Dr. Mehmet Arik is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Auburn University and the Interim Director of EVATEG Center (Energy Efficient Electronics and Lighting Technologies Research, Development, and Demonstration Center), Istanbul, Turkey. Before joining Auburn University, Dr. Arik was a Full-Time Faculty Member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ozyegin University, Istanbul, since 2011. He was also the Director of EVATEG Center since 2012. The center currently collaborates with more than 40 global organizations. From 2000 to 2011, he was with the General Electric Global Research Center, Schenectady, NY, USA, on the thermal management of electronics as a Senior Research Scientist and Program Leader. He has authored or coauthored more than 200 articles in international journals and conferences, four books, and book chapters in electronics cooling, energy systems, and MEMS. He holds more than 200 U.S./EU/Asia and world patents and patent applications. Dr. Arik is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellow. He serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions of Component Packaging and Manufacturing Technologies and is a Scientific Committee Member for International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer.

Dr. Arik received the B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1991, the M.Sc. degree from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA, in 1996, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, with a focus on the thermal management of advanced electronic components and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), in 2001.

Mohammad Azarifar is an accomplished researcher with extensive experience in the field of heat transfer and thermal management of high-power electronics. Based on his past research experiences, he is developing innovative heat removal systems for high-power semiconductors and microelectronics using cutting-edge experimental and computational fluid dynamic strategies. His research is expected to contribute to the advancement of cost-effective and reliable high flux heat removal systems.

Mohammad Azarifar has gained a solid foundation in field of heat transfer through his experience with thermal management of high-power solid-state lighting systems and high electron mobility transistors. He has developed a range of skills, including accurate heat transfer measurement methods based on electrical parameters, more than a decade of experience on computational fluid dynamic simulations, using machine learning to predict thermal behaviors, professional experience in data processing, and excellent communication style to publish results in scientific journals.

Md Shafiqul Islam is pursuing a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the ART group in January, 2023. His current research is focused on the thermal management of LED technologies. He is working on developing a thermal model in order to predict the local hotspot temperatures in LEDs. Before coming to the US, Mr. Islam completed Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Katie Wolfe is a PhD student in Electrical Engineering, currently focused on researching the cognitive impact of UV lighting. She holds two undergraduate degrees—a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor's in Theatre Design and Technology with a focus on lighting. Katie is also the recipient of the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP). Her interdisciplinary background combines engineering and design, bringing a unique perspective to her research.

Faisal Ahmed joined the ART group in the Spring of 2023. He is currently working on implementing single and multiple orifice Synthetic Jets to enhance natural convection heat transfer. His research interests include, but are not limited to, heat transfer enhancement by synthetic and impingement jets, renewable energy, and fuel consumption optimization of aircraft. He is dedicated to both experimental and computational approaches.

Faisal completed his BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUET), Bangladesh in 2019.

Erphan is a Master's student in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in nano-scale heat transfer. He completed his Bachelor's degree at Isfahan University, Shahreza Campus. With a focus on high-power electronics, particularly LED and laser diodes, they are currently conducting cutting-edge research in heat transfer and thermal management. Their work involves developing innovative cooling techniques and exploring the effects of material properties and device design on heat dissipation. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, Erphan aims to contribute to the advancement of thermal management solutions in the field of high-power electronics.

Efe graduated from Ozyegin University with his B.S in Mechanical Engineering in 2023 and is currently pursuing his M.S in the same field. He’s currently researching pool boiling heat transfer both for   microchannel surfaces and exploring implantation of microfluidic flows generated by synthetic jet actuators.

Alper Abdusoglu is a M.Sc. student and research assistant working in thermal sciences. He graduated from Ozyegin University in 2023 with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. His current research investigates the effects of frosting on heat transfer in heat exchangers and flat plates through experimental and numerical approaches.

Kaan Demirhan is a Master’s student and research assistant specializing in thermal sciences. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ozyegin University in 2023. His ongoing research focuses on the impact of frosting on heat transfer in heat exchangers and flat plates, utilizing both experimental and numerical methods.

Kourosh  Naji is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Özyeğin University, specializing in computational and experimental fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), and the study of heat transfer in porous media. He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Özyeğin University, where his research focused on the numerical and experimental analysis of fluid flow through Gyroid-type structures with Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS). His current doctoral research involves investigating multiple synthetic jets in pool boiling to enhance heat transfer performance.

With a strong foundation in numerical simulations and experimental methods, Kourosh has contributed to international conferences and is working on journal publications. His research interests include optimization, computational heat transfer, porous media analysis, and mechanical systems design. Kourosh is also proficient in software tools such as StarCCM+, ANSYS, MATLAB, and nTopology and enjoys applying these tools to solve complex engineering challenges.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mete Budakli received his Ph.D. degree from the Technische Universität Darmstadt-Germany in April 2013 where he was working at the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics. During his Ph.D., he has experimentally studied hydrodynamics and heat transfer of gas-driven thin-film flows which exist in Airblast-Atomizers used in Lean-Premixed Pre-Vaporized (LPP) Aircraft Engines. After completion of his Ph.D., he joined the R&D department of ThysseKrupp in the field of Petrochemicals and Refinery Technology and worked in several projects such as for Shell, Gazprom, Tüpras etc. Parallel to this position, he started lecturing in the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) Mannheim-Germany, which he still continues. From 2016 - 2020 he was an Assistant Professor at the Turkish-German University in Istanbul and was PI of a Marie Skłodowska Curie Co-funded project from 2016 - 2017. Since October 2020, he is Research Fellow of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Funding No. 441193154) in the EVATEG Center, Özyegin University in Istanbul. His current research focusses on the enhancement of phase-change heat transfer and surface wetting phenomenon on micro-laser-decorated surfaces with the aim to improve the thermal management in electronic systems used in avionics and satellites. His main research fields are condensation, boiling, frosting, icing/deicing, spray cooling impact, single-phase heat transfer, and phase-change materials.

Dr. Altug Melik Basol is an Assistant Prof. at the Mechanical Engineering Department at Özyeğin University in Turkey. He completed his PhD at ETH Zurich in Switzerland in 2013 in numerical modeling of gas and steam turbines. At Özyegin University, he is developing numerical models, application-specific methods, and software for the analysis, design, and optimization of thermal systems including industrial furnaces with dominant thermal radiation effects and refrigeration systems subject to frost formation.