The faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) was founded in 1970, and, however, the history of Istanbul Technical University (and the faculty) dates back to the Ottoman era. Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Hümayun, which interprets into the Imperial School of Naval Engineering, was established in 1773 to provide western style education in engineering for the first time in the Ottoman Empire. The faculty is the oldest of its kind in Turkey to offer graduate and undergraduate degrees in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and in Ship and Ocean Technology, and graduate degree in Offshore Engineering.
Ata Nutku Ship Model Testing Laboratory operating within the faculty plays an important role for the marine technology in Turkey, and provides education, research and development activities and consultancy services for the marine industry in Turkey and in many other countries. The activities of the laboratory are centred on ship resistance and propulsion, offshore technology, ship design and transportation. Ata Nutku Ship Model Testing Laboratory is a member of ITTC. Another experimental facility is ITU Large Cavitation Tunnel, which is under construction, and it is expected that the construction will be completed by this year. The largest test section of the tunnel is 5.5m x 1.5m x 1.2m, and the maximum flow speed is 15 m/s. The tunnel will be powered by 1 MW electric motor. The following tests will be performed at ITU Large Cavitation Tunnel: Cavitation in uniform and non-uniform flows; conventional and unconventional propeller performance tests; trust and torque measurements with open water and self-propulsion dynamometers; detailed wake and boundary layer measurements using laser-based PIV and LDV systems; high quality acoustic measurements; boundary layer and drag tests. Other laboratories within the faculty are Ship Emission Laboratory, Computational Marine Hydrodynamic Laboratory, İlham Artüz Ocean Sciences Laboratory, Ecotoxicology Research and Education Laboratory, Ship Strength Laboratory.