Meet Cemil Mujdat Altay - President RCNY 2025
President Shawn Jacobaccio has resigned from the Presidency of the Rotary Club of New York. The reasons pertain to his more permanent relocation to Philadelphia. We wish him well and the club thanks him for his successes in this term as President particularly with regards to membership growth.
Per our by-laws the Vice President, Mujdat Altay is next in line and he graciously accepted.
Meet your new President who will be completing the Rotary fiscal year ending with June 30, 2025.
C. Mujdat Altay received BSc from Istanbul Technical University in Electronics &
Communication Engineering, MSc. in Electronics & Communication Engineering from
Bosphorus University.
Communication Engineering, MSc. in Electronics & Communication Engineering from
Bosphorus University.
Altay started his career as a Research Assistant at TUBITAK (The Scientific and
Technological Research Council of Turkey) in 1978, then joined Netas as R&D
Engineer in 1981. During 16 years at R&D, he contributed to the successful growth of
Netas R&D with unique product design projects and increased the number of R&D
engineers from 10 to 650. After working as the R&D Group Director between 1992 and
1997, C. Müjdat Altay joined Nortel UK Group in 1997.
Returning to Netas in 1998 as the Licensed Operators Group Director, Altay received
the “Masters” award by Nortel in 2001 due to his contribution in the development and
growth of the company's business with Alternate Operators. In 2002, C. Müjdat Altay
was appointed as Vice President responsible for Türk Telekom Sales and Marketing.
In December 2004, he was appointed as Netas CEO. Since then has led the efforts to
transform the company from a product provider to a systems integrator by leveraging
the innovation and R&D capabilities of the organization. Meanwhile he also led the
establishment of the global “Center of Excellence” for Nortel’s VoIP (Voice over IP)
technologies. The number of engineers employed at Netas R&D reached 1000 as a
result of the investments made during this period.
After the shares of Nortel in Netas were acquired by OEP (One Equity Partner – an
investment branch of JP Morgan), Altay managed the transformation period. In this
context, he pioneered the acquisition of Probil and Kron.
In the last ten years, Netaş has implemented large-scale projects that transformed the
way of operation in several sectors while increasing its R&D investments. He
pioneered comprehensive domestic system integration projects such as e-ticket, Fatih,
Segbis, New Istanbul Airport and many digital transformation projects in the core
verticals of the economy such as finance, energy, defense industry, transportation,
sports, entertainment, health and education sectors. As a result, Netaş became the
largest and leader systems integrator in Turkey and its sales has increased to $ 330M
in 2016 from $75M in 2006.
2HİZMETE ÖZEL - INTERNAL
The basic band unit of ULAK, Turkey’s first and only domestic base station, was
developed by Netas and contributed to making Turkey become one of the 5 countries
with its own 4G technology.
Altay believes that efforts in the R&D and innovation would play a pivotal role in
helping increase the level of welfare in the country and, therefore, gives priority to
ensuring the sustainability of such efforts. Leading the establishment of Netaş Wesley
Clover Technology Fund together with Sir Terry H. Matthews in 2013, Altay supports to
build platforms for the early-stage technology startups that offer high value added
products in Turkey.
C.Müjdat Altay is the member of many non-governmental organizations. He initiated
“Turkey Science Centers Foundation” and has been involved in the “National
Innovation Initiative” (NII), served at the boards of various organizations including
Electronic Industry Professional Committee of the “Istanbul Chamber of Industry”,
YASED (International Investors Association) between 2009 and 2015, where he also
acted as Chairman of YASED’s R&D Working Group.
Acting as the Chairperson of TESİD for 8 years, Altay was one of the founding
members of the “Digital Turkey Platform”. He gave particular focus to the electronics
industry to get priority and identify strategies and practices that will help develop SMEs
operating in this industry.
The basic band unit of ULAK, Turkey’s first and only domestic base station, was
developed by Netas and contributed to making Turkey become one of the 5 countries
with its own 4G technology.
Altay believes that efforts in the R&D and innovation would play a pivotal role in
helping increase the level of welfare in the country and, therefore, gives priority to
ensuring the sustainability of such efforts. Leading the establishment of Netaş Wesley
Clover Technology Fund together with Sir Terry H. Matthews in 2013, Altay supports to
build platforms for the early-stage technology startups that offer high value added
products in Turkey.
C.Müjdat Altay is the member of many non-governmental organizations. He initiated
“Turkey Science Centers Foundation” and has been involved in the “National
Innovation Initiative” (NII), served at the boards of various organizations including
Electronic Industry Professional Committee of the “Istanbul Chamber of Industry”,
YASED (International Investors Association) between 2009 and 2015, where he also
acted as Chairman of YASED’s R&D Working Group.
Acting as the Chairperson of TESİD for 8 years, Altay was one of the founding
members of the “Digital Turkey Platform”. He gave particular focus to the electronics
industry to get priority and identify strategies and practices that will help develop SMEs
operating in this industry.
He serves as board member at “Turkish Informatics Foundation” and at “Technology
Development Foundation of Turkey” (TTGV). Altay, as Chairman of the Steering
Committee, lead the Technology Awards (XI –XII) organized by TUBITAK, TTGV and
the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD).
Altay joined the Executive Board of Turkey – China Business Council under the
umbrella of Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) in 2018.
In 2020, for all the contributions he made to the growth of electronic and information
technologies in Turkey, Istanbul Technical University conferred Altay the title of
“Honorary PhD”, which is given to leaders from senior state officials including the
President of the Republic of Turkey to scientists and pioneers of business world.
After leaving Netas, Altay relocated to New York. As of 2021, he has been serving as
Board Members at ATP and AYDEM Energy.
technologies in Turkey, Istanbul Technical University conferred Altay the title of
“Honorary PhD”, which is given to leaders from senior state officials including the
President of the Republic of Turkey to scientists and pioneers of business world.
After leaving Netas, Altay relocated to New York. As of 2021, he has been serving as
Board Members at ATP and AYDEM Energy.
3HİZMETE ÖZEL - INTERNAL
Altay is a founding member of the Bayrampasa Rotary Club in Istanbul. Since 1990, he
has proudly served Rotary in various leadership roles, including Club President and
Vice Governor, and has been an active member of numerous Rotary committees. His
wife, Hülya Altay, has been a dedicated member of the Yenikoy Rotary Club in Istanbul
for the past thirteen years. Altay relocated to New York with his family and transferred
his membership to the Rotary Club of New York. He has been serving as Vice
President in charge of Membership since 2023.
In 2022, Altay initiated TUSIAD New York Network and he is the President of the
Network.
C. Müjdat Altay is married to Hülya Altay and has 2 children.
Altay is a founding member of the Bayrampasa Rotary Club in Istanbul. Since 1990, he
has proudly served Rotary in various leadership roles, including Club President and
Vice Governor, and has been an active member of numerous Rotary committees. His
wife, Hülya Altay, has been a dedicated member of the Yenikoy Rotary Club in Istanbul
for the past thirteen years. Altay relocated to New York with his family and transferred
his membership to the Rotary Club of New York. He has been serving as Vice
President in charge of Membership since 2023.
In 2022, Altay initiated TUSIAD New York Network and he is the President of the
Network.
C. Müjdat Altay is married to Hülya Altay and has 2 children.
