Burak Sen has recently earned a Civil Engineering Ph.D. degree from the University of Central Florida, USA. His Ph.D. dissertation investigated the potential environmental, energy, and socioeconomic impacts of emerging transportation technologies incorporating different aspects such as materiality, regulatory, behavioral, and operational. For this purpose, he applied system modeling methodologies grounded in industrial ecology, operations research, and statistical learning theory, constructed mathematical models utilizing large datasets and various databases, and used software applications such as Python, SPSS, GAMS, GaBi, Vensim, GIS, and AnyLogic, among others. He was granted the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Award for Excellence by Graduate Teaching Assistant in 2018. Burak holds an Environmental Engineering B.Sc. from Sakarya University, Turkey, a joint Industrial Ecology M.Sc. degree from the Chalmers University of Technology, Swede, and Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria, as well as an Industrial Engineering M.Sc. degree from UCF. Burak is currently seeking a postdoctoral research position.
Burak’s main research/work interest areas:
- Sustainability Assessment of Socio-Technical Systems
- Industrial Ecology & Circular Economy
- Optimization & Multi-Objective Decision Making
- Data Science for Urban Sustainability
- System Dynamics & Agent-Based Modeling
Burak’s favorite cities and why:
This is a tough question, indeed. So, I will say Istanbul, Szeged, Graz, Gothenburg, and Orlando, specifically speaking; and Dutch and Scandinavian cities, generally speaking. The former ones rather have emotional meanings, while the latter ones provide good examples of how sustainable living can be initiated, in my humble opinion.
Burak’s collaboration interests:
I have studied/worked at different academic institutions. Therefore, I have a diverse academic background and strong interpersonal skills necessary to be a productive team member. As much as I can work independently, I truly enjoy working in a collaborative research environment. So, I would be happy to collaborate with fellow SUS members, especially on areas that comprise my main research interests.
How Burak got into cities research and sustainability topics:
The chaotic environment in my hometown, Istanbul, sparked my interest in cities research (or urban sustainability). There is a lot to do in and for Istanbul in the context of sustainability science. I have also realized during my first professional experience that I gained after completing my undergraduate studies in Environmental Engineering, that environmental problems could not be solved in isolation from social and economic considerations. This has led me to studying Industrial Ecology, which then provided me a strong theoretical ground in industrial ecology tools used to conduct system level analyses of consumption and production processes/activities.
