The machines used in today’s industry minimize human error and labor requirements. In addition, designs that address space constraints in industrial settings and enable high-speed production are gaining prominence. Achieving these capabilities is made possible by the use of electronic hardware and software alongside mechanical components in machines. Consequently, there was a recognized need for a skilled workforce with sufficient expertise in mechanical engineering to design industrial machinery, in electronics to define electronic hardware and its functions during the design process, and in software development to design user interfaces; thus, the Department of Mechatronics Engineering was established in 2008.
The Department of Mechatronics Engineering, part of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Yıldız Technical University—one of Turkey’s oldest engineering education institutions—admitted its first students in the 2008–2009 academic year and, as of July 2020, has graduated students for a total of nine years. The department initially offered 30% English-taught undergraduate programs for both the first and second shifts; starting in 2013, the second shift was discontinued and replaced with a 1. a 0% English program was launched, which graduated its first class in July 2017. Thus, the 0% English program graduated its fourth class in July 2020.
The 30% and 0% English undergraduate programs offered by the department are completely equivalent in content. When preparing the weekly course schedule, separate sections are opened for the required courses of these two programs. During registration periods, students are only allowed to select courses designated for their own program. However, irregular students who have courses to make up may also take courses from sections opened for the 0% English program (through additional capacity or upon approval of a written request). In elective courses, however, due to faculty constraints, most sections are open to students from both programs exclusively in English. As a result, there are no restrictions on students in the 30% English program taking English-taught courses, and the vast majority of students graduate having taken 40–50% of their courses in English.
There are numerous classrooms, a mechanical manufacturing workshop, 15 computer-equipped student labs, a hydraulic and pneumatic control lab, an electrical and electronics lab, an engines and drives lab, and a system dynamicscontrol laboratory, as well as three research laboratories. In the summer of 2020, the Industrial Automation Laboratory, containing a total of 14 programming consoles, was added to the teaching laboratories. The Department conducts its activities in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering building at YTÜ’s Yıldız Campus.
In the Fall 2020–21 semester, the Department had a total of 402 students in the 30% English-taught undergraduate program. There are 60 students enrolled in the English Preparatory Class. In addition to this, with 334 students in the English-language undergraduate program (plus 61 in the English Preparatory Class), 84 students in the master’s program, and 35 students in the doctoral program, the total number of students in the Department is 855. As of the end of 2020, 10 students remained in the Second Shift program, which was closed in Spring 2016; for the past four years, they have been taking classes alongside First Shift students.
This student load is managed by a total of 12 faculty members—4 professors, 5 associate professors, and 3 assistant professors—along with 9 research assistants. Under the “YÖK Future” program, four new faculty positions for assistant professors have been allocated to our department, and these faculty members will begin their duties shortly. In addition, 14 faculty members are assigned from outside the department or institution to teach various courses on a paid basis.