Civil Engineering Laboratory

Construction Materials Laboratory

MEF Construction Materials Laboratory is a teaching lab with numerous cement, aggregate and concrete testing features.  Standard cement tests include fineness, soundness, time of set, and strength.  Sieve analysis, specific gravity and absorption of the aggregates can also be determined.  Students perform the tests on constituent materials as well as mix design calculations, mixing and sample preparation in a hands-on environment.  Non-destructive test methods including Schmidt Hammer and Ultrsonic pulse velocity can be performed.  Additionally, there is a universal loading equipment with 10-ton capacity which is being used for tensile, compression and bending tests. 

Soil Mechanics Laboratory

Geotechnical engineering is one of the main branches in civil engineering that includes the analysis, design and construction of all types of foundations, slopes, retaining structures, embankments, roadways, tunnels, levees, landfills and all other civil engineering structures that are supported by or made up of soil or rock. A thorough understanding of the ground behaviour through soil mechanics is required to provide engineering parameters used in the design of any of these structures in contact with soil. Laboratory testing forms an integral part of soil mechanics.

MEF Soil Mechanics Laboratory contains a wide range of experimental equipment, for performing conventional geotechnical characterization and testing of soil samples, including moisture content, specific gravity, sieve & hydrometer analysis, Atterberg limits, standard & modified Proctor compaction, consolidation, permeability, California Bearing Ratio (CBR), CBR swelling, unconfined compression, fully automated direct shear and static triaxial tests (UU, CU & CD). MEF Soil Mechanics laboratory is currently used for undergraduate teaching as well as research.​

Mini Geology Laboratory: Rock Collection

Geology is a science course that introduces the civil engineering students with the plate tectonics theory, the concepts of earth structure, earthquakes, faults, plate boundaries, magmatic, metamorphic, & sedimentary processes, the corresponding common minerals & rock types, weathering processes, soil formation, basic geologic cross-sectional maps, surface water and groundwater. 

Our mini geology laboratory was launched by Dr. Yıldırım and includes a rich collection of more than fifty samples containing igneous, sedimentary & metamorphic rocks. The lab also includes a Mohs hardness scale set of minerals to educate the students about mineral identification. We are very grateful to Dr. Rahmi Eyüboğlu of İTÜ School of Mines, for his generous support in the processes of collecting these rock samples. We also appreciate the support received from MTA.

Laboratory Supervisor Civil Eng. İsmail Cantekin

Ismail Cantekin has completed his BSc at Yıldız Technical University in 1984. He has been working as a responsible engineer in MEF University Civil Engineering Laboratory since 2018 after working as a laboratory chief in ITU Geodesy and Photogrammetry Laboratory between 1975 and 1987, subway constructions in the private sector between 1987 and 1992, and in Istanbul Technical University Soil Mechanics Laboratory between 1992 and 2017.