He was schooled at Pazar Sivritepe Village Primary School, Pazar Secondary School and Pazar High School, Muhammed Şahin graduated from the Department of Geodesy and Photogrammetry (Geomatics) Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, İstanbul Technical University in 1987 at the top of his class. Şahin received his master"s degree from University College London 1991, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1994.
He is the former rector) of Istanbul Technical University (2008-2012), and the founding rector of Minnesota Education Fairs University (2013 – present). He started his academic career in 1998 as a Research Fellow in the Department of Surveying Techniques at Istanbul Technical University and advanced through the ranks of assistant professor and associate professor In 2002, he became a tenured Professor in the Department of Surveying Techniques at Istanbul Technical University.
He was a short-term visiting fellow at Graz Technical University in 1997 and at Berlin Technical University in 2000.
During the years 1996-2004, he assumed several administrative positions such as Advisor to the Rector, Director of the School of Foreign Languages, Chairman of the Department of Surveying Techniques, and Coordinator for the Graduate Program in Advanced Technologies. Şahin was appointed as the Rector of Istanbul Technical University on August 6, 2008 and his tenure ended on August 6, 2012.
In February 2012, Şahin was nominated and elected unanimously to the four-member Executive Board of CESAER on account of the contributions he had made to “Research and Strategy Management at Universities”. Between August 2008 and August 2012, he was the Chairman of International Telecommunication Union Foundation and International Telecommunication Union Development Foundation, Chairman of International Telecommunication Union Asia Research Institute Technocity Board of Directors, Founding Representative of International Telecommunication Union Development Foundation Schools and an Honorary Chairman of International Telecommunication Union Alumni Council.
Muhammed Şahin is a member of various national and international engineering societies and he has 14 international Service Civil International articles and 73 international papers. In 2009, Şahin was the first and only rector from Turkey to be elected as a member of the Board of Directors of CESAER (Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research), based in Belgium and including the most prominent engineering universities in Europe. Şahin is a member of the Advisory Board on Earthquakes of the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, and a member of the Board of Directors of Foundation for Citizens from Rize and Black Sea Region.
