IEEE Türkiye Section History

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IEEE Geographic Unit Organizing Document - Turkey

Background

The IEEE Turkey Section is located in Region 8.

In the media

Extract of article in THE INSTITUTE magazine AUGUST 2002, by BY ERICA VONDERHEID Assistant Editor.

Turkey may not be a technical superpower yet, but a group of enterprising student members sees a way to change that by using IEEE education resources. Yakup Bayram, Ali Aydogan and eight students from Middle East Technical University (METU) and Bilkent University, both in Ankara, have formed a committee to establish 16 new IEEE Student Branches throughout the country.

"We all hope this project will be a good example to other countries where active Student Branches will want to do the same thing," said Bayram, currently a graduate research associate at The Ohio State University and the IEEE Columbus Section Student Activities chair. In Region 8, the Turkey Section has the hightest number of student members - up 24 percent since the project started.

For their work in encouraging new Student Branches in Turkey, Bayram and Aydogan received the 2001 IEEE Regional Activities Board Achievement Award. In 1999, METU won an award for best IEEE Student Branch worldwide.

"Turkey is quickly advancing and trying to catch up on education standards accepted by more developed countries," Bayram said. "The IEEE is a gateway to modern engineering education, which means a lot to students who want to follow the latest technology news." The IEEE allows the universities to present their research in an international science arena, Bayram said.

During the first phase of the project, the student committee contacted deans of electrical engineering at several universities and provided in-depth information about the IEEE. A student committee member was assigned to help develop activities and ensure the prospective Branch had the resources and support it needed.

Next, the committee prepared a booklet and presented a slide show about the IEEE's value to students and university deans. Representatives from the prospective Student Branch were invited to the Turkey Section Student Branch meeting to gain inspiration and learn what the IEEE student members could accomplish.

After the project committee had generated the students' interest and university administrations support, the Branches were ready to operate independently. This last project phase was completed at the end of May 2001.

Currently, Bayram and his colleagues are developing a Web page to improve communications among all IEEE Student Branches in Turkey. Student members can communicate and exchange ideas and experiences at http://trsb.ieee.metu.edu.tr".  For more information about IEEE activities in Turkey, visit ..http://www.ieee.org.tr.•.