Hosted by the METU Faculty of Architecture, UTAK 2026—held from September 9–11—concluded successfully with approximately 180 participants! Centered on the theme "Design and Transformation," the conference featured 39 papers—selected through a rigorous peer-review process—presented across 10 academic sessions. These sessions were complemented by presentations on industry experiences and a panel discussion focused on the professional organization (chamber formation) of the industrial design field.

The "Tevfik Balcıoğlu Best Paper Award," introduced this year, was presented to Burak Taşdizen for his paper titled "Yerinde Yaşatmak: İnsandan Öte Bir Tasarım Tarihi."

The work presented at UTAK 2026 offered insightful contributions toward shaping the profound transformations of our era through design. We look forward to reuniting on new research frontiers at our eighth conference, to be held in 2028.