İTÜ E-Bülten

ITU Seismic Team Wins First Place in Turkey at DASK Competition!

Under the supervision of our faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Tuna Değer, ITU Seismic Team proudly represented our universtiy once again this year at the Earthquake-Resistant Building Design Competition, organized annually by DASK. Competing against 21 university teams with their innovative earthquake-resistant building design, our team claimed first place in the finals held in Istanbul on May 14-16, 2025.

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ITU Sets a New Milestone: Graduate Programs Earn MUDEK Accreditation and the Prestigious EUR-ACE Label

For the first time in Turkey, ITU’s graduate programs in Earthquake Engineering, Coastal Sciences and Engineering, and Textile Engineering have been accredited by MUDEK — a member of ENAEE — and awarded the prestigious EUR-ACE (European Accredited Engineer) label. This achievement aligns our education quality with international standards and offers our students a competitive edge in the global job market, reflecting ITU’s continued commitment to excellence in engineering education and contributions to science and technology.

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Long-Term Effects of Post-Earthquake Landslides on Vegetation Ecosystem Net Carbon

The project titled “Long-Term Net Carbon Impact of Post-Earthquake Landslides on Vegetation Ecosystems,” led by our faculty member Prof. Ufuk Yazgan and his colleagues, was published in Ecological Indicators. It investigates the lasting effects of landslides triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake on vegetation carbon uptake. Using landslide inventories, satellite data, and advanced statistical models, the study found that landslides significantly reduce carbon uptake, with precipitation aiding recovery and landscape fragmentation slowing it. These findings emphasize the need for sustainable land management after seismic events to preserve carbon balance.

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Assessment of a Substandard Reinforced Concrete Frame’s Beam–Column Joint Using Shake Table Testing

The project titled “Seismic Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Frame Beam–Column Joints,” conducted by Assoc. Prof. Reşat Atalay Oyguç and a collaborative research team, was published in a recent article. Focusing on typical 1980s RC frame construction in Türkiye, the study involved shake table tests using ground motions from the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake. Results revealed severe shear cracking, concrete spalling, and pinching at beam–column joints, underscoring the urgent need for targeted seismic retrofitting and offering valuable insights to guide updates in seismic design codes.

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ITU-JICA Project: Lessons Learned from Kahramanmaraş and Hatay Earthquakes Seminar

Lessons Learned from Karamanmaraş and Hatay Earthquakes seminar, hosted by the ITU Disaster Management Institute on March 10,2025 was successfully held. The hybrid seminar was attended by disaster management experts, academicians, and representatives of public institutions. In the panel session, Assos. Prof. Dr. Can Zülfikar and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Ekmecioğlu jointly delivered a presentation summarizing the main findings of the project. In the question and answer session, participants shared their views on disaster management processes through their questions to the panelists.

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NFPA 1660 Standard for Continuity, Emergency, and Crisis Management: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Training

Istanbul Technical University Disaster Management Institute hosted a significant international training on vehicle fires one of today's most critical risk areas. "Vehicle Fire Safety Training" delivered by NFPA Senior International Relations Officer Kenneth Burson, provided participants- especially from fire departments, emergency response teams, automotive sector engineers, and experts in related fields- with the latest information and intervention techniques against the hazards posed by new generation vehicle technologies.

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Two Seminars on Earthquake Engineering Conducted in 2025

As part of the 2025 In-Service Training Seminar Series organized by the Earthquake Engineering Department, two seminars were successfully held.

The first seminar, “Post-Tensioned and Precast Japanese Construction Technologies in Residential Buildings and Examples from Turkey,” was presented by Civil Engineer Birol Doyranlı on April 10, 2025, at the Disaster Management Institute. He shared insights on modern post-tensioned and precast construction techniques and their applications in Turkey.

The second seminar, held online on May 13, 2025, featured Dr. Filippo Casarin from the University of Padova. His presentation focused on advanced methods for assessing the structural health of existing buildings, including heritage and historic structures, covering diagnostic and modeling techniques.

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Temporal and Spatial Seismic Risk Scenarios of Istanbul

The paper "Temporal and Spatial Risk Scenarios of Istanbul" published in Journal of Risk Research, explores Istanbul's seismic risks through six comprehensive scenarios, incorporating both temporal and spatial dimensions. Using the Impact Chains (IC) methodology, the study examines the immediate, short-term and long-term of earthquakes occurring at different times and under different conditions. The study contributes to deeper understanding of risk reduction and disaster preparedness strategies for megacities like Istanbul

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Rapid Post-Earthquake Damage Assessment Of Building Portfolios Through Deep Learning-Based Component-Level Image Recognition

Our faculty member, Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Tuna Değer, together with her colleagues, contributed to a recent study introducing a rapid post-earthquake building damage assessment method based on component images and deep learning. The study employs convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to classify structural damage by training models to identify component types and damage levels. After an earthquake, images of affected buildings are analyzed, and weighted scores are combined to produce overall structural condition grades. This approach enables comprehensive damage evaluation across building portfolios, aiding resource allocation, rescue operations, and maintenance planning.

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A Structural Damage Ranking Using ConvNeXt for Post-Earthquake Image Classification

Assoc. Prof. Gülşen Taşkın, as part of a research group, contributed to a study developing a deep learning-based classifier for automated post-earthquake building damage assessment. The study uses ConvNeXt, a state-of-the-art convolutional neural network, to differentiate structural from nonstructural damage. The model was trained with transfer learning on 9,645 labeled images from the 2020 Elazığ Earthquake and tested on 2023 Kahramanmaraş data. Employing data augmentation and regularization techniques, it achieved high accuracy and strong generalization, marking a significant advancement for reliable post-disaster evaluations.

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