June 27, 2023
The MARTEST (Establishment of a Research and Education Complex for Developing Disaster-Resilient Societies) project, conducted by the Marmara Application and Research Center for Disaster-Resilient Structures, has officially started.
The MARTEST project, led by the Department of Civil Engineering at Gebze Technical University (GTU) and supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s SATREPS program, officially started with the mutual signing of the executive board meeting report, held between June 25-27, 2023. The project, which will run until June 20, 2028, aims to improve disaster preparedness and build resilient cities in Türkiye through the transfer of knowledge and technology from Japan. As part of the project, dynamic testing laboratory equipment will be donated for studying the impact of seismic ground motion on building systems and components. A database will be created for potential tsunamis and other data in the Eastern Marmara Sea, and fiber-optic cables laid on the seabed will be used to monitor the underwater section of the North Anatolian Fault Line. In addition, the project will incorporate the lessons learned from the recent Maraş Earthquakes to raise disaster awareness in the community.
At the MARTEST project's executive board meeting, GTU Rector Prof. Hacı Ali Mantar stated that the project is an important step toward fostering societal awareness and resilient urban living, particularly in the face of earthquakes and other potential disasters. He emphasized that GTU, as the lead institution, is aware of its significant role alongside other stakeholder institutions.
During the visit by the Japanese team, an olive tree planting ceremony was held at the campus where the GTU MARTEST laboratory building will be constructed, symbolizing bilateral cooperation. GTU Rector Prof. Hacı Ali Mantar, Çayırova District Governor Ahmet Önal, Gebze Mayor Zinnur Büyükgöz, and Japanese and Turkish researchers involved in the project attended the ceremony. The planting of olive trees became a symbolic expression of the collaboration behind the GTU MARTEST project.
Through the participation of researchers from GTU, METU, Boğaziçi University, Yıldız Technical University, Hacettepe University, Afyon Kocatepe University, AFAD, the Red Crescent, the Turkish Earthquake Foundation, and the Chamber of Civil Engineers, the benefits gained from the MARTEST project in Türkiye will be widely shared. In Japan, leading universities and research institutions in Earthquake and Structural Engineering, Tsunami Engineering, Seismology, Geomatics, and Disaster Management will be involved. This collaboration will enable strong international knowledge sharing and experience exchange through the MARTEST project.
For updates on the project, visit https://martest.gtu.edu.tr/.
