Prof. Dr. İsmail DEMİR
Council Chairperson
Ismail DEMIR was born in 1960, Elazığ. After he completed primary education in Ankara and Eskişehir; secondary and high school education in Eskişehir, in 1982 he graduated from Istanbul Technical University as an Aircraft Engineer. After working as a Research Assistant in Uludağ and ITU for a year, in 1985 he went to the USA for graduate and doctoral studies with MEB scholarship.
He received master’s degrees in Applied Mechanics in the University of Michigan, and in Space and Aviation in Purdue University. In 1989 he started to work in solid body mechanics, fracture mechanics, and material subjects within his doctoral studies. He also worked as a Research Assistant on various topics in this department where he received the Best Graduate Researcher Award. He was also involved in researches conducted at research facilities such as Livermore and Pacific Northwest Laboratories during his doctoral studies. In 1992, he graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Washington State University with a Ph.D.
In May 1992; as Postdoctoral Researcher at Canada, British Columbia, and Victoria Universities, he studied semiconductor single crystal growth. In 1993, he started to work as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.
In 1997, he received the title of Associate Professor in Aircraft Elements and Materials at the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, İTÜ. During this time, he traveled to the USA to participate in several short-term research projects, conducting research on materials, numerical modeling, micro and mesomechanics, and nanotechnology as a part-time researcher at Livermore, Northwest Pacific National Laboratories, Washington State University Materials Research Center and Mechanical Engineering.
In 2002, he started to work at the Materials Research Center of Washington State University as a researcher and worked on DARPA projects and investigated microelectromechanical systems.
In late 2003, he returned to Türkiye upon the invitation of new management, and began to serve as Training Director of Turkish Airlines. In April 2005, he was appointed as Senior Technical Officer (vice-CEO), in THY. During the mission, he has actively participated in the creation of sub-companies according to their areas of expertise of THY and in the process of privatizing and publicizing the majority of the shares.
In May 2006, when he was head of THY Maintenance and Repair Unit, he structured Turkish Technic as a company with its separate legal entity and became the first General Manager of Turkish Technic. At the time of carrying out this duty, he was not only creating the Turkish Technic brand but also moving the THY Technic as a worldwide maintenance and repair company, which serves companies other than THY also. As a result of these efforts, Turkish Technic quickly managed to become one of the top 10 Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Company (MRO) and succeeded in selecting the best MRO in Europe.
In April 2014, he was appointed Undersecretary for Defense Industry. As Undersecretary of Defense Industries, he ensured the completion of many defense industry projects and the initiation of new projects in Turkiye. The Undersecretariat for Defense Industries was affiliated with the President with the regulation made in 2017, and in July 2018, it was transferred to the Republic of Turkiye. It was restructured as the Presidency of Defense Industries, and Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir continued his duty as the President of Defense Industries until June 2023. As of June, he continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Karabük Demir Çelik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.
During his tenure at THY, in 2004, the HABOM Project, which started with the idea of establishing a maintenance and repair center in world class in order to provide added value to the region around Sabiha Gökçen Airport, that Turgut Özal named as the Advanced Technology Park (ITEP) in the 80s, was the first project to be successfully completed despite the various handicaps, construction and ground problems. The aviation maintenance and repair center, established with more than 300 million dollars construction cost, and by more than 100 million dollars equipment cost, which has 370 thousand square meters of indoor space, is the place that could be called as first in terms of architecture and construction techniques implementations, in Türkiye and Europe.
In the same period, he made moves such as constructing a hangar at Ankara Esenboğa Airport and incorporating two huge new hangars, which a private company had difficulty in operating, into THY Technic at Atatürk Airport. Furthermore, in terms of capability and capacity, technician training programs enabled the THY Technic to take place in the World MRO market as a brand. In 2005, when he started his duty, THY Technic started its operations as a unit of THY with an annual turnover of 200 million US Dollars, 10% third-party customers, and 2500 employees. He left the company with an annual turnover of 850 million US dollars, 28%third-party customers, and 5000 employees.
In April 2014 he accepted the duty of the President of Defence Industries and was appointed to the President of Defence Industries with the letter numbered 28970 and dated 12-04-2014 of the Official Gazette. As President of Defence Industries, he provided the completion of many defense projects and the initiation of new projects in Türkiye. The Under secretariat for Defense Industries was subordinated to the President with the regulation made in 2017, and in July 2018, the T.R. The Presidency was restructured as the Presidency of Defense Industries, and Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir continues his duty as the President of Defense Industry.
He was appointed as a member of the council representing Türkiye in accordance with the 5th article of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Turkish-Japanese Science and Technology University signed between the Turkish and Japanese governments, which was approved by the law numbered 6742 by our President on 18 January 2019. At the Council Meeting, he was unanimously elected as the President of the Council. Currently, besides the Presidency of Defense Industries, He continues to work devotedly for the Turkish-Japanese Science and Technology University, which will be one of the important pillars of Turkish-Japanese friendship in the field of education, and which we expect to bring a new model to our country in the field of science, industry, and technology.
DEMİR, who has published many articles in various international journals and conferences on composite materials, fracture mechanics, theoretical and numerical elastic models, and microelectromechanical issues, received his professorship title in 2013 and is married, with four children.