7th ASELSAN Academy Workshop and Procotol Signing Ceremony Held

November 23, 2024-GTU Office of Press and Public Relations

Within the scope of the ASELSAN Academy Graduate Education Program, Hacettepe University joins the program, which is carried out under the auspices of the Presidency of the Council of Higher Education and in cooperation with Gebze Technical University (GTU), Middle East Technical University, Istanbul Technical University and Gazi University. In this context, the "Cooperation Protocol Signing Ceremony" held on November 19-20, 2024 is held with great participation.

The opening speech of the ceremony was delivered by Prof. Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education. Özvar thanked all parties who supported the implementation of the protocol and emphasized the importance of cooperation between the defense industry and universities.

Özvar said, "The first stakeholders of the program were four research universities, namely Gebze Technical University, Gazi University, Istanbul Technical University, and the Middle East Technical University. Now, with the inclusion of Hacettepe University in this program, it is a pleasing development that the number of universities has reached five."

Özvar remarked, "To date, the ASELSAN Academy Program has made great contributions to the sharing of knowledge and technology between our universities and ASELSAN, and has played a critical role in the success of projects developed with domestic and national facilities in the defense industry. Within the scope of the program, research universities and academics are provided with an applied technological project environment. The total number of graduates of ASELSAN Academy has reached 435, 426 of whom have master's degrees and 9 of whom have doctoral degrees. We wish to increase the number of employees with master's and doctoral degrees in the defense industry. I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize that a doctoral degree should not only be seen as a means of obtaining tenure from the university."
 

Prof. Haluk Görgün, Secretary of Defense Industries, stated that this protocol, which he described as a successful example of university-industry collaboration, will increase the technological depth of our defense industry. Görgün stated that knowledge accumulation and competitiveness will be maintained with the contribution of academics who are experts in their fields.

This cooperation protocol aims to create a strong synergy between the defense industry ecosystem and universities. This synergy is expected to provide new perspectives at the point of exporting products to international markets, thereby providing significant economic support for the sector.

In addition, with the contribution of universities to scientific and technological projects, innovations are aimed to be introduced to the international arena, accelerate the transfer of knowledge, and meet the needs of our country's defense industry at the highest level.

The protocol is evaluated as a step that is expected to make a great contribution to the youth, the defense industry, and the future of our country. It was stated that the cooperation between ASELSAN and universities in this context will increase scientific and technological achievements in the long term. In addition to Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education; Prof. Haluk Görgün, Secretary of Defense Industries; Prof. Naci Gündoğan; Prof. Erol Arcaklıoğlu; Prof. Mahmut Ak; Prof. Hüseyin Karaman; Prof. Arif Bilgin; university rectors; ASELSAN CEO and President Ahmet Akyol; and industry representatives attended the signing ceremony held at ASELSAN Gölbaşı Campus.