ISE names Outstanding Ph.D. Student

Due to his hard work and academic success in the Auburn University Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, doctoral student Oguz Toragay was voted Outstanding Ph.D. Student by the department’s faculty for 2022.

Toragay has dual nationality in Turkey and Iran. He received a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics in 2004 from Khayyam University in Iran and a master’s degree in industrial engineering in 2011 from Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey.

While working towards his undergraduate degree, Toragay took two courses in operations research which he found interesting.

“Applications of mathematics in a real-world setting is always attractive and interesting to me,” Toragay said. “I decided to continue my education in industrial engineering as one of the engineering majors in which mathematics, and especially operations research, has many applications.”

Toragay is currently involved in departmental research focused on the optimization of the structural design for additive manufacturing with Assistant Professor Daniel Silva and Associate Professor Aleksandr Vinel.

“In this multidisciplinary project together with my advisors, Dr. Silva and Dr. Vinel from ISE and my co-advisor Dr. Shamsaei from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, we optimize the design of frame structure for additive manufacturing applying the mathematical modeling approaches,” Toragay said of the research.

Toragay will earn his doctorate in May and has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical, Robotics, and Industrial Engineering at Lawrence Technological University.

“Being offered a tenure-track assistant professorship in a good university indicates that I was being well-equipped through ISE with all of the skill sets that are necessary for my academic career, including the teaching experience and conducting research in multidisciplinary environments,” Toragay said. “I am so thankful for all the support that I got from the ISE department at Auburn University.”

Toragay added that his time as a student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering showed him the important role industrial engineers have in tackling problems in different areas. He learned that the concepts he was taught have deep connections to real-world applications such as transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, cybersecurity and more.

“This is a great honor for me to be named as the Outstanding Ph.D. Student of our department,” he said. “This is not only an encouragement for me but also a manifestation of ‘hard work pays off.’”