Department of Machine Engineering

Hello friends. My name is Boğaç Bilgiç, I’m a lecturer from Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Just like you, I came to this department in 1998 by getting accepted to the Mechanical Engineering Department of Istanbul University. After finishing the department in 4 years, I graduated in 2002. Later, I did my master's and doctorate studies again in the same department. In the end, I have had the pleasure of working as a lecturer at Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Department of Mechanical Engineering. First of all, I want to give you some information about the department. Our department was established in 1989. It started providing education in the 1989-1990 academic year. When our department was first established, it was established in the form of 4 main disciplines. They consisted of the many branches of science of fundamental mechanical engineering. Then, as technology developed, we have added 3 more departments to our body, which are the Automotive, Mechatronics and Biomechanics Department. Our department provides its program content 30% in English. For this reason, our education period consists of 1 + 4 years. If you pass the preparatory phase by taking the exam, you can start receiving education in the four-year program. In the first year of our department, we have common courses which are determined by the Council of Higher Education. These courses are standard in many universities, as our friends who study engineering also know, these are the Calculus 1, physics 1, Calculus 2, physics 2 courses. You take these courses like everyone. Besides these, courses such as static and linear algebra are also available in the first-year curriculum, as they are part of the department program. Although there are common courses in our department in general, we want to provide our technical drawing courses with our faculty members with the permission we get from the dean's office. Because as you know, our Faculty of Engineering is a very large faculty. It contains 14 different departments. For this reason, there may be differences in technical drawings between departments. In order to prevent this and to train them in special subjects that only mechanical engineers are interested in, our professors also teach technical drawing as part of the curriculum. By taking the same courses you took in high school, albeit more advanced so you can master the fundamentals, you can begin to take the engineering courses in the second grade. Our courses in the second grade are basic courses on the basic subject of machines such as dynamics, thermodynamics and materials. In this process, our students usually have difficulties in the first year as they are trying to adapt, they are introduced to the real department courses in the second grade and the courses gradually get harder thereafter. After learning the fundamentals of mechanical engineering in the second-grade courses, we begin to progress towards complicated subjects concerning machines in the third grade. Our courses on fluid mechanics and machine elements start in the third grade. In general, success rates decrease to a certain extent as the program gets harder. Therefore, we encourage students coming to our department to keep their grade point averages higher in their first and second years. We recommend that they take advantage of a high GPA in the third grade. In the fourth year, we move forward with a program approach consisting entirely of elective courses. Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Mechanical Engineering Department is very successful in this regard. Because we are not only providing courses on a single field. We expect them to take the courses they want from the pool of elective courses by providing just that, the chance to select. In other words, when a student comes to the department, he does not have to be forced to take courses in the field of construction. Instead, students can choose which elective courses they want to take, and learn about the subjects they want. Our pool of elective courses is also quite large. Generally, each of our professors offer at least 2 courses in their field of expertise. This provides choices for the students. Therefore, we do not have any problems with elective courses. As determined by the Council of Higher Education, 70 students can enrol in our department each year. In such cases, class sizes in compulsory courses can reach 120. The quotas for elective courses are lower than the quotas of the must courses. Because they have the chance to take elective courses related to project making, problem solving, as well as courses covering market-oriented subjects in their fourth year.
We have 7 laboratories in total in our Mechanical Engineering Department. One of them is a computer lab. In these computer labs, you can practice numerical analysis for your courses and computer-aided drawing for your design courses. The courses are divided into groups and taught in the computer lab. Apart from this, our other laboratory is the student laboratory. In our department, we have 2 laboratory courses, Machine Laboratory 1 and Machine Laboratory 2. Rather than having laboratories included in our courses, we prefer to do lecture-related experiments in laboratory courses. You get the chance to do each experiment individually, with our assistants and in small groups. For example, you can do the simple bending experiment with our strain gauge tester, which is a subject you saw in the courses. This way, the theoretical information you obtain in the lectures is transformed into practical knowledge in laboratories. Of course, the stuff you’ll learn here won’t be enough. If you take courses related to certain projects in the last year, we also have 5 research laboratories provided for your use. Also, our fourth-grade students can complete their graduation projects in these laboratories. These are Air Tunnel, and Biomechanics Laboratories. Apart from that, all our students have to complete 3 compulsory internships in total. Because, unfortunately, the training we provide here will not be enough for the sector. For this reason, we require you to complete 3 mandatory internships. These internships are undertaken in the summer period. They are carried out after the academic year is over. These internships consist of a workshop, manufacturing and management internships. The workshop internship is an internship where you can directly observe production in its most basic form. The manufacturing internship, on the other hand, is your internship where you get to learn about the manufacturing process in a manufacturing environment. Our business organization internship includes information about how a business is managed, administratively. Our department also offers students the chance to apply for the Erasmus program. We can send 16 students abroad each semester with the Erasmus Program. Of course, since we are a part of the Faculty of Engineering, we can only provide grants to 3 students. But others can also participate in the Erasmus program with their own means. The countries we have agreements with for Erasmus are: Germany, Belgium, Poland, Sweden and Spain. While our students who receive grants generally prefer to go to countries which are expensive to live, Poland is also an option for students who do not receive grants. Because as you know, living conditions in Poland are cheaper due to exchange rates. Our friends who do not receive grants also prefer this country.
Our department has a Machinery and Technology Club. Machinery and Technology Club holds a Machine Days event every year. Our friends who graduated from our department and companies coming from the Human Resources Department of institutions come to this event to find new employees. Incoming companies both introduce themselves and try to create a new pool employment for themselves from our friends who will graduate during these events. This way, our students have the opportunity to find a job in a short time after graduation or can find suitable companies for their internship. Also, social responsibility projects are carried out within our club. As you know, although everything is about education, companies want students to work in social responsibility projects as well. Nowadays in interviews, it’s not about your expertise in the field, there are also questions about how you benefit society. These types of projects are also carried out within our club. Again, our club organizes at least three factory trips each year. You have the chance to learn by observing how things work in factory environments. When they come to the Mechanical Engineering Department, generally they ask about what we do, and request information on this subject. Mechanical engineers can work anywhere machines are involved. Think of the simplest lid opener, even that is a machine. When we think of a space shuttle, that is a complex machine. It is not possible for a mechanical engineer to limit himself to a certain field. Wherever there is a machine, there is a need for people who do research on this subject, and people who will produce studies on this subject. However, in Turkey, the busiest sectors that stand out are the automotive and energy sector. Again, the automotive sector has developed on its own with all its sub-industry and manufacturing sector. Generally, our graduates find jobs in these sectors, but they can also find jobs in different fields. That is because our Mechanical Engineering Department not only helps you improve yourself in certain fields; it also aims to provide an educational understanding to solve all the problems that exist throughout the education process. These four years are not just about learning machines, at the same time, you learn things about the subjects you do not know, think about them, define the existing problems and learn about the solutions of those problems. For example, many of our students have been hired by banks as accountants in the past. Because they can find jobs in these sectors only by examining bank accounts in detail. In other words, mechanical engineers have the chance to find a job in every field other than those related to machinery. Apart from that, if you want to improve yourself academically, you also have the chance to become an academic at a university like us. For this, of course, while taking your elective courses you need to take courses in suitable fields, like, if you want to become an academic you have to take theoretical courses. As I mentioned at the beginning, taking elective courses according to your interests provides you with such advantages. Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Mechanical Engineering Department is located in the Avcılar Campus. Although Avcılar seems to be outside the center of Istanbul, there is an Avcılar stop on the Metrobüs line. If there is a metrobus stop, that means the commute will be easy to anywhere. When you get off the metrobus in order to come here, you will not have any difficulties in terms of arriving to the campus. When you get on the metrobus, you can arrive at Fenerbahçe Stadium and Söğütlüçeşme in 1 hour, which is on the Anatolian Side. In other words, although our school does not seem to be in the center, thanks to the means of transportation, it is easily accessed. All facilities such as copy centers, restaurants where they can eat, cafes are available in Avcılar Campus, for the benefit of our students.