Board of Directors

Prof. Kemal Yüksek was born in Çaykara, Trabzon in 1969. He completed his bachelor's degree in Mathematical Engineering in 1990 and his Master of Engineering degree in Computer Engineering in 1993 at Istanbul Technical University (ITU).  He focused on Applied Mathematics during his Ph.D. studies and earned his Ph.D. degree in the same field in 1998 from Yıldız Technical University (YTÜ).

Prof. Yüksek started his academic career as a “Research Assistant” at Yıldız Technical University in 1993. In 2000, he started to work as an “Assistant Professor” in Computer Engineering Department at Istanbul Kültür University. In addition to his academic career, he occupied as the deputy head of the Computer Engineering department. He received the title of “Associate Professor” in 2012 and the title of “Professor” from Hasan Kalyoncu University in 2016.  He gave lectures, attended conferences on software, database design, mathematical modeling, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, training management, and civil aviation management.  Besides all, he has numerous articles published in scientific journals.  

In 2012, Prof. Yüksek started his professional career at Turkish Airlines as a “Project Manager”. Between 2013-2018, he occupied as “Vice President of Training” at Turkish Aviation Academy.

He took part in the development and implementation of projects such as Turkish Airlines' New Passenger Service System (ticketing and reservation), Training Management System, Online Assessment System, and Learning and Training Portal. Apart from this, he accomplished the software development of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Street Lightening System and Medical Services System projects. Prof. Yüksek has managed the Virtual Reality and Simulation Learning Applications compatible with Scorm X-API Standards, by 3-D Interactive e-Learning Platform with the support of the TÜBİTAK R&D Project. He successfully represented Turkey in the civil aviation area by participating as a speaker in conferences organized by international civil aviation organizations. Prof. Yüksek started serving as the “Deputy Director General of Turkish DGCA” in May 2019 and has been nominated as ‘Acting Director General” in January 2021. Prof. Yüksek is the co-founder and member of the Career and Talent Management Organization. He has mastered various programming languages (C, C ++, Visual Basic, C #, ASP.net, JAVA, PHP) and database management systems (Data Modeling (EER Modeling), SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL). Currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Türksat, Prof. Yüksek is married and has three daughters.

He was appointed as the Minister Consultant at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure on May 8, 2019, and as General Manager of Infrastructure Investments on September 19, 2019. Dr. Eyigün is a member of the Türksat Board of Directors.

Dr. Eyigün worked as the deputy manager, manager, and the control engineer responsible for rail system project and construction works during his tenure at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Rail System Directorate between 1997 and 2012.

Between 2012 and 2015, he worked as the Deputy General Manager of General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments at the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication. During his tenure at AYGM, he worked in various positions such as Urban Rail System and Outline Railway Projects Survey and Construction Works Sector Supervisor, Eurasia Road Crossing Project Supervisor, Marmaray Construction Activities.

He graduated from Istanbul Technical University Civil Engineering Department in 1995. He received his master's and Ph.D. degrees from the same department. Between 2015 and 2018, he was a lecturer at Yalova University Transport Engineering Department. He was appointed as an Assistant Professor to the Civil Engineering Department of Istanbul Commerce University in the 2018 - 2019 academic year.

Mücahit Arman was born in Samsun in 1964. He graduated from the Civil Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University in 1986. In 1989, he completed his master's thesis titled "Life Cycle Analysis of Flexible Pavements" at the same university's Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, earning a degree as a Civil Engineer.

In 1987, Arman started his career as a Planning Engineer in the Planning Department of the General Directorate of Highways. In 1998, he was appointed as Chief of Planning and Study.

In 1999, he received a scholarship from the International Road Federation and participated in the Transportation Engineering program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the USA for one year, working on transportation network system modeling, transportation economics, decision support systems, and traffic engineering.

From 2000 to 2002, he served as the Deputy Director of the Planning Department, and from 2002 to 2011, he was the Director of the Strategic Planning Department.

In 2011, Arman was appointed as the Head of the Strategy Development Department, and in 2017, he became the Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Highways. On August 11, 2023, he was appointed as the Head of Strategy Development of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, as per Presidential Decree No. 2023/382, published in the Official Gazette No. 32276.

During his tenure at the General Directorate of Highways, Arman actively participated in the execution of projects such as:

• The Geographic-Based Project Management System,
• The 3D Image-Based Highway Inventory Information System,
• Planning and economic and financial analyses of highway projects, including Build-Operate-Transfer motorway projects under the PPP model,
• Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Mücahit Arman is married, has one child, and speaks English.

Kolcu has been the Head of Information Technologies Department at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure since September 2018.

Between July 2018 and August 2018, he worked as the Head of Information Technologies Department at the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Between December 2016 and June 2018, he served as the Head of Technical Operations Department responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing activities concerning IT infrastructure, data centers, and user network at the Information Technologies and Communication Authority. Between November 2014 and November 2016, he worked as the System Manager of İncek Data Center of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority. Between January 2005 and September 2014, he worked as an independent consultant on many projects.

Between September 1991 and September 1992, he worked as a software developer at Ülker- Datateknik. He was a lecturer at Gaziosmanpaşa University between September 1992 - September 1993. Kolcu worked as a research assistant at Harran University, Cranfield University, and Manchester University from September 1993 to December 2004. He has published numerous research articles and presented academic papers at international conferences. During his academic research at the University of Manchester (February 1998 - November 1999), he worked as a senior developer in several projects.

He is a graduate of Istanbul Technical University, Control and Computer Engineering Department in 1991. He received his master's degree from Cranfield University Computer Engineering Department in 1996.

He is a member of the Türksat Board of Directors since June 2019.

Born in 1958 in Istanbul, Alev Dedegil holds a degree in Political Science and Public Administration. She has served as Chairperson of the Board of Directors in the private sector and is the founding president of the Istanbul Women’s Studies Center (İKAM). She served as the Istanbul Deputy in the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 27th terms of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). During her tenure, she held the following positions:

• Chairperson of the Petition Committee,
• Chairperson of the Commission for Investigating Violence Against Women,
• Chairperson of the Subcommittee on Gender-Sensitive Budgeting,
• Member of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (KEFEK),
• Member of the Health and Family Committee,
• Member of the Environment Committee,
• Member and Spokesperson of the Interior Affairs Committee.
• From 2015 to 2018, she served as Chief Advisor to the Presidency of Turkey.

She has intermediate proficiency in English.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şuayıp BİRİNCİ was born in Rize in 1973. He completed his primary and secondary education in Rize and Trabzon, and his university education at Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Medicine. After becoming a medical doctor, he completed a master's degree in "Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship," a master's degree in "Health Institutions Management," and a PhD in the same field.

Starting his professional career in 1998, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Birinci worked as a physician in various public institutions in his hometown of Rize and in Istanbul. He served as deputy chief physician at Ümraniye EA Hospital (2005-2009), deputy director at Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate (2009-2012), and general secretary at TKHK Istanbul Anatolian North Region (2012-2014).

In the Ministry of Health Central Organization, he served as deputy undersecretary (2014-2018) and was appointed as Deputy Minister of Health in August 2018, a position he still holds. During his tenure at the Ministry, he has been involved in defining strategies and goals, planning, regulation, and coordination.

As an executive committee member of Teknofest, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Birinci has pioneered the organization of competitions in health technologies and healthcare artificial intelligence. He is the founder and executive board member of TÜSAP, Turkey's first think-tank organization focused on health policies and management. Additionally, he serves as a board member of TÜRKSAT and chairs the board of the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center. In 2021, he was recognized by HIMSS as one of the world's top 50 leaders shaping the future of health (one of ten public officials to receive this honor).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Birinci has managed Turkey's "Digital Transformation in Health" process and has contributed to the adoption of the "knowledge-based management culture" across all areas of health. He has personally designed and successfully led numerous IT projects in digital health that are regionally and globally exemplary (e-Nabız, Teleradiology, SBA, MİZ, HSYS, ESİM, REÇETEM, White Code, ASOS, SİNA, EKİP, E-Report System, HYP, MELİS, Korona Önlem, FİTAS, RUHSAD, ÖZDES, Health Panel, Hayat Eve Sığar, Dr. e-Nabız, AŞILA, NeyimVar?, EVS, Disaster Support, etc.).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Birinci has numerous academic studies on health management, digitalization in health, health economics, national technology initiatives in health, healthy living, health promotion and preventive health services, treatment services, remote health, and the future of health. He has published books, articles, and scientific works both nationally and internationally.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Birinci is married and has three children.

He completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Yıldız Technical University in 1984. He then pursued a master’s degree in Cybersecurity at Gazi University.

He began his professional career in 1985 as an R&D Engineer at TELETAŞ Telecommunications Inc.

In 1987, he joined NETAŞ Telecommunications Inc. as a Quality Engineer, a position he held until he became the Quality Manager, serving in that role until 1998. He then took on the role of Mobile Communication Technologies Manager, a position he held until 2004.

Between 2004 and 2009, he served as a Board Member at  Information and Communication Technologies Authority of Türkiye (BTK).

From 2010 to 2015, he served as the General Manager of PROBİL Information Technologies Inc. and was also a member of the Executive Board of NETAŞ Telecommunications Inc.

He served as the General Manager of HAVELSAN Inc. from 2015 to 2020.

Between 2011 and 2020, he was the President of the Information Security Association.

He held memberships in the TOBB Software and Telecommunications assemblies, SASAD and TESİD Board of Directors, and the Internet Development Board.

He also served as a board member for AKGÜN Technology and KRON Technology companies.

After his advisory roles to the Advisor to the Chairman of the TBMM National Defense Commission and as a Counsellor to Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Türkiye, he was appointed as the General Manager of TÜRKSAT Inc. on September 26, 2024.