Tuba prize at presidential palace in Ankara
Prof. Okyay Kaynak (3rd from the left) next to the Turkish President in Ankara © Republic of Turkey Directorate of Communications 

It is our greatest pleasure to announce that, one of our long-term IES volunteers, Prof. Okyay Kaynak, was recently recognized and awarded the 2020 TÜBA Academy Prize in the Basic and Engineering Sciences for his works and contributions on the sliding mode control method developed by using artificial intelligence and artificial neural network techniques in his applications and studies in the fields of industrial process control, aviation, vehicle control, robotics, and automation by the Turkish Academy of Sciences.

2020 TÜBA Academy Prizes

2020 TUBA Prize
Prof. Kaynak awarded at 2020 TÜBA Academy Prizes © Turkish Academia of Sciences

This is a very prestigious award which he received at the Presidential Palace in Ankara from the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

2020 TÜBA Academy Prizes awarded four scientists in three categories: Social Sciences and Humanities, Health and Life Sciences, and Basic and Engineering Sciences. Awards comprise an Academy Medal and prize money of USD 30.000 for each prize, and are annually given, to encourage scientists with original, leading and path-breaking works in their fields.

Prof. Okyay Kaynak Biography

Professor Okyay KaynakOkyay Kaynak received the B.Sc. (first-class honors) and Ph.D. degrees in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U. K., in 1969 and 1972, respectively.

From 1972 to 1979, he held various positions within the industry that included 3.5 years in Saudi Arabia, working as a project engineer. In 1979, he joined the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. He has served as the Chairman of the Computer Engineering and the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Departments and as the Director of Biomedical Engineering Institute at this university. Currently he is an Emeritus Professor, holding the title of UNESCO Chair on Mechatronics.

He has hold long-term (near to or more than a year) Visiting Professor/Scholar positions at various institutions in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany, U.S., Singapore and China. He was, in 2013, awarded the prestigious “1000 People” Program professorship at Harbin Institute of Technology, China.

Dr. Kaynak’s current research interests are in the broad field of intelligent systems. He has authored three books, edited five and authored or coauthored more than 400 papers that have appeared in various journals, books and conference proceedings.

Dr. Kaynak is a fellow of IEEE. He is or has served on the Editorial or Advisory Boards of a number of scholarly journals. He was the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Trans. on Industrial Informatics during 2005-2006, IEEE/ASME Trans. on Mechatronics during 2014-2016 and Co-Editor in Chief of IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics during 2009-2012.

Dr. Kaynak is active in international organizations, has served on many committees of IEEE and was the president of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society during 2002-2003. He received IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2001), IEEE/IES Anthony J. Hornfeck Service Award (2005) and IEEE/IES Dr.-Ing. Eugene Mittelman Achievement Award (2011). Most recently, he received the China Friendship Award (2016), Humboldt Research Prize (2016) and International Academy Prize of Turkish Academy of Sciences (2020).

More info on http://tuba.gov.tr/en/tuba-awards/tuba-academy-prizes/2020-academy-prize-laureates