3 BS Alumni

Dr. Birgül Cansu Acartürk  (CE) completed her undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 2017, finishing as the second in her department. Throughout her university years, she served as both a research and teaching assistant, honing her academic skills. Her undergraduate studies, particularly focusing on sustainable and innovative building material systems, influenced her decision to pursue doctoral education in these areas. She successfully completed her doctoral studies at The Ohio State University in 2022 with a thesis titled "Novel and Sustainable Cementitious Systems: Improving Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cement and Bacterial Concrete Properties."

During her doctoral period, Dr. Acartürk published numerous academic articles on sustainable cement-based systems and bacterial concrete. She also presented her research at national and international conferences. Currently, Dr. Acartürk continues her career as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder, where her research is concentrated on bio-based cementitious systems. Her work aims to develop innovative approaches to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during cement production and usage.

Onurhan Turfanda(CS 2020) earned his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Özyeğin University. During his university years, he gained valuable experience as a teaching assistant under the guidance of Professor Jason Lau in the business department. This role allowed him to develop his teamwork and support skills. Simultaneously, he was an active member of the OzU Rover Team, which gave him the opportunity to delve into robotics and represent our country on the international stage by participating in the European Space Agency's Rover competition.

Following his university years, Onurhan embarked on his professional journey. He began by working on AI-based cash flow management at Yapı Kredi Technology. Later, he joined Amazon.com in Spain, contributing to EU-InTech. Currently, he is a member of the TomTom Spain team, working on the "Map of the Future" project. In this role, he is focused on creating real-time maps and revolutionizing map technologies and location-based services.

Gizem (ME) works as a project coordinator at GÜNSEL EV, the domestic electric vehicle company of Northern Cyprus. Gizem completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Özyeğin University's mechanical engineering department, believing in the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and living in all areas of life. She took active roles in many national and international organizations during both education periods and returned to her country with various awards in the competitions she participated in.

Gizem, who is an ENKA sports club licensed athlete, continued her professional swimming life at her club and university throughout her undergraduate education and took an active role in all inter-university competitions representing Özyeğin University. She founded Özyeğin University's swimming team with her friend Cansu Buket Tokat and achieved many successes in individual and team competitions in Özyeğin's first gold trophy swimming team. At the same time, she worked as a swimming coach during her undergraduate and graduate education and she trained young athletes.

In 2016, Gizem started her master's education under the supervision of Prof. M. Pınar Mengüç. She was selected for the final held in Paris among 19.722 teams from all around the world in the international "Go Green in the City Competition", which she participated with Ebru Tatar in her first year, and was awarded with the "Women in Business Award". At the same time, she worked as a teaching assistant during her graduate education and conducted the chemistry laboratory courses she was assigned to.

In 2018, in the Samsung Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Race, which was chosen as the World's Best Open Water Swimming Organization, in which a total of 2400 athletes from 52 countries participated, she won the Silver medal. What makes this race special for her is the successful donation campaign she organized as a TEV volunteer within the scope of the “TEV- Educated Girls, Hopeful Futures” project. In the same year, she won the gold medal in the Çanakkale Boğazı race. She participated in the project management trainings organized by various academies in 2022 and passed the IPMA exam and was awarded the "IPMA Level C: Certified Project Manager" certificate. She has been working as a project coordinator at GÜNSEL EV since the summer of 2020 and has been giving Tango dance training to many employees voluntarily in the dance club she founded in 2022.