Our Team
Name: Prof. (PhD) Mehmet Cemali Dinçer
Position: Rector and Dean of Faculty of Agricultural Sciences & Technologies
Unit: Faculty of Engineering, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Prof. Dr. Cemali Dinçer is graduated from METU Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering. Then, he attended to Stanford University in the USA with NATO scholarship. Dr. Dinçer holds masters degrees in both industrial engineering and statistics together with a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and engineering management, all from Stanford University. When Bilkent University was founded, Dr. Dinçer was invited from the United States to join the Department of Industrial Engineering. After 10 years of working at Bilkent University, he moved to private sector as the general manager of Yeni Asır newspaper in Izmir. Between 2002-2005, he founded first Faculty of Communication and then, Faculty of Engineering & Computer Sciences at Izmir University of Economics (IUE). In 2006, he worked for as the general manager of İzAir (İzmir Airways) in airlines industry. In 2011, Dr. Dinçer undertook a faculty position as a Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and as well as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Istanbul Bilgi University. After that Dr. Dinçer joined IUE as Vice Rector of Research & Development. Dr. Dinçer started to work for Yaşar University, Department of Industrial Engineering, in 2014 and he was appointed as the Rector of the University on June 1, 2015.
Name: Prof. (PhD) Levent Kandiller
Position: Vice Rector, Research and Innovation and Vice-Dean of Faculty of Agricultural Sciences & Technologies
Unit: Faculty of Engineering, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Prof Kandiller is currently the vice rector of Yaşar University, responsible for R&D, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He fosters all Research Centers, directs Research Funds, Knowledge & Technology Transfer Office and manages the Journal of Yaşar University. He chairs Academic Programs Committee and Supports & Grants Committees. He is a member of the İZKA Development Council and also a member of the KOSGEB Grant Committees. He is directing Management Engineering graduate programs. Prof Kandiller has supervised the theses of over 30 Master and PhD students and taken senior research and academic positions in prestigious universities worldwide such as Waterloo University (Canada), Rutgers University (USA) and Ben Gurion University (Israel) as well as in Turkey, such as Middle East Technical University, Çankaya University and Bilkent University. Prof Kandiller has published in a wide range of high-impact international scientific journals, been the recipient of a multitude of awards and has been the evaluator of domestically funded R&D projects in Turkey.
Name: Prof. (PhD) Mesut Erol Sezer
Position: Dean of Faculty of Engineering
Unit: Faculty of Engineering, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Mesut Erol Sezer obtained B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Middle East Technical University. He worked at METU, Bilkent, Bahçeşehir and Yaşar Universities as a full-time academic, and at several foreign universities as a visiting professor or research associate. He is also recipient of TUBITAK scholarship between 1965-1978, TUBITAK Young Scientist Award in 1986; and Fulbright Research Scholarship in 1991. He has received over 500 citations to over 60 scientific publications, supervised 16 M.S. and 5 Ph.D. theses, and worked in 9 sponsored projects as a researcher. He served as associate editor for Automatica for over 10 years, refereed numerous paper and project proposals, and took part in several conference organizations, held various administrative positions. Currently, he is the Dean of the College of Engineering.
Name: Assoc.Prof. (PhD) Ruhan Aşkın Uzel
Position: Vice-Director, Vocational School & Head of Dept. of Food Processing
Unit: Food Technology Prog., Vocational School, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ruhan AŞKIN UZEL has been serving as Food Processing Department Head since 2011 and as Vocational School Vice Director since 2013. After completing her undergraduate education at Ege University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Food Engineering in 2005, she completed her master’s degree at the Department of Applied Chemistry and Biochemistry (Kumamoto University, Japan) in 2007 with the grant of Monbukagakusho (MEXT) scholarship of Japan Ministry of Education. In 2010, by entitling to extend the same scholarship, she completed PhD program at the same faculty, Department of New Frontier Sciences, Field of Pulsed Power Science by studying Fundamentals of Food and Chemical Engineering Unit Operations, Green Applications in Food Technology, Extraction Technology, Nanotechnology, etc. She started her academic career as a lecturer at Yaşar University Vocational School Food Processing Department in 2010, then she received Assist. Prof. Dr. degree in 2011.
Name: Assoc. Prof. (PhD) Yasin Özarslan
Position: Head, Department of Culture of Science & Director of Open and Distance Learning Center
Unit: Faculty of Science and Letters, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Yasin Özarslan has received a B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department and an M.S. degree in Organizational Management Program. He has a PhD in Distance Education Program at Anadolu University. He has been a visiting researcher at Arizona State University Learning Sciences Institute, Arizona. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of New Media in the Faculty of Communication at Yasar University since 2013. He is also the director of Yasar University Open and Distance Learning Centre. His academic focus is in educational technology with research interests in the areas of open and distance learning environment and content enhancement for eLearning. He has been involving projects of various national and international organizations like the United Nations, Development Agency, European Union, TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council in Turkey) and YOK (Council of Higher Education) as a researcher and specialist in creating open and distance learning infrastructure, human resource training and content development.
Name: Assist.Prof. (PhD) Önder Bulut
Position: Vice-Dean of Faculty of Engineering
Unit: Faculty of Engineering, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: After completing his undergraduate, M.S. and Ph.D. studies at the Industrial Engineering Department of Bilkent University, Asst. Prof. Önder Bulut has been working as a full time academician at Industrial Engineering Department of Yaşar University since 2010. Earlier he had served as the vice director of Research and Development Center of Yaşar University and currently he is the vice director of Yaşar University Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences. His research interests include stochastic modeling, production and inventory systems, simulation, dynamic programming and optimal control.
Name: Lecturer (PhD) Efthymia Staiou
Position: Lecturer at Department of Industrial Engineering
Unit: Faculty of Engineering, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: After completing her undergraduate and master studies in Mechanical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of Aristotle’s University of Thessaloniki, Greece, she completed her Master of Science in Operations Management at the Management School of the University of Manchester, in the UK, and her Ph.D. in Quality Assurance and Management at the Business and Administration Department of the University of Macedonia, in Greece. She started her academic career as a part-time Lecturer at the University of West Macedonia. She has more than 20 years of working experience as a consultant and manager in the private and public sectors in Greece, serving as a consultant and as a quality manager in private companies and also as a manager in the Greek public sector. During those years, she has managed and participated in numerous European projects. She is currently working as a full-time academician at the Faculty of Engineering, in the Industrial Engineering Department at Yaşar University.
Name: Süleyman Necip Özbey
Position: Knowledge & Technology Transfer Office Director
Unit: Knowledge & Technology Transfer Office, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Necip Özbey received his MS in Industrial Engineering from Middle East Technical University and MBA degree from Akdeniz University. Between 1976-1994, he has worked as an engineer, chief engineer, senior manager and general manager in different sectors. Between 1994-2001, he has worked as both the employer and the general manager in the ITC and Textile sectors. Between 2001-2019, he has worked as Rector Advisor in Akdeniz University and as Founder General Manager of Antalya Teknokent Management Company. He has also worked at METU Teknokent as the OSTİM Incubation Center Director and later at Dokuz Eylül University’s DEPARK Teknopark Management Company as the Founder General Manager and TTO Coordinator. He has been working as Director of Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office and the general manager of Yaşar University Knowledge and Technology Management Company (YUTECH) since January 2019.
Name: Burcu Kiper
Position: EU Chief
Unit: European Union Research Center, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Burcu Kiper is working as the Chief of the European Union Research Center at Yaşar University. She has been with the organization since 2014. She has been involved in EU-funded programmes and projects for 10 years through her professional experiences at the Council of Europe Ankara Office and Yaşar University. She is also a PhD candidate at the European Union Studies Programme at the Social Sciences Institute of Dokuz Eylül University, Izmır.
Name: Efsa Sabit
Position: EU Specialist
Unit: European Union Research Center, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Efsa Sabit is currently an expert at Yaşar University European Union Research Center. She holds a university degree in business administration and a master’s degree in finance. She has experience in coordination and management of EU projects for 5 years. She has knowledge in the development, planning, implementation and reporting process of the EU-funded projects. She has been involved in various projects under the Horizon Programme, Erasmus+ Programme, Newton Fund etc. and completed various projects successfully. She has also experience in social media management, website management, development of promotional materials in order to contribute dissemination activities of the projects. Her previous experience was as a project coordinator in the field of international event management so she has knowledge about international relations and public engagement.
Name: Başak Kaftan
Position: Projects and Intellectual Property Rights Specialist, RTTP
Unit: Knowledge & Technology Transfer Office, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: She has BSc and MSc Degrees in Biochemistry from Ege University. She started her career as Research and Development Expert for Medical Devices Company. She has more than 5 years of working experience in developing, implementing and following incentive, professional University-Industry R&D projects which are supported by the government. During those years, she has managed to have both sectoral and university approaches for R&D studies. She is currently working as a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) certificated Technology Transfer Expert and the Coordinator of intellectual property rights in Yaşar University. She received decent trainings about IP since 2018 and improved the capability of IP business with these trainings. She has experience in unusual and innovative licensing methods and strategies.
Name: Begüm Merih Böcek
Position: Events and Publicity Specialist
Unit: Knowledge & Technology Transfer Office, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Begüm Merih Böcek holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Dumlupınar University and a master’s degree in Graphic Design from Yaşar University. She has been working as a TTO Specialist at Yaşar University Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office (BTTO) for 6 years. She took part in many national and international projects. She has received training in the fields of entrepreneurship, writing a business plan, writing a project, grants and supports, and commercialization since 2016. She is currently running the 1512 TUBITAK Entrepreneurship Support Program (TÜBİTAK BIGG) at Yaşar University.
Name: Ezgi Gülay
Position: Grant Support Programs Specialist
Unit: Knowledge & Technology Transfer Office, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Ezgi Gülay is graduated from Ege University Sociology Department and she has a master’s degree from Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations. She is currently a doctorate student in the same department. She has started her career between 2015 and 2021 as an expert in the entrepreneurship and commercialization department at Dokuz Eylül Technology Transfer Office. She has experience in raising the entrepreneurial awareness of academics, students and developing their entrepreneurial ideas. She organized project marathons on different themes such as hackathon and ideathon and supported entrepreneurs to sprout their ideas and get investment through entrepreneurship trainings and mentoring mechanisms. Now, she is working as an expert in grant support programs at the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office at Yaşar University. She is working on transforming valuable information within the university into projects that will create added value.
Name: Pelin Atakan
Position: Project Assistant
Unit: Faculty of Engineering, Yaşar University, Turkey
Contact: [email protected]
Bio: Agricultural Economics PhD Candidate at Ege University with 10 years of volunteering experience in non-governmental organizations in the fields of human rights, rural development and political ecology. Her research interests focus on the integration of behavioral economics and agricultural economics, in particular climate smart water management; and rural development, alternative food networks, agri-tech entrepreneurship.
