Selçuk Bayraktar

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Selçuk Bayraktar
"Qarabağ" ordenli Selçuk Bayraktar.jpg
Born (1979-10-07) 7 October 1979 (age 42)
Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
EducationRobert College
Istanbul Technical University
University of Pennsylvania
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
OccupationEngineer
Known forBaykar
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2016)​
Children1[1]
Parent(s)Özdemir and Canan Bayraktar
RelativesRecep Tayyip Erdoğan (father-in-law)
Emine Erdoğan (mother-in-law)
Haluk Bayraktar (brother)
AwardsKarabakh order.png

Selçuk Bayraktar (born 7 October 1979) is a Turkish engineer and businessman. Currently he is the Chief Technology Officer of Turkish high technology company Baykar and the architect of Turkey’s first indigenous and operational UAV Systems. He is also the founding chairman of the T3 Foundation.[2]

Early life and education[]

Originally from Trabzon, Bayraktar was born in 1979 in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, the second child of Özdemir Bayraktar and Canan Bayraktar. His father Özdemir (1948-2021) established the Turkish aerospace firm, also named Beyraktar, in 1984. Selçuk began his education in Sarıyer Primary School, thereafter enrolling in Robert College from which he graduated in 1997.[2] In that year, he began higher education in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. During his undergraduate education, he received a scholarship from the GRASP Laboratory at University of Pennsylvania, where he received a master's degree in 2004. His master's degree research involved a successful demonstration of air-ground coordination of UAVs in formation flight alongside territorial robot teams. This work attracted attention and he was offered a further scholarship by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3] Pursuing his studies under the supervision of George Pappas and Eric Feron, Bayraktar earned his second master’s degree with his research in autonomous, aggressive maneuvering of Unmanned Helicopter Systems.[2][4]

Career[]

Following his education, he returned to Turkey in 2007 and become the chief technology officer of Baykar. Under his leadership, Baykar has developed Turkey’s first indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle projects such as the Bayraktar Mini UAV, Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar VTOL and Bayraktar Akıncı.[5] These vehicles were actively used by the Turkish security forces during the counterterrorism operations against PKK and participated in conflicts such as the Syrian Civil War, the Second Libyan Civil War and the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.[6][7] In March 2021, Bayraktar announced a new UAV model Bayraktar TB3, which is a MALE class UAV, and an addendum to the company designated TB series UAV's after Bayraktar TB2. The new Aircraft is planned to be deployed on Turkey's first amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu.[8][9] In April 2021, Mr. Bayraktar announced their target to conduct the maiden flight of Turkey's first domestically-made unmanned fighter jet in 2023.[10]

One other significant project that Bayraktar leads is Turkey’s first flying car (manned eVTOL) project Cezeri. Cezeri demonstrated its first flight in September 2020 with hovering autonomously 10 meters above ground. The vehicle and the flight was covered in global media widely.[11][12]

Philanthropy[]

Bayraktar gives utmost importance to the National Technology Initiative pursued by Turkey that aims to establish a local and indigenous high-technology environment. Therefore, in addition to his professional work, he holds the founding chairmanship of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation. The foundation aims to raise awareness in public and educate the talented youth to promote the necessary ecosystem for the national development of high technology in Turkey.[13] To do so the foundation holds maker lab workshops at various cities all around the country which Mr. Bayraktar attends frequently.[14] On the other hand, he also acts as the chairman of the Teknofest, annual aerospace, and technology festival. The festival holds various pre-funded technology competitions and exhibits various technology enterprises that have been brought from all over the world. With hosting more than 1.7 million visitors in 2019, the organization has become the most visited aerospace and technology festival.[15] Meanwhile, Bayraktar also played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic with leading major tech companies of Turkey to design and manufacture nation's first ICU type medical ventilation machine.[16]

Personal life[]

He married Sümeyye Erdoğan in 2016 and has a child with her.[17] He also has a private pilot license.

Awards[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Sümeyye Erdoğan anne oldu! İşte bebeğin ismi".
  2. ^ a b c "Baykar Machine and Defense; Selçuk Bayraktar biography". Baykar. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  3. ^ Bayraktar, Selcuk (December 2004). "Hybrid Modeling and Experimental Cooperative Control of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles". Technical Reports (Cis). Archived from the original on 4 August 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  4. ^ Bayraktar, Selcuk (3 February 2006). Aggressive Landing Maneuvers for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Library (Thesis). hdl:1721.1/35581. Archived from the original on 10 July 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Turkey's Giant Leap: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles". Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  6. ^ Fahim, Kareem (29 November 2020). "Turkey's Military Campaign Beyond its Borders is Powered by Homemade Armed Drones". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  7. ^ FarooqMay 14, 2019, Umar FarooqUmar; A.m, 10:00 (14 May 2019). "How Turkey Defied the U.S. and Became a Killer Drone Power". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 April 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Erdogan's Armed Drone Maker Leads Military Push, Unsettling Allies". Bloomberg.com. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  9. ^ Bayraktar, Selcuk (8 April 2021). "Selcuk Bayraktar Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  10. ^ SABAH, DAILY (22 April 2021). "Turkey's unmanned fighter jet prototype to fly by 2023: Baykar CTO". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  11. ^ Koksal, Ilker. "Will We Have Self-Flying Cars Before Self-Driving Cars?". Forbes. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  12. ^ Reuters Editorial. "Turkey shows off first 'flying car' prototype | Reuters Video". reut.rs. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  13. ^ Agency, Anadolu (3 February 2021). "Technology should be used for peace, welfare: Baykar CTO". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Deneyap Teknoloji Atölyeleri ilk mezunlarını verdi". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Teknofest Istanbul draws more than 1.7M visitors". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Turkey's great success: Producing ventilators in 2 weeks amid pandemic". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Sümeyye Erdoğan bugün evleniyor". Posta. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  18. ^ SABAH, DAILY (1 April 2021). "Baykar CTO Bayraktar receives 'Karabakh Order' from Aliyev". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  19. ^ "President Ilham Aliyev awards Selcuk Bayraktar with "Garabagh" Order". azertag.az. 1 April 2021. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021.

External links[]

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