History of the Department

The opening of a Geodesy Department at Karadeniz Technical University came into question when Erdoğan ÖZBENLİ started working at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1964. As a result, at the beginning of the 1965/66 academic year, the Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering was established under the Faculty of Construction - Architecture at KTU. Erdoğan Özbenli was appointed as the head of the Department.

The Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry started education on Monday, December 22, 1968 with 46 students as the 4th department in the 6th academic year of the university in the Department of Chemistry. Thus, for the first time in Turkey, geodesy training (for 5 years) was started in order to train graduate engineers within a university.

Erdoğan ÖZBENLİ states that Central European geodesy learning systems and IYTO Mapping Department's learning program are widely used in the preparation of the education plan of the KTU Geodesy Department. Shortly after the Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering Department was established, KTU Geodesy Institute was opened with a ceremony held on Monday, January 6, 1969 at 14.00. The KTU rector of that time, Prof. Dr. Ahmet ÖZEL, Prof. Dr. Halis DUMAN, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Architecture, Prof. Orhan BOLAK, Director of Geodesy Institute Assoc. Dr. Erdoğan ÖZBENLİ, President of TMMOB Chamber of Surveying and Cadastre Engineers Emin ERTÜRK attended and gave speeches.

Appointed as the Head of the Geodesy Institute as well as the Head of the Department, Assoc. Dr. Dr. Erdoğan ÖZBENLİ's speech at the ceremony is as follows:

“Preparing a map of a region constitutes a first and important step not only for determining what can be done in that region, but also for determining what cannot be done.”

"In addition to making maps, there is a problem of making maps quickly.”

“Measurement and application processes in large investment projects and some other special industrial measurement problems that require great precision are frequently seen events where great expense and effort are wasted when they are performed by personnel who are not well trained in measuring technique.”

The first academic activity of the Geodesy Institute in KTU was the "First Map Symposium" held on 07.01.1969. The guests who came for the opening of the Institute participated with their papers in the symposium   the theme “How Should a Survey Engineering Education Provide Geodesy Formation?”

After the establishment of the Geodesy Institute under the leadership of Erdoğan Özbenli, the "Bulletin of Geodesy", which included articles in Turkish, German and English, began to be published. (01.10.1969). This quarterly journal was closed after two volumes (6 issues) were published.

The duration of education at KTU was reduced to 4 years starting from the 1970/71 school year. The previous graduates graduated with the title of "engineer with a master’s degree" after 5 years of education. As of this year, those who entered the university were graduating with the title of "engineer" after studying for 4 years, only by receiving undergraduate education. When the first undergraduate graduates were given in 1974, Head of Geodesy Department Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Özbenli made another first in KTU and started postgraduate education in the Department of Geodesy. 4 of the 20 candidates who applied for the 10 graduate quotas opened for the first time in 1975, started their graduate education successfully in the exams. In this program, education lasts for 3 semesters, 2 semesters of which are lectures and one semester is thesis. The first graduates were given at the end of the 1976 fall semester.

Today, the Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering, which continues its activities within the administrative structure of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of KTU, was connected to the newly established Faculty of Earth Sciences with the arrangement made in the 1970/71 academic year. In 1975, it moved to its own building, which is currently operating independently.  In 1982, it was included in today's Faculty of Engineering and Architecture with the law of “Council of Higher Education”. With the new regulation made in 2005, the name of the faculty was changed to the Faculty of Engineering.

Since the establishment of our department, the department heads have been as follows.

Prof. Dr. Erdoğan ÖZBENLİ (1968-1980)

Prof. Dr. Muzaffer ŞERBETÇİ (1980-1988)

Prof. Dr. Türkay TÜDEŞ (1988-1993)

Prof. Dr. Gürol BANGER (1993-1998)

Prof. Dr. Nihat AKYOL (1998-2005)

Prof. Dr. Cemal BIYIK (2005-2016)

Prof. Dr. Fevzi KARSLI (2017-2019)

Prof. Dr. Çetin CÖMERT (2019-2022)

Prof. Dr. Mualla YALÇINKAYA (2022-)

IMPORTANT DATES

1964 Erdogan Özbenli started working at KTU.

1965/66 The Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry Engineering was established under the KTU Faculty of Civil  and Architecture. Erdoğan Özbenli was appointed as the Head of the Department.

25.10.1968 Turkish Geodesy Association was established.

22.12.1968 The Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry started education (5 years) in the building of the Department of Chemistry to train graduate engineers.

06.01.1969 KTU Geodesy Institute was opened.

07.01.1969 First Map Symposium was held. Subject: How Should a Geomatic Engineering Education Provide Geodetic Formation?

01.10.1969 The "Bulletin of Geodesy" began to be published.

10.1969 General Directore of  Land Registry and cadastrate Electronic Information Processing Center Manager Eng. Erdal Koçak was appointed to the KTU Geodesy Institute as a lecturer.

04.1970 Haldun Özen, an engineer at the Ministry of Construction and Settlement, was appointed to the KTU Geodesy Institute as a lecturer. Engineer Şerif Hekimoğlu, who works at the Bafra Land Registry Directorate, was appointed as an assistant to the KTU Geodesy Institute.

14.08.1970 Prof. Ekrem Ulsoy gave a conference on "Historical Development of Geodesy in the World and in Turkey" at KTU.

1970/71 Undergraduate education period was reduced to 4 years.

1970/71 The department was attached to the Faculty of Earth Sciences.

1975 The department has moved to its new building. Graduate education started in the department.

1980 Prof. Dr. Muzaffer ŞERBETÇİ was appointed as the Head of the Department.

1982 With the Council of Higher Education, the Department was connected to the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture.

1988 Prof. Dr. Türkay TÜDEŞ was appointed as the Head of Department.

1993 Prof. Dr. Gürol BANGER was appointed as the Head of Department.

1994 "I. National Geographic Information Systems" symposium was held.

1998 Prof. Dr. Nihat AKYOL was appointed as the Head of Department.

1999 "Eastern Black Sea Region Cadastre-Property Problems" symposium was held.

1999  "Urban Information System Applications in Local Governments" symposium was held.

2003 "Second International Young Surveyors Days" was held.

2005 "TNGC IV. Geodesy Workshop: Geoid and Vertical Datum" workshop was held.

05.11.2005 Prof. Dr. Cemal BIYIK was appointed as the Head of Department.

2005 The department was attached to the Faculty of Engineering.

09.02.2017 Prof. Dr. Fevzi KARSLI was appointed as the Head of Department.

29.01.2019 Prof. Dr. Çetin CÖMERT was appointed as the Head of Department.

28.01.2022   Prof. Dr. Mualla YALÇINKAYA was appointed as the Head of Department.