Prof. Dr. İsmail Lazoğlu completed his undergraduate education in Mechanical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 1989. He obtained his master's and doctoral degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992 and 1997, respectively. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois and later served as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of British Columbia between 1997 and 2000. Since 2000, he has been a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Koç University, where he is also the founder and director of the Manufacturing and Automation Research Center. His research and expertise lie in advanced manufacturing, mechatronics/automation/robotics, and medical systems/artificial organs/implants/biomechanics. His current medical research interests include biomechanics, artificial heart pumps, cardiovascular system modeling, spinal system modeling, 3D tissue printing, bionic limbs, and the development of novel spinal implants. Prof. Lazoğlu is a member of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP – College International pour la Recherche en Productique), a member of the European Society for Artificial Organs, and a founding and executive board member of the Turkish Society for Artificial Organs and Support Systems (TUYOD).

Having graduated from the Department of Computer Engineering, Trakya University back in 1995, Mehmet Akif Nacar (PhD.) holds a master's degree in Electronics-Computer Teaching granted by Gazi University in 1998. Earning another master’s degree in computer science from Syracuse University in 2000, Nacar (PhD.) went on to get a PhD on a research scholarship from Indiana University in 2008. Having returned to the homeland the same year, Nacar (PhD.) took office as a lecturer in Harran University, and focused on Grid Informatics, Cloud Computing and High-Performance Computing as a part of his academic endeavors. Nacar ran and delivered high-budget projects sponsored by the Ministry of Development, TUBITAK and GAP BKI. Mehmet Akif Nacar served as the head of Harran University’s Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering from 2009 to 2010, the Department of Industrial Engineering from 2010 to 2011, and the Department of Computer Engineering from 2010 to 2014. Nacar (PhD.) also took office as the Director of the IT Research and Application Center from 2009 to 2013, and the Director of the Information Technologies Application and Research Center from 2013 to 2016 within the body of Harran University, and then went on to serve as a Secretary General between 2016 and 2017, and a Consultant to the Rector of the University from 2015 to 2017. Appointed as an Assistant General Manager of Training and Simulation Technologies at HAVELSAN on May 16, 2017, Nacar (PhD.) took office as the chairman of the board at EHSIM (Electronic Warfare Systems Engineering Trading Inc.) in 2018. Nacar (PhD.) was appointed as a board member of HAVELSAN in 2017 and has been serving as the Chairman of the Board at Quantum3D, a technology company in Silicon Valley, USA, since 2020. Mehmet Akif Nacar (PhD.) also took office as a Member of the Board of Directors and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors between 2019 and 2021 at Cornea Aero Systems Industry and Trade Inc., which was founded in cooperation between HAVELSAN and Turkish Technic in 2018 to develop in-flight entertainment systems. As a part of academic-industrial partnerships, Nacar (PhD.) has served as a founding and board member of Şanlıurfa Teknokent, a member of the R&D Board at KOSGEB, a provincial agent of Public-Academic-Industrial Partnership (KUSI) for the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and an academic representative for the Project on Intellectual and Industrial Rights by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TPE). As a part of academic-industrial partnerships, he also took office as an R&D project consultant for KOSGEB, an arbitrator and an observer for TEYDEB by TUBITAK, a panelist and an observer for KAMAG by TUBITAK, and a panelist of Research Projects for the Ministry of Development. Nacar (PhD.) has been involved in scores of domestic R&D and entrepreneurship projects (TEYDEB, Santez, Teknogirişim) as a panelist / arbitrator / observer / consultant. Nacar (PhD.) has also served as a member of the Advisory Board of TUBITAK's Ulakbim TRUBA, and of the Advisory Board of TUBITAK's TEYDEB Cloud Computing. Nacar (PhD.) was appointed definitively as the General Manager of HAVELSAN on July 21, 2020, an office which he held by proxy since June 23, 2020, by the Decision of the Board of Directors of HAVELSAN. Nacar, who also served as a Member of Board at HAVELSAN between 16 May 2022 and 22 September 2023, continues his duty as HAVELSAN General Manager. Nacar is married with 3 children.