Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bengü ERGÜDEN

Gebze Technical University

She earned a master‘s degree in Chemistry from Middle East Technical University, Turkey and completed her PhD in Molecular Biology at the ZMBH, University of Heidelberg, Germany. She earned the Associate Professor title in 2022 and is currently a faculty member at Department of Bioengineering, Gebze Technical University, Turkey. Her research focuses on microbiology, bacteriology, mycology, antimicrobial agents, including their synthesis, characterization, and mode of action.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Onur SERÇİNOĞLU

Gebze Technical University

He completed his BSc in Bioengineering at Ege University in 2008, and his MSc in Biotechnology in 2011 at Hamburg University of Technology, supported by a TEV/DAAD scholarship, with a focus on mathematical modeling of mammalian cell culture applications. Dr. Serçinoğlu earned his PhD from Marmara University in 2018, specializing in the computational characterization of human Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) proteins. Since then, Dr. Serçinoğlu has expanded his research portfolio, actively participating in and leading various national projects, including in-depth studies on the dynamics and structural bioinformatics of MHC proteins, particularly in relation to autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes mellitus. He is involved in projects exploring the ligand specificity and promiscuity of bacterial efflux pumps, drug repurposing for allosteric ERK5 inhibitors, bioinformatics-based polypharmacological drug discovery for personalized therapy approaches. He has 11 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and presentations at international symposiums. He has also contributed chapters to several academic books. Currently, he holds a faculty position at Gebze Technical University, and has previously served at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University and Marmara University. Alongside his research work, Dr. Serçinoğlu is also committed to teaching, offering courses in structural bioinformatics, bioinformatics fundamentals, and computational biomolecular dynamics on undergraduate as well as graduate levels.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Özgün YÜCEL

Gebze Technical University

He received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, Gebze Technical University. He has been working at the Department of Chemical Engineering as an Assistant Professor, Gebze Technical University, Turkey since 2019.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Başak TEMUR ERGAN

Gebze Technical University

She received her B.Sc. degree from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Istanbul University in 2000. Between 2000 and 2003, she worked as a production and R&D engineer in two private companies working on polymer production. In 2003, she started her M.Sc.’s study at the Department of Chemistry, Gebze High Technology Institute. Being as an academic expert, she pursued her Ph.D.’s study at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, Gebze Technical University between 2006 and 2013. She worked her Ph.D on Microwave processes and worked on Microwave Energy, Chemical Kinetics, Modeling and Analysis of Microwave Assisted Processes. After receiving her Ph.D. degree in 2013, she carried out a career project, TUBITAK 3001 Project, between 2014 and 2016, entitled "Microwave Assisted Polylactic Acid (PLLA) Synthesis, Energy Analysis and Industrial Applicability". After the project is finished, she joined Kocaeli University research group as a post-doctoral researcher in 2018. She conducted post-doctoral studies at Environmental Protection and Control Laboratory, Kocaeli University, Türkiye. This one-year research relating to usage potential of produced Carbon-Based Electrodes in the Treatment of Wastewater using the Electro-Fenton Method was financially supported by TUBITAK 1002 project and University Scientific Research Project. Thanks to her post-doctoral experience, she conducted a TUBITAK scientific research project on the Effects of Modification Conditions of Biochar Electrodes on Purification Efficiency and Kinetics in the Electro-Fenton Process between 2020-2021. From 2005 to now, she has been working at the Department of Chemical engineering, Gebze Technical University, Türkiye.

Dr. Tansel KEMERLİ KALBARAN

Gebze Technical University

She received her B.Sc. degree from the Department of Food Engineering, Ege University, in 2008. In 2008, she started her M.Sc. in the Department of Food Engineering at Ege University. During her M.Sc., she worked as a Tubitak scholar. She participated in two projects titled "Establishment of Baking/Cooking Quality Metric for Different Food Product Groups, Comparison of Different Baking/Cooking Methods According to This Metric, and Evaluation of the Contribution of Steam and Steam-Assisted Hybrid Ovens to the Baking/Cooking Quality of These Food Products" and “Comparison of baking process of cookie dough products in conventional and steam-assisted hybrid ovens and modeling of heat-mass transfer of baking process". She pursued her Ph.D. study at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, Gebze Technical University. She worked on the project entitled "Optimization of Pine Nut (Pinus pinea L.) Oil Extraction by Response Surface Method" as part of her Ph.D. study. Since 2012, she has been an academic staff at Gebze Technical University in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Research Assistant Hatice Büşra LÜLECİ

Gebze Technical University

She received her undergraduate and master's degrees from Yıldız Technical University, Bioengineering Department. She then started and continues her PhD education at Gebze Technical University, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program. She has also worked as a Research Assistant at Gebze Technical University, Department of Bioengineering since 2015. She focused on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Next Generation Sequencing, and Metabolic Modelling related to various diseases. In addition, she has studied antimicrobial agents and their mode of action.

Research Assistant Muhammed Tarık ÇÖPOĞLU

Gebze Technical University

He received his undergraduate degree from Istanbul Medipol University in the field of Biomedical Engineering Department. He continued his education at Gebze Technical University and received his master's degree in Mechanical Engineering Department. Currently he is working on his PhD at Gebze Technical University, Bioengineering Department. He has also worked as a Research Assistant at Gebze Technical University, Department of Bioengineering since 2021. His research areas are Biomechanics, Medical Robotics, Human Machine Interface, Electromechanical Design and Additive Manufacturing. He has conducted national and international projects and academic studies in these areas during his education and work life.

Prof. Dr. Birce Taban

Ankara University

She got BSC., MSc., and PhD. at Hacettepe University Faculty of Engineering, Food Engineering Department. She currently works at the Department of Dairy Technology, Ankara University. Birce does research primarily on Food Microbiology and on Food Science. She works on rapid techniques in food microbiology, dairy microbiology, food safety and quality.

Prof. Dr. Fatih ÖZBEY

University of Health Sciences

He received his undergraduate degree from Ege University Engineering Faculty Food Engineering Department in 1994. In the same year Fatih Özbey started his graduate studies in Food Engineering at Hacettepe University and completed Ph.D. in Food Engineering at Hacettepe University. In the meantime, Özbey started his professional career as a research assistant at the Department of Food Engineering at Hacettepe University in 1996 and was appointed as an Instructor to the Hacettepe University Kaman Vocational College in 1999. Özbey, who served as an Instructor for eight years, started as relative assistant professor at Hitit University Department of Food Engineering in 2007. After that in 2010, he joined Joint Research Centre (JRC) group as a post-doctoral researcher. He conducted studies at the Institute Health and Consumer Protection, the JRC, Ispra, Italy. This one-year research relating to Isotopic Ratio Analysis of foods was financially supported by TUBITAK Scholarship Program-2219 supported by TUBITAK Scholarship Program-2219 and became Associate Professor in 2017. From 2018 to now, he has been working at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics as an department chair of the Faculty of Hamidiye Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, İstanbul, Turkey.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şaban ÖZTÜRK

Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University

He received his B.Sc. degree from Pamukkale University in 2011. In 2013, he began his academic career as a research assistant at Amasya University. Subsequently, he pursued his M.Sc. study at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Selçuk University, earning his degree in 2015. Continuing his academic journey, he obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Konya Technical University in 2019. During his doctoral studies, he had the opportunity to work in two of Europe’s leading image processing and artificial intelligence laboratories: the Multimedia and Human Understanding Group (MHUG) at the University of Trento, Italy, and the Medical Image Processing group at Graz University of Technology, Austria. After completing his Ph.D., he continued his postdoctoral research at Bilkent University UMRAM. He earned the title of Associate Professor in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Amasya University and later transitioned to Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University in the same capacity. He has authored over 50 academic papers and serves as an editor for various SCI journals. Currently, he is contributing to advancements in his field at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Meral Yıldırım Yalçın

Istanbul Aydın University

She received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences, Gebze Technical University. She has been working at the Department Food Engineering as an Assistant Professor Istanbul Aydın University, Turkey since 2021.

Dr. Gülben AVŞAR ÖZCAN

Turkish Academy of Science

She received her B.Sc. degree from Ege University Department of Bioengineeering. After the M.Sc. degree which was obtained from Marmara University Department of Bioengineering, she completed her Ph.D. in Gebze Technical University, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology PhD Program in 2023. Meanwhile, she worked as a teaching and research assistant in Gebze Technical University between 2017 and 2023. Since May 2023, she has been working as a TUBA Expert at Turkish Academy of Sciences. Additionally, she is also a lecturer at Ankara Medipol University, focusing on data science and its applications in healthcare.

Keziban SEVEN YALAP

Turkish Standards Instutions

As a food safety and quality expert, she has accumulated extensive experience working as a Laboratory Manager at the Gebze Biogenetics and Food Laboratory, where she leads efforts to ensure compliance with international standards. Her role as a technical Inspection Specialist at the Turkish Standards Institution has honed her skills in evaluating food products for safety and quality. With a robust academic background in Environmental Engineering, she focuses on sustainable and eco-friendly practices, which she applies to the food industry. Her academic journey includes a master’s degree at Boğazici University focusing on the advanced oxidation treatment of tetracycline in water, which laid the foundation for her expertise in environmental health and food safety. She has also contributed to the development of sustainable practices in the food industry, with a particular emphasis on reducing environmental impact. She is passionate about implementing innovative solutions, including leveraging artificial intelligence, to enhance food safety standards.

Prof. Dr. George-John Nychas

Agricultural University of Athens (Greece)

Professor George-John Nychas is the head of the Laboratory of Microbiology and Biotechnology of Foods of AUA, which was established in 1994. The team of Prof. G. Nychas has acquired extensive experience on; a) the assessment of food safety and spoilage through microbiological analysis, and physicochemical analysis in combination with multivariate statistical methods, such as MCFA, PCA, discriminant analysis and cluster analysis, b) on responses of stress adapted pathogens grown planktonically or attached on stainless steel surfaces, and c) on modelling the behaviour of microbial populations throughout the food chain to assist reliable estimation of microbial food safety risk. d) Implementation of Process analytical technology in Food Industry.

Prof. Dr. Fernando Pérez Rodríguez

University of Cordoba (Spain)

Fernando Pérez undertook a degree in Biological Science and in Food Science and Technology from the University of Cordoba in 1999 and 2002, respectively. He completed his PhD at the University of Córdoba (2007), which dealt with quantitative microbiological risk assessment and cross contamination in foods. He has published more than 40 articles in the most prestigious international food microbiology journals and several books concerning predictive microbiology in foods. He has been involved in several research projects at national and international level, conducting quantitative risk assessment studies and investigating cross contamination. Due to his expertise, he has participated as a scientific advisor in several expert panels at national and international level, in the Spanish Food Safety Agency and as a Risk Assessment Expert of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) providing scientific opinions and reports. He is a member of the International Food Protection Association and the Spanish Society of Microbiology. He has also taught courses in predictive microbiology and he is associate professor of Food Microbiology and Hygiene at the University of Cordoba (Spain).

Prof. Dr. Antonio Valero Díaz

University of Cordoba (Spain)

Antonio Valero has a degree in Food Science and Technology since 2002, obtaining the Extraordinary Degree Award. Subsequently, his academic and research career is associated with the Department of Bromatology and Food Technology. He currently holds the position of Hired Doctor Professor within the HIBRO group, teaching food hygiene subjects within the Degree in Veterinary Medicine, and Food Science and Technology at the University of Córdoba.

Prof. Dr. Rijwan Khan

ABES Institute of Technology (India)

Dr. Rijwan Khan is B.Tech (CSE), M.Tech (CSE) and Ph.D in Computer Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi. He is editor of more than 10 journals and edited 5 books. He is author of 3 books. He published more than 50 research papers in different journals and conferences. He wrote 10 book chapters. He has 16 years of teaching experience. He was head of computer science and engineering department at ABES Institute of Technology from Nov 2019 to March 2023. Currently he is Dean Research at ABES Institute of Technology.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Weiqing Min

Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)

Weiqing Min is currently an Associate Professor with the Key Laboratory of Intelligent Information Processing, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests include multimedia content analysis and food computing. He has authored or coauthored more than 50 peer-referenced papers in relevant journals and conferences, including IEEE Trans. on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Patterns (Cell Press), ACM Computing Surveys, Trends in Food Science & Technology, IEEE Trans. on Image Processing, IEEE Trans. on Multimedia, ACM MM, AAAI, IJCAI, etc. He organized several special issues on international journals, such as IEEE Trans. on Multimedia, IEEE Multimedia Magazine and Foods as a Guest Editor. He was the Area Chair of ICME2022-2023/ACMMM2021. He was the senior member of IEEE and CCF. He was a recipient of the 2016 ACM TOMM Nicolas D. Georganas Best Paper Award and the 2017 IEEE Multimedia Magazine Best Paper Award.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Verônica Ortiz Alvarenga

Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Assistant Professor in the Department of Food at the Pharmacy School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). She works in Teaching, Research, and Extension in the area of Food Microbiology at the Department of Food of FAFAR/UFMG. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás (2005), a Master’s degree in Food Science from the State University of Campinas (2008), and a Doctorate in Food Science from the State University of Campinas (2017). She works in the Graduate Program in Food Science at the Pharmacy School of UFMG.

He is a researcher at university of Cordoba. His work interests are VIS/NIR Spectroscopy NIR Spectrometry, PLS, Multivariate Calibration, PCA, Multivariate Regression, Linear Regression Regression, Analysis Statistical Analysis.

Dr. Aricia Mara Melo Possas

University of Cordoba (Spain)

Arícia Possas is food engineer from the Federal University of Viçosa. She is currently working as a PhD student at HIBRO group in the field of predictive microbiology and microbial risk assessment. Her research focusses on the application of innovative technologies to increase food safety and shelf life of foods, such as the application of essential oils as natural antimicrobials, the application of high hydrostatic pressure in meat products and the use of electrolyzed water as disinfectant for food contact surfaces.