Özyeğin University’s OzU Rover Team Advances to Finals After Achieving Highest Score Among Turkish Teams at URC 2022

The designers of Turkey’s very first Martian rover, the Özyeğin University’s OzU Rover Team returned home yet another international achievement. The team competed in the University Rover Challenge (URC), one of the most prestigious competitions in robotics organized in Utah, US, with their new rover Peace. Following the Preliminary Design Review and System Acceptance Review conducted among a record 99 teams from all around the world, the OzU Rover Team achieved the highest score among the 8 Turkish teams that competed in the challenge, and qualified for the URC Finals. The grand finals will take place in Utah, US, from June 1 through June 4, 2022 for which the team will have 50 days for preparations.

The OzU Rover Team was established by Assistant Prof. Özkan Bebek from Özyeğin University in 2014 to raise awareness of robotics in Turkey, conduct scientific research in this field, and represent Turkey in international competitions. The team is made up of undergraduate students who are actively pursuing their engineering studies at Özyeğin University. The OzU Rover Team that competed in the URC 2022 includes the Computer Science students Salih Metin Arkanöz, Ahmet Çağatay Savaşlı, Yunus Emre Aslan, Azra Açıl, Mert Tüfekci, Halenur Arpacık, Emin Şahin Mektepli, Ece Karataş, Ahmet Pehlivanoğlu, Dilay Dal, Can Çağatay Sevgican, and Mohamed Elayadi, Electrical-Electronics Engineering students Emre Aslan, Selinay Çetin, Tuna Çelebi, Mehmet Beyazıt Polat, Emre Kerem Özyurt, Can Hakkatapan, Emin Tankut Mutu, and Aysen Karamahmut, Mechanical Engineering students Ataberk Yapıcı, Rayan K. Badgaish, Kaan Bakkal, Mohamad El Hachache, Laith Hammad, Umut Aras Aydın, Enes Murat Yakut, Alp Can Atıcı, Ata Çorumluoğlu, Orhan Aytuğ Turhan, and Ezgi Arca, Industrial Engineering students Buğra Baltacı and Şeyma İnce, and finally Civil Engineering student Alpay Çelik and Business Administration student Berkan Sevimli.

We would like to congratulate our students on their achievements and wish them success in the grand finals in Utah.