Ayse Tekes, PhD

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🛠️📘 "Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I may remember, Involve me and I learn." 📐🔬💡

I am an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering here at Kennesaw State University. I received all my degrees in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Gatech.

My research mainly focuses on

(1) Design, Development, and Modeling of Soft Robots and Flexible Machines

(2) Engineering Education: Development of lab equipment and AI-powered virtual labs

I intend that students who have engaged in research will be better prepared for their future careers both in industry and academia.

Awards and Recognitions:

  1. NSF Award (2336998), PI, $748,943, 2024-2027.
  2. NSF REU Supplements, PI, $13,500, 08/01/24-05/31/2025
  3. Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, Kennesaw State University, 2024.
  4. KSU Tenured Enhancement Program recipient, $45,000, 2024-2025.
  5. MathWorks Curriculum Development Grant, PI, $8640, 2024-2025.
  6. NIH Award (1R15EB032189-01A1), co-PI, $364,220, 2022-2025. (Served as a co-PI until 05/2024)
  7. NSF Award (2002350), PI, $297,262, 2020-2023. 
  8. Mathworks Curriculum Development, PI, $24,390, 2021-2022.
  9. 2017-2018 SPCEET Faculty Career Advisor Award.
  10. 2016 Outstanding Part-Time Teaching Award.

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Effective and meaningful education is the heart of student success. Students who are exposed to hands-on research under the mentorship of a faculty member have a positive impact on their fundamental knowledge and engineering skills. I have mentored more than 150 students since 2016 and published more than 30 papers with students being the first authors. Among those:

  • My former undergraduate and current PhD student, Connor Talley, received the Outstanding Undergraduate Research award in the Spring 2024 semester.
  • Two of my GRAs received Outstanding Graduate Research Awards in 2021 and 2022.
  • One of my undergraduate research assistants, Kevin Tran, received the Outstanding Undergraduate Research award and was featured as an Owl.

 

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