Biography
Didem cares about the future of the world and nature. She is a computer scientist with a PhD in mechatronics, which can give you an idea about how much she loves to talk about the future and emerging technologies. She is a data person, always finds a way to talk about how important it is to know your data, use it to make decisions and at some point expect her to talk about art, visualizations and visual analytics.
Didem is a person who does not hesitate to talk about inequalities and point out her ethical concerns. She dreams of a better world and actively works on improving inequalities regardless of their nature. She is an analytical thinker with a passion for design thinking, a researcher with a future perspective, an engineer who likes problems more than solutions and a teacher who likes to play during lectures. She is a good reader, sailor, divemaster, photographer and drone pilot.
Currently, she is a research associate at the University of Cambridge. She is associated with the Center for Smart Infrastructure, Laing O'Rourke Centre for construction engineering and Technology, and the Center of Digital Built Britain. Prior to this position, she taught several courses such as research methodologies for mechatronics, advanced mechatronics project courses, in addition to supervising several students on mechatronics and robotics thesis projects. Didem collaborated with universities and companies all around Europe through three EU-funded projects while conducting research on data and visual analytics for cyber-physical systems.
Didem has a multidisciplinary background from arts, computer science and mechatronics. She strongly advocates the importance of cross-disciplinary, collaborative research. She has been granted IEEE Senior Membership due to her significant performance and excellence over the last five years. She is a member of European AI Alliance and actively contributes to the discussions of all aspects of artificial intelligence development and its impact on the society.
She has actively volunteered in different human rights organizations to increase the awareness on LGBT rights, gender equality, refugee rights and animal rights. She has been interviewed by several blogs, magazines, newspapers and attended television programs to discuss women in technology and engineering, to motivate girls to choose STEM disciplines and to increase the awareness on sustainability and equality related issues.
Visit her personal website for further info.
