On July 16, Auburn University's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering continued with its series of seminars bringing in Gokhan Sarpkaya from Continental Automotive Systems located in Huntsville.
Sarpkaya, a former Auburn University doctorate student, presented his former dissertation on manufacturing automotive electronics.
Alice Smith, professor and chairwoman of the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, said it is quite useful and encouraging to have former students return to speak.
"It brings in a role model for students," said Smith. "It's helpful to see what someone has done and where they went after graduating."
Sarpkaya, who was born and raised in Instanbul, Turkey, first began his career in the Turkish Naval Academy as an officer from 1985 to 1993. He graduated in the top 10 of his class and received his bachelors of science degree in Electronics Engineering. Sarpkaya also learned to speak French, English and German while in school.
"The reason I chose engineering was because of the amazing capabilities of the Navy ships through systems such as radar, electronic warfare equipment and tactical link systems where you can detect and identify all kinds of airborne, surface and submarine contacts in the tactical picture," Sarpkaya said.
After serving for five years in the Turkish Navy, Sarpkaya said he decided to gets his masters degree and in 1998 attended the University of Pittsburgh to study operations research and industrial engineering. Here he met Smith, who was his advisor.
After returning home for two years to teach at the Turkish Naval Academy, Sarpkaya was given an opportunity to pursue his Ph.D. in industrial and system engineering at Auburn University.
"My experience at Auburn was priceless," said Sarpkaya. "The quality of the faculty was far beyond the average university."
Although rewarding, current Ph.D. candidate, Adam Piper, said earning a Ph.D. in engineering is a job within itself.
"It's a multi-semester project," said Piper. "The minimum is usually three semesters...it's a perseverance test."
Smith also said the focus and determination of those seeking to earn their Ph.D. is a challenge.
"It's intense because during their research you have to be self-motivated," said Smith. "The writing can also be challenging for those who speak other languages."
While earning his Ph.D., Sarpkaya received Dr. John Evans as his advisor, who he attributes his success to.
"I picked him up while he was already at Auburn," said Evans. "I did a lot of work with Continental Automotive Systems who came to us with questions about wanting to understand changing out their inventory system."
Here, Sarpkaya was able to experiment with his research on automotive electronics manufacturing and the floor space valuation methods that affect it.
"It delays decision making ... similar to what the stock markets use," Evans said.
Soon after evaluating his research and finding his studies to be conclusive, Sarpkaya was given a job at Continental Automotive Systems and received his Ph.D.
"He's extremely aggressive and intelligent," said Evans. "He's not afraid of hard work."
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