Tips for Entrepreneurship in Business Life from Our Graduate Özgür Savaş Özüdogru

Last week, ITU Business World Talks hosted E-BERK Tunnel and Foundation Technologies Founder, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering 1995 graduate Özgür Savaş Özüdoğru. Our graduate Özüdogru shared his entrepreneurship experiences after his graduation in the interview titled "Entrepreneurship in Business Life".

As part of Istanbul Technical University’s Business World Talks, E-BERK Tunnel and Foundation Technologies Founder Özgür Savaş Özüdoğru became the guest of Res. Asst. Hazal Taşkın. In the meeting held online on ITU’s social media accounts, Özüdoğru shared his entrepreneurship experiences after his graduation.

“We carried our country to a global position in tunnel boring machine”

Özgür Savaş Özüdogru, who briefly talked about himself and his story of founding a company in the interview, described his entrepreneurial adventure with these words: “When we decided to manufacture the first ring for the tunnel boring machine in 2002, Bedri Amca, who is an old ITU Mechanical Engineering graduate, came. He asked me to produce three rings as a heat treater. When I manufactured the product to the size and precision he wanted and was about to deliver it to him, he said, 'Take these and go to Istanbul, Baltalimanı to see Ömer Gündüz Bey and deliver them to him.' So, I came to Istanbul. I talked to Ömer Bey and after I delivered what he wanted, I received an order for 50 more. Ömer Bey showed a very close interest in me because I am from ITU. That's when I understood the pride of being a member of ITU better. And our journey, which we started without knowing where the part we produced that day will be used, continues today as E-BERK.”

Expressing that he was inspired by his son’s name while naming his company E-BERK, Özüdogru said, "Our journey that started with an office of 100 m², continues today with more than 400 employees in an area of thousands of square meters. Today we export to 40 countries. Now we have a dream of America because we see serious potential there. As E-BERK, we made investments in order to be there and to generate added value for our country. We carried our country to the 8th global producer position in the tunnel boring machine sector.”

Who is Özgür Savaş Özüdoğru?

He was born in 1975 in Izmir. He graduated from ITU Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department in 1995. Afterwards he entered the master's program at METU and started his business life in Ankara the same year. He is the founding chair of E-BERK, which produced the first domestic tunnel boring machine, Özsöz Construction Group and Metalurji Akdağ Heat Treatment companies. Özüdoğru has served as a member of the board of directors of ASO (Ankara Chamber of Industry), chairman of the board of directors of 1905 AGS (Ankara Galatasaray Fan Managers and Businessmen Association), a delegate of TOBB (Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) and OSBÜK (Organized Industrial Zones Upper Organization), and is a member of the board of directors of Anadolu OSB (Anatolian Organized Industrial Zone). He is married and speaks English.