Sabancı University Inovent Inc. Board and Management
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici - Chairman of the Board
Yusuf Leblebici received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), IL, USA, in 1990. Between 1991 and 2000, he worked as a faculty member at UIUC, at Istanbul Technical University, and at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) where he established and directed the VLSI Design Laboratory. From 1999 to 2002, he also served as the Microelectronics Program Coordinator at Sabanci University.
In 2002, Yusuf Leblebici became a Chair Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Director of the Microelectronic Systems Laboratory. In November 2018, he was appointed as President of Sabanci University. His research interests include the design of high-speed CMOS digital and mixed-signal integrated circuits, computer-aided design of VLSI systems, intelligent sensor interfaces, modeling and simulation of semiconductor devices, and VLSI reliability analysis. He is the co-author of seven books (including two internationally acclaimed textbooks), as well as more than 250 articles published in various journals and conferences.
Yusuf Leblebici has been the recipient of the prestigious Young Scientist Award of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council in 1995, and the "Joseph S. Satin Distinguished Fellow Award" in 1999. He was elected as an IEEE Fellow in 2009, and as a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society for 2010–2011.
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Yıldız - Vice Chairman of the Board
Professor Dr. Mehmet Yıldız is the Vice President for Research and Development at Sabancı University. Born in Diyarbakır in 1972, and received his primary, secondary and high school education in Ereğli/Zonguldak, Turkey, he completed his undergraduate education in 1996 with the first rank in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department at Yıldız Technical University and received his MSc. degree also from the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department at Istanbul Technical University in 2000. Between 1996-2000, he worked in two different companies as an R&D engineer and a project manager in the fields of welding and non-destructive testing. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2005 from Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Victoria, BC, Canada in the fields of computational fluid dynamics and semiconductor single crystal growth and then worked as a research associate and lecturer in the same department until 2007.
In 2007, he joined Sabancı University, Faculty of Engineering Natural Sciences as a faculty member in Materials Science and Engineering Program and since 2013, he has been leading the effort of establishing Sabancı University-Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Research and Application Center and its industrial leg, Composite Technologies Center of Excellence with Kordsa. Currently, he is serving as the founding director of these centers, and a deputy Chairperson in the board of directors of Kordsa Company. He sits in the R&D advisory board of Kastamonu Entegre. He contributed to the establishment of the Manufacturing Engineering graduate program at Sabancı University.
Dr. Yıldız's areas of expertise include advanced composite materials, nanocomposites, structural health monitoring and computational mechanics. He published more than 85 SCI indexed high impact factor journals, 8 book chapters, prepared and presented over 135 conference papers and graduated more than 28 MSc. and Ph.D. students.
Prof. Dr. Selim Balcısoy - Board Member
Prof. Dr. Selim Balcisoy received his Ph.D. on Computer Science in 2001 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL). Between 2001 and 2004 he was Senior Research Engineer at Nokia Research Center Dallas. Prof. Dr. Balcisoy co-authored over 60 publications and has been granted with one U.S. patent. His research interests are visual analytics, augmented reality, data visualization, and cultural heritage. He is a Professor at Sabanci University, Istanbul since 2004 and co-founded VisioThink and Health Mobile Software.
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Z. Menceloğlu - Board Member
Yusuf Z. Menceloğlu is a faculty member at Sabancı University Materials Science and Nanoengineering program. Professor Menceloğlu completed his Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry at Karadeniz Technical University in 1983. He completed his Master's and Doctorate studies at Istanbul Technical University in Polymer Science in 1987 and 1991, respectively. He worked as a visiting scientist at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina between 1988-1994 and served as a technical assistant general manager for six years before joining Sabancı University. Dr. Menceloğlu has been working in polymer science and technology since 1984 and nanoscience and nanotechnology since 1991. Dr. He is the author or co-author of Menceloğlu's articles on polymers and nanoscale materials in more than 100 refereed journals, as well as many book chapters, as well as among the 21 patents listed in the Derwent Innovations Index. Dr. Menceloğlu has several research experiences in polymers, composites and reactions/processes in liquid / supercritical carbon dioxide. Menceloğlu teaches polymeric materials, polymer science, and textile fibers. He is the founder and partner of technology-based startup companies.
Dr. Yaşar Gürbüz - Board Member
Dr. Yasar Gurbuz was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1968. He received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Erciyes University in 1990, an M.S. degree in 1993, and Ph. D. degree in 1997 in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University in the USA. He worked as a senior research associate at Vanderbilt between 1997 and 1999. From 1999 to 2000 he worked at Aselsan Inc. He joined Sabanci University as a faculty member in the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences in 2000. His research focuses on Microelectronic Systems and includes RF/Microwave Integrated Circuits/Systems, Analog- and Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits, MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), and Solid-State Sensors and Actuators. He is a member of IEEE and SPIE.
Burç Mısırlıoğlu - Board Member
Prof. Burç Mısırlıoğlu has been working at Sabancı University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Materials Science and Nanoengineering Program since 2008. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Metallurgical Engineering in 1998 and 2001, respectively. In 2006, he received his doctorate from the University of Connecticut with the thesis "Strain reliefs and phase transitions in ferroelectric thin films". He worked at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics research center in Halle, Germany, with an Alexander von Humboldt scholarship between 2006-2007, and then researched fuel cells at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Science and Engineering Department in the United States between 2007-2008. After that he returned to Turkey. prof. His scientific interests include phase transitions in solids, semiconductors, functional materials and their electronic, optical and magnetic properties in the form of thin films for their applications in devices. His scientific researches were deemed worthy of TÜBA GEBİP (2011), METU Mustafa Parlar Encouragement Award (2012), TÜBİTAK Encouragement Award (2013), Science Academy BAGEP (2014) awards. prof. More detailed information about Mısırlıoğlu can be found at http://people.sabanciuniv.edu/burc/.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Berna Beyhan - Board Member
Berna Beyhan received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Boğaziçi University and then completed her master's degree in European Studies at Istanbul Technical University and the University of Oslo. She earned her Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy Studies from Middle East Technical University. Currently, she serves as the Vice Dean at Sabancı University's Faculty of Management. Her research interests include entrepreneurship, university-industry collaboration, and sustainability. Beyhan has numerous academic publications on sustainability and technology entrepreneurship.
Sabancı University Inovent Inc.Team
Ziya Alpay - General Manager
He graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Civil Engineering in 1994. He got in role as; Assistant Secretary General at Bahçeşehir University between 2001-2004, General Manager at Uğur Bilgi Teknolojileri between 2004-2008, Secretary General at Bahçeşehir University between 2008-2018, Member of the Board of Trustees of Bahçeşehir University between 2018-2021, Between 2020-2022, he served as the CEO at the American University of Malta and as Managing Partner at his own firm, Digital Transformation Group, in 2022. Mr. Alpay has been the Director of Sabancı University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative since November 2022.. -Linkedln Profile-
Evren Değerlier - Entrepreneurship and Business Development Manager
He was graduated Yıldız Technical University Chemical Engineering program. He got in role in order of; Biodiesel Project Manager at Ezici Renewable Energy A.Ş between 2003-2006, Business Development Manager at Aka Holding, Business Development Director at Lemone Food between 2011-2013, Project Director at Arkony R&D between 2013-2015. He worked as the General Manager of Salem King R&D Technology between 2016-2018, at Istanbul Arel University between 2018-2020, and as the Director of Technology Transfer Office and Entrepreneurship Center at MEF University between 2020-2022.. -Linkedln Profile-