TURKISH

Environmental Engineering Department (EED) of Istanbul Technical University (ITU), being one of the leading departments of Turkish Republic (TR) in the field of environmental engineering education and research, had first started as a graduate program in 1973 within the School of Civil Engineering, and the department itself was established in 1975, followed by the initiation of the undergraduate program in 1978. In 1978, the undergraduate program had started with a group of staff consisting of 2 Professors, 4 Research Assistants with Ph.D. degrees and of 4 assistants conducting their graduate studies.

The Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Program accepts about 50 students every year including the first rank students from reputable high schools of the country and foreign students.

The graduates of the Department have leading roles in the related industries and in academia. There is a significant number of graduates continuing their graduate studies both in the country and abroad. The members of the Environmental Engineering Department have always been at the forefront of the developments in ITU. The department had promoted and practiced the English-Supported Education (ESE), which was initiated in the 1989-1990 academic year, and contributed to its coordination throughout the University. ESE was an option, in which the students, who chose to pursue this path, took 25 extra credits of elective courses taught in English. Compulsory bilingual education was started in the 1997-1998 Academic year. With that, at least 30% of the total credits required for the undergraduate degree are to be taken from courses taught in English.

At that time, a revised undergraduate curriculum, with respect to its basic sciences, engineering sciences, engineering design, and humanities contents, was initiated in order to comply with the requirements of a contemporary engineering education. Total number of credits required for the undergraduate environmental engineering degree was decreased from 169 to 151.5 and the ratio of elective to compulsory courses in the curriculum was increased.

The activities towards getting the ABET certificate have started in 1999 under the coordination of the Department Chair.