MÜHENDİSLİK FAKÜLTESİ

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alper ERGÜN continues his studies with the project titled Investigation of the Effect of Ultrasonic Energy Applications on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drops at Arizona State University, one of the leading universities in the world, within the scope of TUBITAK 2219 International Postdoctoral Research Scholarship Program. This project aims to realize various collaborations and projects between our University and Arizona State University.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Caner ÖZCAN continues his studies with the project titled “Development of Deep Learning Models for Detection, Segmentation, and Classification of Colon Cancer Pathology Images using Self-Supervised Learning” at the Applied Artificial Intelligence Center of the Biomedical Informatics Institute of the University of Kentucky in the USA (https://caai.ai.uky.edu/) within the scope of the TUBITAK 2219 International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The aim of this research is to create models that will increase the existing performance by taking into account the recent developments in deep learning-based methods for the detection, segmentation, and classification of colon cancer pathology images. In this context, original deep learning models will be created for image analysis and will be compared with the existing methods in the literature. On the other hand, in order to focus on the problem of inadequate publicly available labeled medical data sets, the self-supervised learning model to be developed within the scope of the study will provide meaning to pathology images without labels, thus filling an important gap in the literature in the analysis of colon cancer images. With this research project, it is aimed to carry out various collaborations, academic publications and projects, especially to support postgraduate thesis studies between our University and the University of Kentucky.

With her project titled “Ethical and Trustworthy Blockchain-Based System for Tissue and Organ Transplantation Process”, she was awarded the Digi+ MSCA Cofund postdoctoral fellowship co-financed by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), one of the most important programs offered by the European Union for doctoral studies. The project, which aims to create a trustworthy, ethical and transparent data management system using blockchain technology in processes requiring sensitive data management such as organ transplantation, will create a pioneering model in terms of digital solutions. This project aims to increase secure data sharing in organ transplantation processes, verifiability in donor-recipient matches and traceability of the donation process.

The Digi+ MSCA Scholarship Program, developed in line with the European Union's Digital and Green Agenda, is an international scholarship program that supports innovative research in the field of sustainable digital transformation and aims to train creative and innovative researchers in the digital and green transformation process within the framework of existing policies and strategies in the European Research Area. The program, which will be carried out in collaboration with the Faculty of Computer Science and the University of Galway, focuses on developing sustainable ecosystems around four main themes: “Innovation Business Models and Data Ecosystems,” “Digital Culture and Skills,” “Data Governance” and “Innovation Digital Technologies and Adoption.” The project aims to contribute to the themes of “Data Governance” and “Innovation Digital Technologies and Adoption.” We congratulate our valuable faculty member and wish him continued success.

Dr. Ör. Ör. Mutlucan BAYAT, a faculty member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been accepted to the international research program titled “The Future of Hydrogen as a Solution to Climate Change (H2FUTURE)” being carried out at the University of Oulu, one of the leading universities in Finland, and has been supported within this scope and has gained the right to conduct postdoctoral studies for four years. The H2FUTURE programme is funded from 2023–2028 under the PROFI7 fund of the Research Council of Finland and focuses on the development of hydrogen production technologies and their application in sustainable steel production. The programme was awarded a grant of 12 million euros in 2022 to support innovative research into hydrogen-based industrial solutions, with the co-financing support of the University of Oulu bringing the total budget to 24 million euros. As indicated below, the program focuses on high-level fundamental research covering all stages of hydrogen production from production to transportation, storage and end-use by establishing an interdisciplinary research ecosystem.

The programme includes leading European research organisations with large-scale research infrastructures and industry collaborations. Important Scandinavian partnerships include the joint venture Hybrit, which aims to switch to a completely fossil fuel-free steel production process by 2030, and the international initiative BotH2nia, which aims to build a large-scale hydrogen economy around the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea. Our professor involved in the project stated that his role was to conduct analyses on sustainable hydrogen use in steel production to reduce carbon emissions; he emphasized that this project would not only contribute to Europe's strategic energy goals, but also lead to the development of innovative approaches on the reduction of reactive iron oxide pellets in industrial applications. We congratulate our valuable faculty member and wish him continued success.

Research Title: Robotic Laser Welding of Aluminum Sheets Using Real-Time Monitoring System and Investigation of Joint Quality Institution/Organization Where the Research Was Conducted: Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano)

This study is aimed at investigating and improving the welded joint performances of aluminum sheets applied with robotic laser welding. Studies are also carried out to use real-time monitoring system to improve the joint performances in welding processes. The monitoring system is a developed and high-tech equipment today and has the potential to compensate and improve welding errors that cannot be seen in traditional laser welding applications. The study includes performing welding processes in different connection arrangements with robotic laser welding, repeating these processes with the monitoring system and evaluating the performances of the welded joints by applying mechanical and metallurgical tests to all obtained connections. The findings of the study will provide significant contributions to the production of aluminum alloy structures, which are important for today's industry, and to the acquisition of trained researchers in this field. The studies are carried out for 12 months at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, under the consultancy of Assoc. Dr. Ali Gökhan DEMİR. We congratulate our valuable faculty member and wish him continued success.