BY EKİNSU POLAT (AMER/II)
Assoc. Prof. Onur Özcan conducts research at the intersection of mechanical engineering and robotics and creates miniature robots inspired by nature. He received his bachelor’s degree (in 2007) from Sabancı University Mechatronics Engineering program and his master’s (in 2010) and doctorate degrees (in 2012) from Carnegie Mellon University’s Mechanical Engineering department. During his master’s and doctorate studies, he worked in Prof. Dr. Metin Sitti’s Nanorobotics Laboratory on the control and automation of nano-dimensional production using scanning tip microscopes and the design, production, modeling and operation of a swimming robot inspired by the water spider. After his doctorate, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University and the Wyss Institute. He joined the Microrobotics Laboratory directed by Robert J. Wood as a researcher to work on the production and control of miniature legged robots. He started working as an assistant professor at Bilkent University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2015 and founded the Miniature Robotics Laboratory. He was promoted to associate professorship in 2024. He is teaching ME 342 (Dynamics and Control II), ME 384 (Mechatronic Systems) and ME 474 (Mobile Robots) for the spring semester.
What has been the most exciting moment of your career so far?
It is very hard to point out a single moment. Maybe the day I got my PhD because it was a very big step. Another one might be my interview at Bilkent, my job talk. Another one is the offer letter when I received the job. It could also be the first funding I received from TUBITAK. So, it is very hard to choose between all these things. However, if I had to choose one it would be the day that I started to work for Bilkent.
What’s one piece of information from your field that you think everyone should know?
People shouldn’t be scared of robots invading us or ruling over us at any point in the future. We design these things, we are their masters. It’s not going to go the other way around.
When and where do you do your best thinking?
In my office, usually when I’m not overloaded with everything. Academics usually contemplate what they should do next either during summer or during breaks. When I’m not teaching, I can really focus, sit down and brainstorm. Another place is at conferences, because I see other people’s work and things start firing. It is very inspiring.
What distracts you?
Things that are boring. I do my research because I find it exciting and I think it is very interesting. There are things that we have to do that are not as interesting. This is how things normally work. Those are the times that I find myself most distracted.
What are you most curious about?
“When can we make these things as reliable as possible?” So that they can be ubiquitous and used in daily life for different tasks. The main trouble, especially around miniature robots, is that they tend to be quite fragile because they are mostly lab robots. So, I wonder if anybody pick our robots at some point and make them a little more reliable so that they can function outside of the lab environment for hours, days, months. The other question I have is about the storage of batteries because current batteries cannot store enough energy for most robotic tasks, especially when you go down to miniature size.
What’s the most common misconception about your work?
There are a lot of people building simple robots at home, but those are just hobbies. I tend to find people think we do that as a research. However, what we do is very different. We work with a scientific process. We start with a hypothesis on certain things; one thing we focus on is the locomotion of miniature robots. We ask questions like, “If we add more legs to that robot, would it work better?” Then we test if our hypothesis is true or not. So, it is very different than somebody doing it in their home.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
I’m usually at home with my family or visiting extended family members. I might be watching Netflix or YouTube. I play games once in a while. I like playing “Civilization.”
Which books have influenced you the most, and why?
I actually don’t read a lot of influential books. I generally read for fun. I like to read historical fiction. For example, I like “Puslu Kıtalar Atlası” by Ihsan Oktay Anar. I read a couple Hakan Erdem books, like “Unamastica alla Turca.” I tend to read stuff like this. I read for fun and relaxation.
If you weren’t an academic, what career would you choose?
I am an academic because I hated the other career path options. If I wasn’t an academic, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for me.
What is the secret of leading a happy life?
Having a good balance between work and life. Doing a job that doesn’t bore you. What’s boring is different for everybody, so that is kind of personal. Having certain freedoms in your work. Being free to choose your research topics. Living in a nice and free community. I think those are the things that I look for.
If you could go back to your undergraduate/graduate student years, what advice would you give to your younger-self?
I was a good student, and I would attend about 90 percent of my lectures. If I could go back to those years, I would tell myself to attend the other ten percent as well. To me, that’s what makes the difference. The professors are not giving you just the theory, they are also trying to explain why or how this might be beneficial and how you can use it later.
Why did you choose an academic career?
I decided to be an academic during my internship. When I was a third-year engineering student and doing my internship, I thought, “I don’t want to do this (meaning mundane engineering tasks) for my entire life.” That’s why I decided to go for a PhD program. It is more exciting.
What do you like the most about being at Bilkent?
I like the community a lot: the students, the administrative personnel, the staff and the faculty members. I like the campus. I like that I am at one of the top universities in Turkey. These are the things that I like most about Bilkent.
What projects are you working on currently?
There are a few. We are working on designing soft sensors for our soft robots. We are making soft robots that are supposed to be able to sense their environment. However, most commercially-available sensors are rigid or hard. If you are implementing harder sensors on your soft robot, than the robot becomes harder, and it loses certain locomotion characteristics. We are currently designing different sensors. We are also trying to design robots that can pass through very small openings so that they can be used for inspection tasks. Going through a tiny access point can be a very challenging task for a robot.
What’s your best work?
This is like asking, “Who is your favorite child?” I design many robots in my lab with my group. It is very hard to pick a favorite. I really like them all.
What excites you about your work?
What excites me is all the different potential applications that we can tailor these robots for. When you consider miniature robots, I would mention inspection tests, but the other potential application for these robots is to make them cheap and in high quantities. Then they can be used after earthquakes to search for people under collapsed buildings. Another use is in mines when there is a problem to solve. These robots can squeeze their way in and look for survivors. I see so many potential applications for miniature robots, and that is very exciting.
Could you share a turning point or defining moment in your career?
There were several turning points that made the lab or research somewhat easier. One highlight was the first acceptance of the paper we wrote for my lab, that was a big moment for me. Another one would be the funding.
When you publish, then you think, “Okay, this means that people care about this.” Everybody understands and editors agree, so they publish it. It gives you validation.
Why did you choose Bilkent?
My wife and I wanted to settle in Turkey. We did our PhDs in Pennsylvania. I was at Boston. We got married, and we were looking to start a family and find faculty positions. I applied for faculty positions in the US as well, but I thought that if I would stay in the US, I wouldn’t be in a place like Harvard, but more likely end-up in a second-tier university. So, I decided to come to the Harvard of Turkey. I would be in one of the top universities in Turkey. It makes a lot of sense because you get funding based on where you are as well as your reputation. So, I chose to work with the best students and the best academicians in Turkey.
