3 BS Alumni

Mert Kavala graduated from Kabataş Erkek Lisesi and started his undergraduate studies in the Civil Engineering program at Özyeğin University with a full scholarship. Throughout his four years at the Özyeğin University, he had the opportunity to enhance both socially and academically. He served on the executive board for 3.5 years and was president of the OzU Construction Club in 2021. In his undergraduate studies, Mert served as an undergraduate teaching assistant for Static and Construction Management courses.

Additionally, he took on the role of undergraduate research assistant in the field of self-healing concrete materials at Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Başaran Bundur’s Advanced Concrete Materials laboratory. In 2022, Mert graduated from Özyeğin University with a GPA of 3.71, ranking first in the department. He expanded his graduation project in collaboration with project members under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Feyza Çinicioğlu and Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Başaran Bundur and presented it in the 18th Young Geotechnical Engineers Symposium. Their paper titled ‘Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) Use for Slope Stabilization in Sands and Clays’ was selected as the best paper.

In January 2023, he started the combined Ph.D. program in Geotechnical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. As a graduate research assistant, he is currently researching bio-catalyzed CO2 sequestration technologies. Furthermore, he has been working as a graduate teaching assistant for the Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering course for the past two semesters. He received the Larry Goertz Graduate Fellowship from the Cockrell School of Engineering for 2022-2023 in recognition of his academic achievements.

Cem Anıl Arslan (IE) is a Data Science Expert at McKinsey & Company management consulting firm. In his role, he is managing analytics studies in the energy sector. He combines his analytical expertise in machine learning and optimization techniques with energy sector knowledge to increase the profitability of the plants while also reducing their environmental carbon footprint. 

Cem holds bachelors from Ozyegin University with a major in Industrial Engineering and a minor in Computer Science. He graduated from Ozyegin University in 2017 as the valedictorian of his class. Following 2 years of experience in the industry, he persuaded a Master's in Artificial Intelligence from KU Leuven from which he graduated with a magna cum laude degree.

Cem joined the Management Consulting firm McKinsey & Company as a data scientist in 2017. Since then, his focus was in energy sector projects in different countries including Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia and Azerbaijan. Currently, he is the most firm-tenured Data Scientist in the Istanbul Office.

In his projects in the energy sector, Cem uses different machine learning techniques to model complex chemical reactions and utilizes various optimization algorithms to increase profitability via dynamically optimizing process parameters. In a typical study, 3+ years of data from 2000+ different sensors are utilized to understand these complex relationships. As a consultant, Cem's responsibilities also involve developing the right software infrastructure that will enable deployment of the analytical models, design and development of dynamic dashboards to show the results to plant engineers and operators and ensuring the adoption of new tools that come with digital transformation to ensure that analytical solutions generate real impact.

Projects in which Cem was involved enabled analytical-driven profitability increase between 2-7% and reduced the carbon footprint of the plants enabling more efficient operations with reduced energy and feedstock consumption. 2 of the analytical projects in which Cem was lead data scientist was selected as digital lighthouse projects (across the globe) by the World Economy Forum.

Doğa Yılmaz (CS), earned his B.Sc. degree in Computer Science, and subsequently, he secured admission to the M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence program along with a prestigious Fellowship at Özyeğin University. During his M.Sc., Doğa worked as a research assistant specializing in "Inverse Rendering" at OzU's Vision and Graphics Lab. His academic achievements include notable publications in international journals and conferences. Additionally, Doğa actively contributes to the academic community as a valued reviewer for various academic journals and conferences.

Following his graduation, Doğa continued his journey at Fishency Innovation as an R&D Software Engineer in Norway. Here, he contributes to innovative projects focused on underwater 3D reconstruction of Atlantic salmon, with the ultimate goal of enhancing offshore salmon farming efficiency. Doğa is at the forefront of developing technologies that promise a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future for food production.