Istanbul Technical University Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ITU GINOVA) was founded in 2014. With a long history of engineering education, ITU has been a prominent institution for over 250 years. The co-founders of ITU GINOVA are members of Management Engineering Department and they saw the need for collaboration among departments as a driver for innovation on Campus.
ITU GINOVA was founded to inspire the entrepreneurship culture at ITU by encouraging the students and academics for taking initiative based on creativity and innovation as well as help them to improve their relevant skills and abilities. In addition, the Center aims to conduct research for expanding the knowledge on innovation and entrepreneurship. Enabling the active participation of students, academics, graduates, business representatives and entrepreneurs and providing mechanisms for these parties to share their expertise and experience freely, İTU GINOVA acts as catalyzer for those who are interested and curious in innovation and entrepreneurship. The Center aims to build bridges among the stakeholders of ITU entrepreneurship ecosystem such as incubation centers, technology transfer offices, student clubs, research centers.
ITU GINOVA aims to be the first stop for students to learn about entrepreneurship as well as develop their entrepreneurial skills. Student teams that are formed here are supported through trainings, workshops, and one on one coaching and mentoring services; once stronger in their skills and self-confidence, they move on to other organizations in the ecosystem for further resources.
Counting down to celebrating the 250th year, ITU, as one of the world's oldest technical universities, has left marks in many areas by educating countless scientists, business people, politicians, and bureaucrats. This project will create many opportunities by combining ITU’s STEM competencies with ITU GINOVA’s experience in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Prof. Şebnem Burnaz, the Director of ITU GINOVA, says “Being a meeting point for students from different departments of ITU, we promote students and academics to generate ideas together and bring them into the use of society. As such, we are excited to be a part of this project to provide a comprehensive understanding of the needs for valorisation and research-driven entrepreneurship training.”
As the project coordinator ITU is responsible for the smooth flow of the project, coordinating the work of the partner organizations as well as making a digital gallery of success stories of Academic STEM Entrepreneurs. ITU project team consists of Dr. Zeynep Erden Bayazıt, Prof. Şebnem Burnaz and Dr. Alper Yurttaş.