Prof. ALİ RIZA YILDIZ

Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Yıldız completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees with high honors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Bursa Uludağ University's Faculty of Engineering. His postgraduate studies focused on the optimal design of lightweight and more reliable automotive and machine parts using Artificial Intelligence methods. During his doctoral studies, he was awarded the TÜBİTAK 2211 Domestic Doctoral Scholarship, the TÜBİTAK 2214-A International Doctoral Research Scholarship, and the TÜBİTAK 2219 Postdoctoral Research Scholarship. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering Departments at the University of Michigan and Mississippi State University in the United States. He served as an Associate Editor, Guest Editor, and Editorial Board Member in various journals indexed in the SCI and SCI-Expanded indexes. He has also advised 21 master's and doctoral theses. He has published over 200 papers and articles, 165 of which are in SCI journals. His H-index is 75, and his publications have been cited over 14,000 times.

He was elected an Associate Member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) in 2020 by the General Assembly of the Turkish Academy of Sciences and a Full Member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) in 2023.

He was awarded the TÜBİTAK Science Incentive Award in 2017 for his "outstanding international work on the development of next-generation high-performance hybrid artificial intelligence optimization methods for sustainable development in optimal product design and manufacturing, and on solving industrial problems using these methods."

In 2015, he was awarded the TÜBA-GEBİP Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Turkish Academy of Sciences and the METU-Middle East Technical University Prof. Dr. Mustafa Parlar Research Incentive Award.

In 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, he was included on the list of "the world's most influential scientists," prepared by a team of scientists from Stanford University. He ranked 16th among scientists from all disciplines included on this list.

Between 2020 and 2022, he served as R&D Center Manager at Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ) and participated in various projects related to the development of domestically produced aircraft in the defense industry, such as the Kaan, Hürkuş, and Hürjet. During this period, he obtained patents for the designs of our domestically produced aircraft.

He served in various administrative roles during the founding of Bursa Technical University, including Advisor to the Rector responsible for University-Industry Collaboration, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, Head of the Department of Architecture, Head of the Department of Mathematics, a member of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK-ÜAK), a member of the TÜBİTAK TEYDEB MAKİTEG Machinery and Technology Manufacturing Group Executive Committee, Director of the Automotive Research Application and Research Center, a member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Engineering, a member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Engineering, a member of the Faculty Directorate of the Graduate School, Head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence, and a member of the Senate of Bursa Uludağ University.

He pioneered the establishment of the interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Master's program, the Additive Manufacturing Master's and Doctoral programs, and the Additive Manufacturing Application and Research Center within the Institute of Science at Bursa Uludağ University.

He served as a manager in San-Tez projects supported by TÜBİTAK-ARDEB and the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology. He served as an academic advisor and project manager responsible for optimal product development in numerous TÜBİTAK-TEYDEB-supported 1501 and 1505 R&D projects for various domestic and international partner companies, including the Oyak-Renault Automobile Factories R&D Center, Beyçelik Holding R&D Center, Yeşilova Holding R&D Center, Coşkunöz Holding R&D Center, Toksan R&D Center, Valeo Brake Systems Inc., and Akpres R&D Center.

He currently serves as Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department in the Faculty of Engineering at Bursa Uludağ University.