Great potential for collaborationsThe partnership between the city of Aalen and the Turkish city of Antakya and the large municipality of Hatay is being expanded to include collaborations between universities
Prof. Dr. Tolga Depci, Rector of Iskenderun University of Technology, discussed future cooperation with Rector Prof. Dr. Harald Riegel (right). Photo: © Aalen University of Applied Sciences | Martina Kübler
Prof. Dr. Tolga Depci, rector of the Iskenderun University of Technology in Hatay province, recently visited Aalen University of Applied Sciences for the first time. Both through discussions with the university management and by visiting numerous laboratories, he was able to get a concrete idea of the potential of future collaboration.
Prof. Dr. Tolga Depci was welcomed by Rector Prof. Dr. Harald Riegel on his first visit to Aalen. After a short conversation in which the rectors introduced their institutions to each other and discussed the current challenges, the visit continued with a tour of the research facilities at Aalen University. Depci, an engineer and specialist in the field of metallurgy and mining, has shown great interest in the current research projects.
The partnership between the Iskenderun Technical University (ISTE) and Aalen University of Applied Sciences has officially existed since last year. However, due to the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria in spring 2023, which also hit Hatay province hard, the official meeting of the rectors had to wait until recently. The earthquake also damaged parts of the campus of the new partner university, which is why all first-year students can only take part in online lectures this semester. ISTE is a state university and was founded in 2015 by splitting off from Mustafa Kemal University, a long-standing partner institution of Aalen University of Applied Sciences. In addition to engineering, ISTE also offers training in social sciences and music.
“I am very pleased that Aalen University of Applied Sciences is now able to develop a collaboration with the Iskenderun Technical University in addition to the important and long-standing city partnership. There are many possibilities for potential research collaborations,” says Riegel. In addition to possible collaboration in research, the Erasmus+ partnership between ISTE and Aalen University of Applied Sciences also provides for lecturer and student exchanges in the areas of mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, SMEs management and mechatronics.