Great Achievement by IGU Software Engineering Students in the SAYZEK Program!
Fourth-year students of Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU), Department of Software Engineering, Münevver Busenur Şengül and Merve Akgül, have been awarded graduation project support for the 2025–2026 academic term within the SAYZEK (Defense Industry Talent Acquisition) – Research-Based Project (ATP) Program carried out by the Presidency of Defense Industries.
The students’ project, titled “Image Processing-Based Multi-Layered Threat Detection and Autonomous Avoidance System for Autonomous Aerial Vehicles,” aims to detect aerial elements—such as drones, aircraft, helicopters, and missiles—using only camera-based sensor data, powered by artificial intelligence.
The system calculates the threat levels of detected objects, verifies friend-or-foe status through UDP-based position sharing, and performs autonomous avoidance maneuvers when necessary.
Conducted under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Gönen from IGU Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Computer Engineering, the project offers a local, low-cost, network-based alternative to high-cost sensors such as radar and lidar.
Through UDP-based position sharing between friendly units, the system enhances visual classification results with location verification, thereby establishing a more reliable threat detection and decision-making infrastructure.
This innovative system constitutes a strategic defense technology R&D project that directly aligns with both the SAYZEK Program and the vision of the National Technology Initiative.
Istanbul Gelisim University continues to nurture students with an innovative, productive, and nationally oriented technological education model. The university maintains its full support for its students’ achievements in this significant study, which contributes to the development of Turkey’s domestic autonomous systems and defense technologies.
