On Sunday, August 9, 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited TÜBİTAK Gebze Campus and attended the mass opening and signing ceremonies. During the ceremony, the Engine Center of Excellence established within TÜBİTAK RUTE was inaugurated.

In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, President Erdoğan pointed out that the technological infrastructure and capabilities of our country are getting stronger and stronger with the contributions of TÜBİTAK's research centers and institutes. Erdoğan said that at the Engine Center of Excellence, engines suitable for railway, maritime, generator and special-purpose use can be developed and tested domestically, thus saving companies from transferring resources to laboratories abroad and enabling large-budget engine development projects to be carried out in Turkey. After his speech, Erdoğan connected to the Engine Center of Excellence via live broadcast and inaugurated the center.

In his speech, Minister of Industry and Technology Mr. Mustafa Varank reminded that the Institute of Rail Transportation Technologies was established last year together with TCDD in order to design national railway technologies and said, "We want to become a country that meets its own needs in rail systems, rather than just being a user, and exports the technology it develops."

Providing information about the center during the opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Abdulkadir Balıkçı, Director of the Institute of Rail Transportation Technologies, stated that with this infrastructure, the national development and certification of engines from 40 horsepower to 4 thousand horsepower has become possible. Balıkçı said that the center is open to the use of all private sector companies and that our manufacturers have the opportunity to complement their own facilities with TÜBİTAK's infrastructure and knowledge.

For more information about the Motor Excellence Center click here.