were divided into departments, and the programs were developed to offer diplomas.

For instance, departments such as; Geodesy and Photogrammetry in the Civil Engineering Faculty, Textile in the Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Urban and Regional Planning, Industrial Design in the Faculty of Architecture have been branched out to provide graduate and post-graduate education, in parallel with the contemporary progress of ITU and the world.

ITU has continued to raise professionalists for the field of architecture and for every branch of engineering, who is capable of responding the needs of Türkiye and also can be competent in an international degree.

Doctoral and other scientific publications made at ITU have contributed to the establishment of Turkish as science language and the formation of technical terminology in many fields, thus providing a great national accumulation.

In the 1974/75 academic year, two-stage education was introduced at ITU, and two-year postgraduate programs integrated into the four-year undergraduate education began to provide high-level education in many specialized fields.

ITU, which currently offers education to a large number of students with master's and doctoral programs conducted by Graduate School, with the aim of training young academician candidates that Türkiye needs with postgraduate education and to respond the need for high-level experts.

İstanbul Teknı̇k Ünı̇versı̇tesı̇ ve Mühendı̇slı̇k Tarı̇hı̇mı̇z. MUSTAFA KAÇAR, TUNCAY ZORLU, BURAK BARUTÇU, ATİLLA BİR, C. OZAN CEYHAN ve ARAS NEFTÇİ (Eds. Mehmet Karaca). 2012.