Ekaterina’s Global Success in Turkey: From Educational Migration to the World Drone Podium

Turkey has become one of the world's primary hubs for drone technology (İHA) in recent years. This progress is evident not only in the military sector but also in attracting international talent. Ekaterina Kravchenko, a 20-year-old Russian student, is one of these talents who preferred Turkish universities over those in her own country to realize her dreams in the aviation industry [1].

Choosing Turkey for Specialization in Drone Technology Seeking a dynamic environment to learn about unmanned systems, Ekaterina chose Bursa Technical University (BTÜ) to study Mechatronics Engineering after researching the TEKNOFEST festival and Turkey's achievements in this field. Now in her second year, she serves as the electronics lead for the "Lagari" team [3]. She believes that Turkey's educational infrastructure in aerospace has provided unique opportunities for foreign students.

Smart Defense System Against Kamikaze Drones The major achievement of Ekaterina and her teammate, Saim Koçak, is the design of an active defense module based on artificial intelligence. This advanced system can identify the direction of attacking (kamikaze) drones with high precision and disrupt the enemy drone's optical camera lock within milliseconds using digital filters and AI algorithms [2]. This innovation is considered a significant step in protecting airspace against suicide drone attacks and has high potential for use in the defense industry.

Excellence at the IT-PLANET 2026 Competition Team Lagari participated with this innovative project in the IT-PLANET 2026 international competition, organized by the International Association of Innovation and Creativity. In this competition, which featured 60 powerful teams from around the world, the delegation from Bursa Technical University managed to secure third place globally in the "International Drone Systems" category [1][3]. This success once again solidified the academic standing of Turkish universities on the international stage.

Technology Outlook in Turkish Universities Professor Naci Çağlar, Rector of Bursa Technical University, congratulated this success, emphasizing that the presence of international students like Ekaterina demonstrates Turkey's educational and research strength globally. He noted that training innovative generations and localizing defense technologies are core pillars of the "Turkey's Century" vision, and universities play a key role in this path [2]. Ekaterina's success proved that knowledge and expertise know no borders, and Turkey has now become an attractive destination for tech elites.