Sustainable and Adaptive Materials (SAM) Research Group

Current Students

Ilgın Sandalcı is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering and is working on. Her research involves (i) development of self-healing bio-based plasters  (Funded by TUBITAK 1505 Grant-Partner: Betek Boya A.Ş), (ii) development of bio-based earthen materials for 3D-Printing (Funded by TUBITAK BIDEB ERC Support Program-123C462), (iii) Valorization of construction demolition waste in cement-based materials through enforced carbonation (Funded by TUBITAK 1001- 125M396)

Ahmet Burhan Kara is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering and is working on the design and analysis of a robotic end-effector for high-performance additive manufacturing: Improved print speed, nozzle stability, and lower cost (Funded by TUBITAK BIDEB ERC Support Program-123C462) (09/2023-present)-Co-advisor: Özkan Bebek.

Alara Girgin is an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering and is working on the design of geopolymer mortars utilizing waste from mineral wool production for 3D Printing (Funded by EU-SEA Program ) (09/2024-present)

Ahmet Kerem Yaman is an M.Sc. student in Mechanical Engineering and is working on a comparative design of rheological materials for 3D clay printing (09/2024-present) – Co-advisor: Özkan Bebek.

Alperen Burnaz is an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering working on assessing the gap in the Turkish Cement Sector and the 2053 Net-Zero Goal (09/2024-present).

Former Students:

Shagayegh Benam (Ph.D. 2026) was a Ph.D student in Civil Engineering working on the development of sustainable cementitious materials for additive manufacturing. Shagayegh worked on adapting high-volume fly ash concrete (Within the scope of Dr. Bundur’s BAGEP Award ). Dr. Benam defended her Ph.D. thesis on 29th of December 2025.  (01/2020-29/01/2026)

Sami Berat Tever (MSCE 2025)was an M.Sc.student in Civil Engineering and has worked on the utilization of construction demolition waste in 3D printable cement-based composites (Supported by AKÇANSA A.Ş.) (01/2023-12/2025)

Kerem Sarıkaya (MSCE 2025) was an M.Sc.student in Civil Engineering and has worked on assessing the mechanical performance of 3D-printed elements (05/2024-08/2025)

Mustafa Can Alp (MSCE 2025)was an M.Sc.student in Civil Engineering and has worked on the implementation of BIM for  smart-demolishing on-site applications: Case Studies in Istanbul (09/2022-08/2025)

Tolga Aydın (MSCE 2024) was an M.Sc.student in Civil Engineering and has worked on adapting alternative sustainable building materials additive manufacturing, including bio-based mortar composites and geopolymers designed with industrial wastes  (09/2022-12/2024)

Ozan Eray Aydın(MSCE 2024)  was an M.Sc.student  in Civil Engineering and is working on developing predictive modeling for assessing the performance of mortars (09/2022-08/2024)- Co-Advisor: Derya Deniz

Sercan Baş (MSCE 2023) was an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering  working on Buildıng Information modeling (BIM)-based onsite 3D printer position optimization and path planning for digital fabrication- (01/2020-12/2023)- Co-Advisor: Gürşans Güven

Matineh Mahmoudi (MSCE 2023) was an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering working on Recement: Using end-of-life materials in cement-based materials in the ERA-MIN project, coordinated by Sabancı University, and the IraSME Modacon Project, which uses calcined clays in foamed concrete technology (01/2021-12/2023). Matineh is now a Ph.D. candidate at ETH Zurich.

Ahmet Burhan Kara (MSME 2023) was an M.Sc. student in Mechanical Engineering and worked on the design and development of a 3D printer. His thesis was entitled  “End-effector compliance index for optimizing cable anchor points in redundant cable-driven parallel robots: Design, construction, and control for cement-based additive manufacturing” (Funded by TUBITAK 1001 Grant-119M520) (01/2020-08/2023) – Co-advisor: Özkan Bebek. Burhan is now a Ph.D. candidate at ÖzÜ.

Ilgın Sandalcı (MSCE 2022) was an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering and worked on the development of 2-phase bacteria-aggregate systems for self-healing concrete and its impact on shrinkage and corrosion cracks (Funded by TUBITAK 1001 Grant-118M327) (09/2019-08/2022). Currently, Ilgın is a Ph.D. candidate at ÖzÜ

Yiğit Alper Atalay (MSCE 2022) was an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering who worked on establishing a prototype by additive manufacturing using fiber reinforced geopolymers (Funded by FR-TR Bosphorus Bilateral Grant-119N246)(09/2019-08/2022)

Eylül Mina Aydın (MSCE 2021) was an M.Sc. student in Civil Engineering and worked on the design of fiber-reinforced cement-based composites for additive manufacturing (Funded by TUBITAK 1001 Grant-119M520) (01/2019-01/2021)

Gisu Güldoğan (MSCE 2020) received her BSc from the Civil Engineering Department at ÖzÜ and is currently enrolled in the master’s program at ÖzÜ. Gisu worked on rheological properties of 2-phase bacteria-aggregate systems for self-healing concrete (Funded by TUBITAK 1001 Grant-118M327).

Mustafa Mert Tezer (MSCE 2020) received his  BSc. from the Civil Engineering Department at ÖzÜ and he continued his MSc. degree in our research group. Mert worked on the development of 2-phase bacteria-aggregate systems for self-healing concrete (Funded by the TUBITAK 1001 Grant 118M327). Mert will continue his graduate studies in Ghent University, Belgium.

Mahzad Azima (MSCE 2018) was an MS student in the Construction Materials specialty in Civil Engineering.  Her BS degree is from  Tabriz University, Iran.  Mahzad worked on the development of bio-based admixtures for cement-based materials, particularly their rheology. (Funded by TUBITAK 1005 Grant-116M183). Mahzad is currently a Ph.D. student at Ghent University, Belgium

Ali Amiri (MSCE 2017) was an MSc student in the Construction Materials specialty in Civil Engineering. Ali worked on the use of biomineralization of self-healing cement-based materials. Currently, Ali is a Ph.D. student at the University of Leeds, UK.