Two long-established institutions in Türkiye's technology and engineering landscape, Arçelik and Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ), have signed a protocol to strengthen university-industry cooperation. The three-year protocol, signed at a ceremony held on İTÜ's Ayazağa Campus, covers a broad scope of work extending from joint R&D and product development efforts to technology transfer, and from applied training and career opportunities for students to graduation projects.
In Which Fields Will Joint Work Be Carried Out?
Under the protocol, joint work will be conducted in areas such as healthy and long-term food preservation, smart cooking, environmentally friendly sustainable materials, air and water purification, energy-efficient cooling technologies, cleaning and hygiene technologies, and artificial intelligence. In this process, the 1773 İTÜ Technology Transfer Office will bring together İTÜ's academic expertise with Arçelik's 35 years of R&D and technology development experience in joint projects. Consideration will also be given to the projects developed benefiting from national and international support mechanisms such as European Union Framework Programmes and TÜBİTAK.
Internship and Mentorship Opportunities for Students
Within the scope of the cooperation, internship, mentorship and development programmes will be carried out to support students in carrying the knowledge and skills acquired in their academic programmes into real working environments. For students from countries where Arçelik operates who are studying at İTÜ, internships are initially targeted to be offered at the company's operations in Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, Bangladesh and Romania. Mentorship efforts for female engineering students are planned in order to support equal opportunity in the engineering field. Joint work will also be carried out on undergraduate graduation design projects and master's theses. Each year, the aim is to support graduation design projects in both engineering-focused fields and in business and economics.
"A Culture of Working Together"
İTÜ Rector Professor Dr. Hasan Mandal said in his speech at the ceremony that they assess university-industry relations as "a long-term ecosystem in which the culture of learning together, developing together and working together is strengthened." Mandal stated: "With this step we are taking with Arçelik, we are bringing our university's 253 years of scientific and engineering accumulation together with industry's experience in research, production and technology development."
Arçelik CEO Can Dinçer, meanwhile, said: "Throughout our 71-year journey, we have drawn our strength from technology, science and a culture of continuous learning," adding: "By bringing Arçelik's technology development experience together with İTÜ's scientific accumulation and engineering strength — an institution that has shaped our country's engineering and industrialisation journey with its deep-rooted history — we will lend new momentum to our work."
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