The accreditation period of the Computer Science & Engineering and Electronics Engineering degree programs at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences has been extended by MÜDEK until 30 September 2021.

Our Industrial Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering degree programs were accredited until 30 September 2022.  

MÜDEK (Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Engineering Programs) is the only authorized association in Turkey for the accreditation of engineering undergraduate programs.

MÜDEK accreditation acknowledges the suitability of our Programs to high standards and expresses quality assurance. Accredited programs are eligible for “EUR-ACE Label” of the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education. MÜDEK is also a full member of Washington Accord, a multi-party accreditation recognition agreement under the umbrella of International Engineering Alliance.  

The Sabancı University Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) held a conference titled "The Future of Financial Markets" featuring Turkish and international subject matter experts.

The Sabancı University Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) established with the founding sponsorship of Akbank held the second event in its international conference series on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.  The conference, titled "The Future of Financial Markets", brought together Turkish and international experts to discuss fintech ventures, the banking industry, and the blockchain technology. The conference also featured an address by renowned investor Mark Mobius.  Introductory remarks were made by Sabancı University Finance Chair Özgür Demirtaş, Sabancı University President Zehra Sayers, and Akbank Board of Directors Chair and Managing Director Suzan Sabancı Dinçer. Fintech ventures and the blockchain technology, two top agenda items in economics around the world, and the latest developments in the banking sector were the subjects of the conference.

In his introductory remarks, Özgür Demirtaş noted the success of CEF, saying: “We have made remarkable achievements in a remarkably short time. By our second year, we have trained hundreds of students and professionals, and invited leading speakers from around the world to Turkey. CEF will continue to be a symbol of quality, a hub for finance education, and a leader in promoting Turkey globally."

Sabancı University President Zehra Sayers said, “We at Sabancı University have been first in many things. We involve students in research from their first year onwards; we have an interdisciplinary structure that is free of departments. And we are number one in the national innovation and entrepreneurship index. Our 2023 plan calls for us to improve and advance the pioneering and change-inducing role of Sabancı University. The mission and vision of the center for finance include generating value for Turkey by maintaining quality standards, and promoting us across the region.”

Saying that the Center of Excellence in Finance has enjoyed great success under the guidance of Professor Özgür Demirtaş, Suzan Sabancı Dinçer continued, “This conference marks the beginning of our second term. We have three future-oriented panels today that will be of great interest. We will discuss the plans and investments of the manufacturing industry, the direction of the global economy, and the future technology Blockchain. Our keynote speaker today is legendary investor and developing market guru Mark Mobius. He will share with us his vision of the future.”

Dr. Mark Mobius, renowned investor and founder of Mobius Capital Partners, made the following remarks in his keynote address: “Developing markets have been gaining in importance. We love Turkey because it's a developing market that grows at an incredible rate. In terms of demographic opportunities, the median age in developing countries is 26. While developed countries have greater GDP, developing countries have an average price-to-income ratio of 12.5%.  Asia, Africa and Latin America are the markets that we consider to have the possibility to develop. People think Africa is difficult but actually there are great opportunities there. Cheap currency is not always a problem; anything that occurs in a developing market may be an opportunity for us. China has the greatest proportion of internet users worldwide with 21%. 1.4 billion smartphones were sold in 2017 and they will change the future because they have great political and economic implications."

Entrepreneurs and professionals discussed "Private Sector in Turkey and the Path to the Future"

The moderator of the "Private Sector in Turkey and the Path to the Future" panel was Akbank General Manager Hakan Binbaşgil. Speakers were McKinsey & Company Senior Partner and Country Director Can Kendi, P&G Turkey and Caucasus CEO Tankut Turnaoğlu, General Electric Turkey President and CEO Canan Özsoy, and  Yemeksepeti.com CEO and Founding Partner Nevzat Aydın. 

"Academic Perspectives for Global Economies in Recovery" 

The second panel in the conference, titled "Academic Perspectives for Global Economies in Recovery", was moderated by Sabancı University Associate Professors Yiğit Atılgan and Evrim Akdoğu. The panelists of this section were New York-based international consultants Oliver Wyman Vice President Dr. Uğur Köylüoğlu, Boston College Chair Prof. Philip Strahan, and Georgia State University Chair Prof. Vikas Agarwal. 

The last panel in the conference focused on Blockchain 

The final panel in the CEF Conference discussed the operation, potential uses and opportunities regarding the future technology “Blockchain”. Also discussed in the panel moderated by Sabancı University Finance Chair and CEF Founding President Professor Özgür Demirtaş were the short- and long-term expectations for the implications of the Blockchain technology on finance and business in general. 

Discussion points included technical and legislative hazards, such as the perceived threat as cyrptocurrencies made possible by the Blockchain technology compete with national currencies, the concentration of a significant portion of assets in few investors, and scale or transaction speed constraints.  Panelists were crypto-asset trust service Trustology Founder and CEO Alex Batlin, Blockchain consultants 11:FS Founding Partner Simon Taylor, and insurance-related Blockchain operator iXledger Founding Partner and COO Cristina Dolan.

“QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Top Universities Under 50" rankings were revealed. The system uses the same methodology as the QS World University Rankings to determine the top universities under 50 years of age.  Sabancı University ranked between 71st and 80th.

Reputation has greater weight in the QS system, and reputation accounts for 50% of the total score, which enables younger universities to compare their visibility and outreach. The "Under 50" rankings evaluates universities on six indicators based on four criteria determined to be relevant to prospective students, namely research, teaching quality, employability and international outlook. 

Four of the indicators are based on “hard” data, and the remaining two on major global surveys – one of academics and another of employers. The weight of the indicators based on hard data are 20% for student-to-faculty ratio; 20% for citations per faculty; 5% for international faculty ratio and 5% for international student ratio.  The weight of the survey indicators are 40% academic reputation and 10% for employer reputation. 

The Turkish institutions among the 150 young universities worldwide were Sabancı University as well as Bilkent and Koç Universities in the 61st-70th range. Three Turkish universities were on the rankings this year.

The "Gürsel Sönmez Awards" established in 2006 in memory of the late Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences member and valued scientist Gürsel Sönmez were given for the 12th time this year.

Awards in honor of the late Sabancı University Faculty Member Gürsel Sönmez, who passed away in 2006, were presented during the Commencement Ceremony on Friday, June 22, 2018.

Four graduate students won the 2017- 2018 Dr. Gürsel Sönmez Research Awards for their extraordinary achievements:

• Ahmad Reza Motezakker, Mechatronic Engineering Graduate Program 2017- 2018 Spring Semester candidate.
• Behzad Sardari Ghojehbeiglou, Electronic Engineering PhD Program 2016- 2017 Spring Semester graduate.
• Çağatay Yılmaz, Materials Science and Engineering PhD Program 2017- 2018 Spring Semester candidate.
• Ebru Demir, Materials Science and Engineering PhD Program 2017- 2018 Spring Semester candidate.

The Dr. Gürsel Sönmez Award Committee set up every year by the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences received 164 submissions to date and handed 36 awards as a result of meticulous evaluation. 

2017 - 2018 Dr. Gürsel Sönmez Research Awards Committee

Ayesha Asloob Qureshi

Berrin Yanıkoğlu

Burak Kocuk

Burç Mısırlıoğlu

Christopher Mayack

Murat Kaya Yapıcı

Selim Saffet Balcısoy

Tuğçe Yüksel 

About Gürsel Sönmez and the Awards

Dr. Gürsel Sönmez joined the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences in September 2004. Shortly thereafter, on January 16, 2006, he was involved in a fatal traffic accident. His short academic career was nevertheless fruitful and significant, and he made great contributions to the sciences.

"Dr. Gürsel Sönmez Research Awards" were established by the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences to keep his legacy alive and remind students about his achievements to motivate them.  The Award entails prizes for one or more graduate students based on their research efforts and achievements to date.  Submissions are open to both master's and doctorate students. Graduates and candidates may only apply once. Candidates may nominate themselves or be nominated by a member of Sabancı University faculty.

The Sabancı University Academic Year Closing Lecture was given on Friday, June 22, during the Commencement events. This year's speaker of the Closing Lecture for the Graduation Class, parents and all Sabancı University members was Sabancı University Materials Science and Engineering 2009 master's graduate Canan Dağdeviren. Canan Dağdeviren's lecture was titled “Love Does Not Wait”.

Canan Dağdeviren began by telling her own story and experiences, saying “Have dreams, not excuses. And follow those dreams”. Canan Dağdeviren explained that she always explored viable alternatives when she decided to do something, and continued: “Sometimes, we make our own opportunities. Even a lack of opportunity could open the door to new opportunities."

Giving advice to new graduates, Canan Dağdeviren said that success was contagious and had to be shared to multiply. Emphasizing the importance of asking questions, Dağdeviren said “Asking questions widens a world that is shrinking more every day. We need to ask questions to grasp new opportunities for success. Many times, asking the right question cleared new possibilities for me."

Canan Dağdeviren also spoke about her laboratory at MIT Media Lab and discussed her latest scientific work.

Projects to be supported as part of the TÜBİTAK Priority Areas R&D Project Support Program (1003) –an initiative to support domestic R&D projects within priority areas designated by the National Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy that observe the dynamics of their respective scientific or technological field and have traceable targets– have been chosen.

A 36-month project by Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) member Dr. Selmiye Alkan Gürsel as Project Implementer and Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) researcher Dr. Alp Yürüm, Dr. Begüm Yarar Kaplan, Dr. Mehmet Serdar Gültekin from Atatürk University, and Yusuf Keskin from İnovenso Consultancy as researchers, titled “Developing Next-Generation High-Capacity Cathodes with Nano Structures and Lithium Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA) Content by Electro-Spinning for Li-ion Batteries”, was chosen for support within the TÜBİTAK 1003 - Energy Storage Technologies Call.

A 24-month small scale project by FENS member Dr. Sinan Yıldırım as Project Implementer and Dr. Erdinç Öztürk and Dr. Kamer Kaya as researchers, titled “High-Performance Stochastic Database Management Systems”, will receive support within the TÜBİTAK 1003 - Innovative Database Management Systems Call.

A 36-month large scale project by SUNUM Researcher Dr. Özlem Kutlu and FENS Postdoc Researcher Dr. Morteza Ghorbani as researchers, FENS members Dr. Ali Koşar and Dr. Devrim Gözüaçık as consultants, Dr. Sinan Ekici from Hisar Hospital as Project Implementer, Yeditepe University faculty member Dr. Asiye Işın Doğan Ekici as researcher, and Ömer Sezgin Uluşahin from ADS Medical Devices and Sarp Gönül from Massive Dynamics as consultants, titled “Domestic Endoscopic Device for Hydrodynamic Cavitation-Based Medical Applications: Prototype to Production”, was chosen for support within the TÜBİTAK 1003 - Innovative Medical Devices for Diagnostics, Treatment and Support Call.      

A 24-month small scale project by SUNUM Researcher Dr. Meral Yüce as consultant, Istanbul Medipol University faculty member Dr. Mehmet Kocatürk as Project Implementer, and Istanbul Medipol University faculty member Dr. Yasemin Yüksel Durmaz, Dr. Hasan Kurt and TED University faculty member Dr. Bengi Ünal as researchers, titled “Design of a Microelectrode Array Conducive to Chronic Implantation for Measuring Dopamine Concentration” will also receive support as part of the Innovative Medical Devices for Diagnostics, Treatment and Support Call.

Sabancı University Start-up Company League SUCOOL partnered with Workinlot to implement an online incubation program called pre-SUCOOL. The program was announced at a meetup on Monday, June 4 at ImpactHub Istanbul.

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Member Volkan Patoğlu won the Outstanding Assistant Editor Award for his contribution to the success of the IEEE Transaction on Haptics journal.

Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Member Erdinç Öztürk was chosen to the Advisory Board of the TÜBİTAK Information Technologies Group.

Erdinç Öztürk was re-elected to the Advisory Board of the TÜBİTAK Information Technologies Group for a term of one year starting on April 8, 2018.