Who do I think I am?

I am a PhD ~~student~~ candidate in Sustainable Energy Systems at Carnegie Mellon University. My research focuses on energy flexibility applications by utilizing methods from physics-informed reinforcement learning, large language models, semantic technologies, grey-box modeling, and time series foundation models.

In my free time, I like to play with my cats, go on hikes, read about history, and drink fermented beverages.

So far, I have gotten 11 tattoos (one of them is the DOI of my first paper), backpacked in Europe for two months, survived mild hypothermia while camping during a snowstorm in Türkiye, lived in a hostel in Venice for four months, fermented my own wine and beer in Ankara, and visited a bunch of cities in a bunch of countries.

Education

PhD in Sustainable Energy Systems, Carnegie Mellon University (2022-Present) - Pittsburgh, PA
Master's in Sustainable Energy Systems, Carnegie Mellon University (2022-2024) - Pittsburgh, PA
Bachelor's in Engineering, Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi (2016-2021) - Ankara, Türkiye

Skills

Programming: Python, MATLAB, C++, SPARQL
LLM Applications: Langchain, Langraph, Tavily, ChromaDB, Nixtla
Deep Reinforcement Learning: PPO, MuZero, DDPG, A3C
Data Science: Scikit-learn, Pandas, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Ray, PySpark
Computer Vision: CNNs, Contrastive Learning
Semantic Ontologies: Brick, Knowledge Graphs
Signal Processing: Fourier Transforms, Filter Design, Convolution
Genetic Algorithms NSGA-II, WOA, DE, LM
System Identification: SciPy, SysIdentPy
Hardware: Particle Argon, Raspberry Pi

Professional Experience

Student Researcher/Affiliate, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (05/2024 – ongoing) - Berkeley, CA, USA
- Guiding Research in LLM-powered Knowledge Graph Question Answering for semantic models of buildings.
Visiting Researcher, Politecnico Di Milano (04/2022 – 07/2022) - Milan, Italy
- Guided preliminary design of bridges using Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) focusing on environmental, economical, and aesthetic objectives.
ERASMUS Intern, BOLINA Ingegneria S.R.L. (08/2021 – 11/2021) - Venice, Italy
- Conducted seismic risk analysis.
- Building Information Modeling of old Italian structures (with horrible drawings).
- Data-driven cost estimation of seismic renovation.
Engineer, BridgeWIZ Engineering (07/2020 – 10/2020) - Ankara, Turkey
- Developed a camera and laser-based CNN application for measuring tree trunk diameters.
- Implemented a physics-based ML approach for analyzing new seismic isolation bearings.
- Performed drone-based site inspections and analyzed acceleration data from multiple bridges for damage detection.