Hakan Gokcesu

Hakan Gokcesu received his B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering with Academic Excellence distinction from Bilkent University, in 2015, under the Comprehensive Full Scholarship. He received his MSc degree in Communication Systems with Data Analytics specialization from the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, EPFL, in 2018, where he studied under the Excellence Fellowship and his research focused on machine learning and optimization with limiting scenarios. He is continuing his academic studies in Bilkent University, with a focus on online learning. He is also affiliated with Turkcell Technologies, where his work is focused on research and development for 5G and beyond, within the framework of 5G and Beyond Joint Graduate Support Programme coordinated by Information and Communication Technologies Authority. He received numerous awards in regards to his academic achievements. He ranked top 100 in the Student Selection and Placement System Examinations -which is undertook by nearly 2 million candidates- and was consequently awarded with the Governmental Scholarship. He was part of many collaborations, with public or private funding, which conducted R\&D on distributed machine learning, sensor analytics, smart systems, reinforcement learning, prediction and estimation, data science and wireless communications. He authored in a number of respected IEEE academic journals, for which he also contributed as a reviewer. His research interests also include signal processing, learning systems, information theory, decision theory, graph theory, big data and applied mathematics.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: hgokcesu@ee.bilkent.edu.tr

Nuri Mert Vural

Moved to University of Toronto, CS Machine Learning Group

N. Mert Vural received his B.S. degree with high honors, and graduated as the Salutatorian with a CGPA of 3.97/4.00 from Bogazici University, Turkey in January 2018. He is currently an M.S. student with a CGPA of 4.00/4.00 at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University, under the supervision of Prof. Suleyman S. Kozat. He has achieved the 110th rank nationwide in the National University Entrance Examinations among 2 million students. During his B.S. studies, he has been awarded the Prime Ministry Outstanding Achievement Fellowship. During his M.S. studies, he has been awarded the SPIE Travel Grant (with the maximum amount), Huawei Graduate Fellowship, 5G and Beyond Graduate Research Support and TUBITAK Scholarship for M.S. studies. Additionally, he received 5 Golden Medals in Shahzade Mehmet College Mathematics Competitions and graduated from Halil Kale Science High School as the 3rd in class. He has authored 6 journal papers in highly respected IEEE Transactions and 9 conference papers in refereed high impact conference proceedings. His research interests include machine learning, convex/non-convex optimization, online learning, dynamic systems theory, information theory, decision theory, adaptive filtering, statistical signal processing, big data, and computer vision.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: vural@ee.bilkent.edu.tr

N. Denizcan Vanli

Moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Nuri Denizcan Vanli received the B.S. degree with full scholarship and high honors from Bilkent University, Turkey in June 2013. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University in June 2013 with a CGPA of 3.93 / 4.00 and his current GPA is 4.00 / 4.00. His awards include Best Oral Presentation Award in Signal Processing/Communications/Network by Bilkent IEEE Graduate Research Conference (GRC) in 2014, Research Excellence Award by Bilkent University in 2013, Academic Distinction Award by Bilkent University in 2013, Social Awareness & Professional Activities Award by Bilkent University in 2013, TUBITAK Scholarship for the M.S. degree. He received the 125th rank among more than 1 million candidates in the National University Entrance Examination and the 37th rank among more than 0.5 million candidates in National High School Entrance Examination. He received the Bronze Medal in the TUBITAK National Secondary School Mathematics Olympiad. He is a graduate of Izmir Fen Lisesi. He has published 6 journal papers in highly respected Transactions, including 4 IEEE Transactions, and submitted 3 journal papers, which are currently under review in highly respected IEEE Transactions. He has coauthored 11 conference papers in refereed high impact conference proceedings. His research interests include machine learning, distributed processing, mathematical finance, adaptive filtering and control theory, and signal processing for communications.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: vanli@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~vanli

Muhammed O. Sayin

Moved to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Muhammed O. Sayin received the B.S. degree with full scholarship and high honors from Bilkent University in June 2013. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University with a CGPA of 3.93 / 4.00 in June 2013, and his current GPA is 4.00 / 4.00. He was a visiting student researcher at Yale University during July-September 2012. He has been awarded Academic Distinction Award by Bilkent University in 2013. He won the National Scholarship Programme from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for the M.S. education. During his undergraduate years, he won high achievement scholarships from Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry, ISBANK and Sekerbank. He received the 16th rank among more than 1 million students in the Nationwide University Entrance Examination of Turkey in 2008. He ranked as the 1st in the 2007 TUBITAK National Physics Olympiad in the Eastern Anatolia Region and completed the summer camp of TUBITAK National Physics Olympiad. He has published 4 journal papers in highly respected transactions, including 3 IEEE journals, as the first author. He also has 3 IEEE Transactions under review. He has coauthored 10 conference papers in refereed high impact conference proceedings. His research interests include distributed processing, adaptive filtering and control theory, machine learning for signal processing, online learning, and social networks.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: sayin@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~sayin

Kaan Gokcesu

Moving to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Kaan Gokcesu received his B.S. degree with comprehensive scholarships and high honors, and graduated as the Salutatorian with a CGPA of 3.96/4.00 from Bilkent University, Turkey in June 2015. He is currently an M.S. student with a CGPA of 4.00/4.00 at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Suleyman S. Kozat. He has achieved the 5th rank nationwide in the National University Entrance Examinations among 2 million students. He was awarded the Isbank Golden Youngsters Prize, Prime Ministry Outstanding Achievement Fellowship and Comprehensive Scholarship at Bilkent University during his B.S studies. During his exchange studies, he was awarded the Faculty Award for Best Performance from National University of Singapore. He was awarded the TUBITAK Scholarship for M.S. Studies by placing the 2nd nationwide in TUBITAK's Weighted ALES (National GRE) and GPA Score List. He has graduated from Private Ari Science High School as the 2nd in class. He has authored 7 journal papers in highly respected IEEE Transactions and 8 conference papers in refereed high impact conference proceedings. His research interests include machine learning, convex optimization, online learning, data science, information theory, decision theory, adaptive filtering, communication systems, statistical signal processing, big data, and mathematical finance.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: gokcesu@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~gokcesu

Dariush Kari

Moving to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

Dariush Kari received the B.S. degree with high honors in two majors from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran. He won the full tuition waiver and research fellowship for his M.Sc. studies in Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. He has been graduated from the Electrical Engineering Department of Tehran Polytechnic, with a 16.76/20 CGPA, in 2013. During his undergraduate studies, Dariush was recognized as an exceptionally talented student and awarded to study Computer Science as a second major, from which he was graduated with a 17.13/20 CGPA, in 2014. He was ranked the 6th in Nationwide Graduate Schools Entrance Exam (Konkoor-e-karshenasi-e-arshad) in the field of ``Decision Theory and Science Engineering,'' Iran, in 2014. In high school, he was always in the first place in province-wide scientific exams. In addition, he was selected for the second round of National Mathematics and Physics Olympiads, for two consecutive years (2007, 2008) and also he was selected for the final round of computer laboratorial competition(2008), Iran.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: kari@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~kari

Osman Fatih Kilic

Moving to University of Texas at Austin

Osman Fatih Kilic received his B.S. degree with full scholarship and high honors from Bilkent University. He has graduated from Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department with a GPA of 3.85/4.00. He has ranked as the 216th among 1 million high school students in the 2010 Nationwide University Entrance Exam. He is now pursuing an M. Sc. Degree at Bilkent University under the supervision of Prof. Serdar Kozat.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: okilic@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~okilic

Burak C. Civek

Moving to Northeastern University

Burak C. Civek received the B.S. degree with full scholarship and high honors from Bilkent University, Turkey in June 2015. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University with a CGPA of 3.62 / 4.00. He received the 427th rank among more than 1 million high school graduates in the 2010 Nationwide University Entrance Examination. He is a graduate of Ankara Science High School.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: civek@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~civek

Tolga Ergen

Tolga Ergen received the B.S. degree with full scholarship and high honors from Bilkent University, Turkey in June 2016. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University in June 2016 with a CGPA of 3.97 / 4.00. His awards include Academic Excellence Award by Bilkent University in 2016 and TUBITAK Scholarship for the M.S. degree. He received the 178th rank among 2 million candidates in the National University Entrance Examination. He is a graduate of Ankara Ataturk Anatolian High School. His research interests include machine learning, distributed processing, adaptive filtering and control theory, and signal processing for communications.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: tolga.ergen@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~ergen

Emre Sahinoglu

Emre Sahinoglu is an undergraduate student at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University with full scholarship and high honors, and his current CGPA is 3.97 / 4.00. He was awarded Turkish Educational Foundation Outstanding Achievement Fellowship, TUBITAK Undergraduate Scholarship and Comprehensive Scholarship at Bilkent University during his B.S. studies. He received the 118th rank among more than 1 million candidates in the National University Entrance Examination of Turkey in 2012. He was awarded Turkish Educational Foundation Outstanding Achievement Fellowship, TUBITAK Undergraduate Scholarship and Comprehensive Scholarship at Bilkent University during his B.S. studies. He is a graduate of Ankara Science High School. He received silver medal in the National Mathematical Olympiads of Turkey in 2009 and 2011.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: sahinoglu@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~sahinoglu

Safa Onur Sahin

Safa Onur Sahin received the B.S. degree with comprehensive scholarship and honors from Bilkent University, Turkey in June 2016. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University in June 2016 with a CGPA of 3.45 / 4.00. He is currently an M.S. student with a CGPA of 3.85/4.00 at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Suleyman S. Kozat. He received the 46th rank among more than 1 million candidates in the 2011 National University Entrance Examination of Turkey. He was awarded the Prime Ministry Outstanding Achievement Fellowship and Comprehensive Scholarship at Bilkent University during his B.S studies. He received TUBITAK Scholarship for the M.S. degree. He is a graduate of Ankara Ataturk Anatolian High School. His research interests include machine learning, neural networks, mathematical finance and adaptive signal processing.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: ssahin@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~ssahin

Ihsan Utlu

Ihsan Utlu received the B.S. degree with high honors from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, METU with a 3.95/4.00 GPA, and is currently an M.S. Student at the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of Bilkent University under the supervision of Prof. Suleyman S. Kozat, for which he has been awarded with the TUBITAK scholarship under National Scholarship Programme. He has been the recipient of the Assoc. Prof. Bulent Kerim Altay Award for multiple semesters during his undergraduate education for academic excellence. During his undergraduate years he was also awarded scholarships from the Prime Ministry of Turkey, METU and Isbank. He ranked 12th in the 2009 National University Entrance Exam out of over a million entrants. He is a graduate of Ankara Ataturk Anatolian High School.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: utlu@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~utlu

Burak Ayyildiz

Burak Ayyildiz received the B.S. degree with full scholarship and high honors from Bilkent University, Turkey in 2014. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University with a 3.58/4.00 GPA. He received the 148th rank among more than 1 million high school graduates in the 2009 Nationwide University Entrance Examination. He is a graduate of Isparta Fen Lisesi.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: bayyildiz@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~bayyildiz

Ersin Yar

Ersin Yar received the B.S. degree with high honors from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. He has graduated from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, METU with a 3.58/4.00 GPA, and is currently an M.S. Student at the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of Bilkent University. He has been the recipient of the Assoc. Prof. Bulent Kerim Altay Award for two semesters during his undergraduate education. He ranked 401st in the 2009 National University Entrance Exam out of over a million candidates. He is a graduate of Dr. Ridvan - Binnaz Ege Anatolian High School.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: eyar@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~eyar

Mohammadreza Mohaghegh

Mohammadreza Mohaghegh received the B.Sc. degree with high honors from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran with a CGPA of 15.43/20 in Sep 2014. He won the full tuition waiver and research fellowship for his M.Sc. studies in Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. Before starting undergraduate studies, he was member of NODET (National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents) elementary school and high school for 7 years. He was accepted in the first stage of national competition to select national Mathematics Olympiad team members, twice in 2006 and 2007. In 2009 he was ranked the 132nd in Nationwide University Entrance Exam (Konkoor) among more than 300.000 participants and won Membership of National Elite Foundation. He has been Teaching Assistant for Circuit Theory, Probability and Statistics and Analog Circuits.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: mohaghegh@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~mohaghegh

Iman Marivani

Iman Marivani received the B.S. degree with high honors from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran. He won the full tuition waiver and research fellowship for his M.Sc. studies in Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. He has been graduated from the Electrical Engineering Department of Tehran Polytechnic, with a 17.41/20 CGPA, in 2014. During his undergraduate studies, Iman was recognized as an exceptionally talented student and awarded to study Biomedical Engineering as a second major. In addition to that he has the experience of being the teaching assistant in "Discrete-Time Signal Processing", "Transmission Systems", "Communication Systems" and "Probability and Statistics" courses. He was ranked as the 3rd in the whole country (Iran) and received Certificate of Distinction in Euclid Mathematics contest of Waterloo University, Ontario, Canada (2009). He was selected for the second round of National Mathematics Olympiad.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: marivani@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~marivani

Mustafa Simsek

Mustafa Simsek is an undergraduate student at Bilkent University, currently studying in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He has received the Best Digital Design Project Award among Bilkent EEE students in 2013. He has served 1 year as RAS Coordinator, 1 year as Vice President and 1 year as President in Bilkent IEEE Student Branch. He is an advanced Python programmer. His research interest include Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Neural Networks.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: mustafa.simsek@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~simsek

Mehmet Teksin

Mehmet Teksin is a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Prof. Serdar Kozat. He also works as a Senior Research Specialist at TUBITAK. Mr. Teksin was ranked the 11th among 1 million high school graduates in the Nationwide University Admissions Examination in 2000 and received the B.Sc. degree from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bilkent University, with a full tuition waiver in 2005. Right after graduation he worked for Havelsan Inc., one of the leading defense industry companies of Turkey, as a Systems Engineer. Mr. Teksin received his M.Sc. from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Pennsylvania State University in 2012. His research interests span a broad area within the intersection of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering; i.e. Financial Signal Processing, Graph Mining, Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition. Mr. Teksin holds many awards given by prestigious corporations and foundations within Turkey for his contributions to science.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: teksin@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~teksin

Farhan Khan

Farhan Khan is currently a Ph.D. Candidate under the supervision of Prof. Serdar Kozat at the Electrical Engineering Department of Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. He has received B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan in 2007 with full scholarship. He received his Masters degree in Wireless Communication from the reputed University of Southampton, UK in 2009. After graduation, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan. His research interests include Adaptive Signal Processing, Machine Learning and Wireless Communication.

Office: EE 210
E-mail: khan@ee.bilkent.edu.tr
Web: http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~fkhan