The Computer Engineering Advisory Board is composed of distinguished representatives from industry and business, as well as faculty members working abroad. Each board member shares their invaluable knowledge and extensive experience with the department. The Advisory Board convenes at least once a year to provide feedback and recommendations to the department chair regarding our educational programs, students, and alumni. Our board members work at prominent organizations such as Google, VESTEL, Ericsson, Arçelik, Alcatel-Lucent, and in renowned institutions like MIT, Harvard, Bilkent, and Sabancı Universities.
İhsan Özcan
R&D Director, NOKIA
İhsan Özcan graduated from Istanbul Technical University’s Electronics and Telecommunications Department in 1986 and began his professional career in 1987 at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT). In 1989, he worked under the ENKA umbrella in Libya. In 1990, Özcan joined the Alcatel-Teletaş family as a software engineer and, between 1990 and 1993, served as a software engineer for the Levent Exchange in Turkey. From 1993 to 2000, he worked in Belgium at Alcatel Bell, leading various projects as a technical project manager for internet infrastructure projects with clients such as Türk Telekom, KPN Netherlands, and the telecommunications companies of Malta and Albania.
In 2000, Özcan began establishing the first international R&D, support, and integration teams in internet technologies in Turkey. These teams helped make Alcatel Lucent Teletaş the largest technical support center in the EMEA region. Additionally, Özcan held various managerial roles, including operations and project manager for Türk Telekom's RAS, Fix-NGN, DSL, and IP/MPLS projects, and group manager for global NGN/IMS/IPTV/IP/DSL network integration. Since February 2009, he has served as the Technical Operations Center and R&D Group Director for Alcatel-Lucent Teletaş in the EMEA region.
Cihan TAŞ
Software Engineer, Google, USA
Cihan Taş works as a software engineer on the Google G+ Photos team and is currently focusing on data center network optimization. Prior to Google, he worked in Siemens Corporate Research in the area of wireless networks, with a focus on inter-vehicle communication and communication networks in smart grids. Cihan Taş earned his bachelor's degree from Bilkent University and both his master's and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from the University of Maryland (College Park). He has been happily married since 2011.
Fatma ÖZDEMİR
R&D Director, Ericsson Turkey
Fatma Özdemir graduated from the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1996. In her first two years, she worked as an electromagnetic design engineer in the Research and Development Department of a company called Turkish Electric Industry in Istanbul. Since 1998, she has worked as a microelectronics design engineer and manager in international R&D teams at Alcatel Microelectronics, ST Microelectronics, ST-Ericsson, and Ericsson. She is currently serving as the R&D Director at Ericsson Turkey.
Öner TEKİN
Director, Vestel
Öner Tekin graduated from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) with a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1998. That same year, he began working as a hardware design engineer at Netaş R&D. Concurrently, he completed his master’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Boğaziçi University. Currently a Ph.D. student, Öner Tekin also serves as a visiting lecturer at Yeditepe University, where he teaches courses on technology.
Salih GÜREŞ
General Manager, TCHealth A.Ş.
Salih Güreş graduated from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) with a degree in Mining Engineering in 1983. He began his professional career as a Software Engineer at Türkiye Petrolleri A.O. In 1987, he completed a Master’s program in Computer Science at Macquarie University in Sydney, where he worked as a software engineer and project manager at various companies. After returning to Turkey, he worked at Netaş and Koç Sistem, and founded OPUS Bilgi Sistemleri A.Ş. In 2000, he served as General Manager and partner at TEPE Teknoloji A.Ş. In 2007, he received a B.A. degree from INSEAD in Fontainebleau. He is currently serving as the General Manager of TCHealth A.Ş.
Ömer Çolakoğlu
MVP, Isısan IT Director
He received his bachelor's degree from Erciyes University Computer Engineering in 2004 and his master's degree in 2017. He is a Database Administrator, Data Technologies Specialist, and Microsoft MVP in the Data Platform category with 22 years of industry experience, specializing in artificial intelligence and data technologies. He has reached over 400,000 students through the courses he has published on platforms such as Udemy, BTK Academy, and Turkcell Geleceği Yazanlar (Turkcell Future Writers). He has deep expertise in enterprise-scale SQL Server performance improvements, SQL generation from natural language, and developing LangChain and local LLM-based intelligent systems. He produces real-time data analysis solutions with Azure OpenAI, Power BI Copilot, and voice-enabled AI assistants. As a community volunteer, he has made it his mission to support anyone interested in technology and to make knowledge accessible. He is actively working on AI-powered data systems, robotic integrations, and voice notification infrastructures.