Committee Members

Dr Xi Chen is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, where she works with Prof Yao Sun. Her research focuses on high-performance steel structures, additively-manufactured (3D-printed) steel components, and computational optimisation for structural engineering. She holds an MSc and a PhD degree from Imperial College London. Dr Chen has authored over 8 peer-reviewed publications, including 3 first/corresponding-author papers in JCR Q1 journals, with notable contributions to the mechanical behaviour and design of 3D-printed stainless steel structures. Her recent work on wire-arc and wire-laser additively-manufactured stainless steel components has advanced the understanding of material performance and structural component behaviour in additive manufacturing. She is also actively involved in fire-resistance research for stainless steel structures.

Prof. Yao Sun is a Full Professor of Structural Engineering in the College of Civil Engineering at Hunan University, China. He is also an honorary staff member of the University of Liverpool. He received his BEng degree in Civil Engineering from Tongji University and his MSc degree in Structural Engineering from Imperial College London. Then, he moved to Singapore and did his PhD in Structural Engineering at Nanyang Technological University. His principal research interests lie in the areas of 3D-printed metal structures, sustainable structures and fire engineering. He has been working on the development of Eurocode 3 for the design of steel structures, and published over 50 Tier-1 SCI-indexed journal papers.

Asst.Prof. Dr. Emin Taner ELMAS is a Mechanical Engineer having degrees of B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., and was born in Sivas in 1974. He completed his doctorate at Ege University, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Mechanical Engineering Department, Thermodynamics Science Branch, and his master’s degree at Dokuz Eylül University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Energy Science Branch. He also completed his undergraduate education at Hacettepe University, ZEF, Mechanical Engineering Department and graduated from the faculty with honors in 1995 and became a mechanical engineer. He was awarded a non-refundable scholarship by the Turkish Chamber of Mechanical Engineers in his 4^th year because he was the most succesful student during his first 3 classes study at the faculty. He graduated from İzmir Atatürk High School in 1991.

Asst. Prof. Dr. ELMAS has completed his military service as a NATO Officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a “Reserved Officer” as a “2^nd Lieutenant” as an “English-Turkish Interpreter”.  He was also a “Guard Commander” and served in Sarajevo, Camp Butmir within the SFOR task force of NATO. He has been awarded with 2 (two) NATO Medals and Turkish Armed Forces Service Certificate of Pride (Bosnia & Herzegovina).

In addition to his academic duties at universities, he has worked as an engineer and manager in various industrial institutions, organizations and companies; He has served as Construction Site Manager, Project Manager, Management Representative, Quality Manager, Production Manager, Energy Manager, CSO-CTO, CBDO, Factory Manager, Deputy General Manager and General Manager.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Elmas is Department Head and is an Assistant Professor of Automotive Technology at the Department of Motor Vehicles and Transportation Technologies at Vocational School of Higher Education for Technical Sciences at IGDIR UNIVERSITY, Turkey. He is also an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering & BioSciences at the same university.  He has nearly 30 years of total experience in academia and in industry.

Prof. Dr. Kadir Gök received his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Education from Gazi University, Afyon Kocatepe University, and Kocaeli University, respectively. His academic career began in 2004 as an Instructor at Dumlupınar University, followed by specialized training in Biomechanics at Ulm University of Germany. Throughout his career, Dr. Gök has authored numerous scientific publications, contributing significantly to TÜBİTAK and BAP-supported projects. He holds one registered patent, four patent applications, and two registered trademarks.

In 2016, Dr. Gök joined Manisa Celal Bayar University as an Assistant Professor, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering in 2018. Since August 2019, he has been serving as an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering at İzmir Bakırçay University, where he was elevated to the rank of Professor in July 2023. Additionally, from June 2020 to December 2023, he served as the Director of the Biomedical Technologies Design Application and Research Center at İzmir Bakırçay University.

Dr. Gök’s research interests include biomechanics, biomaterials, biosensors, computer-aided finite element analysis, and the design of biomedical and orthopedic devices. He has participated as an Invited Speaker at “The 7th International Conference on Material Strength and Applied Mechanics (MSAM 2024)” held in Gyor, Hungary, demonstrating his expertise in his field. Additionally, he served as a Session Chair at the “3rd International Conference on Materials Science & Engineering” held during September 26-27, 2024, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, further showcasing his leadership and contributions to the academic community.

He is a Full Distinguished Professor and Academic Tenure of Chemistry, World Class University Professor, Coordinator for International Scientific and Academic Collaborations, Enrico Fermi Distinguished Chair in Molecular Spectroscopy, Head of Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and Director of the BioSpectroscopy Core Research Laboratory (BCRL) at the California South University (CSU), Irvine, California, USA.