Yıldız Technical University has a distinguished history that dates to 1911. YTU was founded as Kondüktör Mekteb-i Âlisi in order to meet the "science officer" needs of the Municipality Public Works Section. The school was modeled on the syllabus of the "Ecole de Conducteur" and was affiliated with the Ministry of Public Works. The school's name was changed to Nafia Fen Mektebi in 1922. The duration of education was increased to two and a half years in 1926 and three years in 1931. Following the increase in public facilities and the requirement for technical services, a ruling ordered the closure of Nafia Fen Mektebi and the establishment of a Technical School to supply the workforce for the gap between technical officers and professional engineers. The school provided a two-year program for technical officers and a four-year program for engineers. Buildings were granted from the Yıldız Palace annexes, which are still in use today. In the early period, the school consisted of civil and mechanical departments, educating students as technical officers and engineers. Starting with the 1942-1943 semester, electrical and architecture departments were added as part of the Department of Engineering. The school was established as an autonomous higher education and research institution in 1969. With a law which ruled for the closing of special vocational schools in 1971, engineering schools were affiliated with the Istanbul State Engineering and Architectural Academy.
Campuses history
Yıldız University was formed by the merger of the Istanbul State Engineering and Architectural Academy along with affiliated schools of engineering, and related faculties and departments of the Kocaeli State Engineering and Architecture Academy together with the Kocaeli Vocational School. The new university incorporated a Science Institute, a Social Sciences Institute, and the departments of Science-Literature and Engineering, Foreign Languages, Turkish Language, Atatürk Principles & the History of Revolution, Physical Education and Fine Arts. The university took its final name in 1992 as Yıldız Technical University. The Faculty of Engineering was divided into four faculties and restructured as: Faculty of Electrical-Electronics, Faculty of Construction, Faculty of Mechanical and Chemical-Metallurgy, and Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. The Kocaeli Faculty of Engineering and the Kocaeli Vocational School were separated from the university to be restructured as Kocaeli University.
In 2018, Times Higher Education ranked the university top 1000 in the world. In the QS World University Rankings 2020, YTU is ranked at 351-400th in the subject areas "Electrical & Electronics Engineering" and "Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering". In "Physics & Astronomy", YTU attained 501-550th position. Moreover, in the broad subject area of "Engineering & Technology", YTU stands at 451-500th place worldwide. In the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019, YTU is ranked at 201-300th in the subject area "Civil Engineering", 301-400th in the subject area "Mechanical Engineering", and 401-500th in the subject areas "Physics" and "Chemical Engineering". The BestGlobal Universities Ranking of the U.S. News & World Report ranks YTU 769th in the world and 292nd in the subject area "Engineering" as of 2019. By CWTS Leiden Ranking 2019, YTU is ranked 762nd, 450th in the subject area "Physical Sciences and Engineering" and 422nd in the subject area "Mathematics and Computer Science". By URAP 2018, Yildiz Technical University is ranked 868th and 461st in the subject area "Engineering". By Round University Ranking 2019, YTU is ranked 660st in the world, 529th in the "Technical Sciences" and 598th in the "Natural Sciences".
Notable faculty
Oktay Sinanoğlu
Şirin Pancaroğlu
Notable alumni
See also :Category:Yıldız Technical University alumni|Yıldız Technical University alumni for the detailed list.
