Resume

Education and research experience.

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Researcher

Apr 2025 - Present
Universität der Bundeswehr München (UniBW)
Developing AI-based EO exploitation methods leveraging foundation models for SAR and optical data, with a focus on operational geoinformation products. Exploring transfer learning and adaptation of large-scale vision foundation models to SAR and optical remote sensing tasks; built a hybrid ship detection and segmentation system combining YOLO11 and SAM2 for vessel monitoring in Sentinel-1 SAR imagery; developing a pipeline to generate OpenStreetMap-style vector maps from very-high-resolution optical imagery.

PhD Researcher

Mar 2021 - Mar 2025
Microwaves and Radar Institute, German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Built and validated hybrid AI-physical models combining data-driven learning with electromagnetic scattering models for forest height and bias-corrected InSAR retrieval. Developed a hybrid ML-physical modelling approach for forest height retrieval from TanDEM-X InSAR, validated over tropical biomes (Gabon, Amazon) and explicitly noted as relevant to the Biomass mission; developed a hybrid AI-physical method to correct penetration bias in X-band InSAR DEMs over the Greenland Ice Sheet; combined TanDEM-X interferometric coherence with GEDI lidar waveforms to map forest height and structure dynamics across the Brazilian Amazon (12,000+ TanDEM-X scenes, 250M+ GEDI measurements); presented at the ESA POLinSAR Workshop (2023); co-developed and delivered the DLR/ESA PolInSAR Training Course, designing and deploying its backend infrastructure on ESA's MAAP platform (Docker, Kubernetes); set up end-to-end processing of 40,000+ TanDEM-X scenes for global forest height mapping with the University of Maryland and NASA's Carbon Monitoring System; elected representative in the DLR PhD Students' Council (2021-2022) and represented DLR in the Helmholtz Juniors network.

Research Assistant

Jan 2020 - Jul 2020
Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy (IAPG), TUM
Developed a Simulink-based satellite drag model for orbital lifetime and decay estimation.

Machine Learning Engineer

Summer 2019
TUM & Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
Developed machine learning algorithms for 3D matching of TerraSAR-X SAR imagery with mobile LiDAR point clouds, for ground-control-point georeferencing of pole-like structures.

EO Applications Intern

May 2019 - Aug 2019
Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH
Built operational algorithms for multi-spectral image segmentation and land-cover classification, integrating optical imagery with field reference data.

System & Software Engineer

Jul 2017 - Jan 2019
Bosch
Developed software for automated driving functions and system modelling; led model testing automation in Simulink, interfacing with validation and safety teams.

Education

PhD, Chair of Earth Observation and Remote Sensing

2021 - 2025
ETH Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland. Main supervisor: Prof. Dr. Irena Hajnsek. Co-advisors: Dr. Kostas Papathanassiou, Dr. Ronny Hansch (PolInSAR / tomographic SAR).
Thesis: Hybrid AI-Physical Modeling in Interferometric SAR: Bridging Data-Driven and Physics-Based Approaches for Enhanced Parameter Retrieval

MSc, ESPACE - Earth Oriented Space Science and Technology

2018 - 2021
Technical University of Munich
Munich, Germany. Specialization: Earth System Science from Space. Advisors: Dr. Giuseppe Parrella, Prof. Irena Hajnsek, Prof. Michael Eineder.
Thesis: Analysis of Multi-Frequency Polarimetric SAR Data over Permafrost Regions

BSc, Aerospace Engineering

2014 - 2017
Istanbul Technical University
Istanbul, Turkey. GPA: 3.38/4.0. Honors: among the top 5% of the class.

Profile

Postdoctoral researcher specialising in SAR/InSAR forest height and biomass retrieval via hybrid AI-physical modelling, with a peer-reviewed publication record spanning TanDEM-X, GEDI synergy, and InSAR bias correction. ESA MAAP and ESA POLinSAR Workshop experience.

Skills

SAR, InSAR & Forest/Biomass Retrieval — Forest height and structure retrieval from TanDEM-X X-band InSAR; model-based inversion spanning X- to P-band frequencies; PolInSAR/tomographic SAR; multi-frequency polarimetric SAR. Tools: SNAP, ASF MapReady, GDAL, rasterio.

Multi-Mission Data Synergy — TanDEM-X + GEDI lidar synergy for forest structure/height mapping at continental scale; forest structure change characterisation across TanDEM-X’s two global coverage epochs.

Machine Learning for EO — Physics-informed ML: neural networks fused with electromagnetic scattering models for geophysical parameter retrieval (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras). Foundation models: transfer learning and adaptation of large-scale vision foundation models (SAM2, YOLO11) to SAR and optical remote sensing.

ESA Platform & Research Community — Designed and deployed backend infrastructure (Docker, Kubernetes) for the DLR/ESA PolInSAR Training Course on ESA’s MAAP platform through its 8th (now 10th) edition. Presented at the ESA POLinSAR Workshop (2023).

Infrastructure & Engineering — HPC (SLURM), scalable storage (HDF5, Zarr, NetCDF), containerised deployment (Docker, Kubernetes). Programming: Python (NumPy, Pandas, scikit-learn, SciPy, GeoPandas, rasterio), C++, MATLAB/Simulink, Bash, SQL/PostgreSQL.

Fellowships, Awards & Honors

  • 2021 — DLR-DAAD Research Fellowship
  • 2017 — Honor List during the whole period of study, among the top 5% in the class at Istanbul Technical University
  • 2016 — 1st place, Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW), Institute of Space Systems (IRS), University of Stuttgart
  • 2015 — Erasmus+ Scholarship, Istanbul Technical University

Languages

English (fluent, working language throughout PhD and international collaborations), German (working proficiency), Arabic (native).

Volunteer Activities

  • Amateur Astronomer Volunteer, TUM, Munich (2019-2022) — Upgraded observatory equipment and performed astrophotography of deep-sky objects.
  • Rocket Team Member, ITU Rocket Team, Istanbul Technical University (2015-2016) — Designed a solid rocket as part of the team for the Intercollegiate Engineering Competition.
  • Science Communication Volunteer, American University in Cairo (2011-2012) — Organised science outreach events such as Family Science Days, stargazing nights, and the Cairo Science Festival.
  • Academic Division Head, K-Vector Foundation, Cairo University (2011-2012) — Led workshops and training for engineering students.