Invited Speakers

Prof. Dr. Arif Hepbaşlı

Prof. Dr. Arif Hepbaşlı has been active in the energy field since 1982. He spent a decade in Izmir's industrial sector focusing on energy-related issues, and continued the remainder of his career in academic positions at different universities in Turkey and abroad. Since 2012, he has served as a faculty member in the Department of Energy Systems Engineering at Yaşar University, where he also held the role of founding chair. Dr. Hepbasli has received several awards and holds credentials as a Certified Industrial Energy Manager in Turkey, along with an ISO/IEC 17024 VET-Trainer Certificate. He has actively contributed to the academic and professional community by chairing and co-chairing a large number of events, and has provided consultancy to industry partners in his field of expertise.

Title of hıs speech:  Towards Exergy-Oriented Sustainable Cities: Integrating BIM, LEED, and SECAP through ISO 37120

Prof. Dr. Tanay Sıdkı Uyar

Prof. Dr. Tanay Sıdkı Uyar is an internationally recognized professor and researcher in renewable energy systems, hydrogen technologies, and sustainable energy transitions. He has held academic positions at leading universities and has contributed extensively to international research projects focused on clean energy transformation and climate change mitigation. His research centers on 100% renewable energy systems, hydrogen production and utilization, sector coupling, energy storage technologies, and integrated solutions for decarbonizing power, heating, and transport sectors. He has also played a leading role within EUROSOLAR, serving as President of EUROSOLAR Turkey and holding senior positions in its international governing bodies, actively promoting energy democracy and global renewable energy policy development.

Title of hıs speech:  Frontier Agriculture: A village WEFE demonstration project of Renewable Energy Association EROSOLAR Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Adnan Midilli

Prof. Dr. Adnan Midilli is full professor in Mechanical Engineering Department and currently serves as the Director of the Energy Institute at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), has over 30 years of experience in applied research on clean energy technologies, with extensive scientific, academic, and industrial expertise. His work particularly focuses on the design, manufacturing, application, and techno-economic assessment of clean hydrogen production and plasma gasification technologies. He has significant managerial experience across the public sector, industry and academia, and has also participated in a wide range of national and international research and industrial/commercial projects. Throughout his academic career, he has received several prestigious national awards.

Title of hıs speech:  Exergy-Oriented Solution Strategies for Scaling Hydrogen Energy Systems

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amela Ajanovic

Assoc. Prof.Dr. Amela Ajanovic is a senior researcher at the Energy Economics Group (EEG) at TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), Austria, specializing in energy economics and sustainable energy policy. She has participated in numerous European and international research projects focusing on renewable energy integration, decarbonization strategies, and long-term climate and energy transition scenarios. Her research addresses energy market modeling, policy evaluation, techno-economic assessment of renewable technologies, and the economic and environmental analysis of low-carbon transport solutions, including electromobility and alternative fuels. Through quantitative modeling and interdisciplinary policy analysis, she contributes to the development of cost-effective, secure, and environmentally sustainable energy and mobility systems aligned with European climate objectives and global sustainability targets.

Title of her speech:  Electric Vehicle Markets: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities