Dr. İsmail Arı, Director of Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship at Özyeğin University, served as Vice President of TÜBİTAK (TEYDEB Group) and Deputy General Manager of Teknopark Istanbul between 2013 and 2018. Prior to these roles, he worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Özyeğin University and as a Research Scientist at Hewlett-Packard’s R&D laboratories in Silicon Valley (2004–2009).

He received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2004. His research interests include big data, cloud computing, and networked storage systems. He holds international patents and has published academic papers in these fields.

His awards include the IBM Top Faculty Contributor Award, the European Union Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant (IRG), the TÜBİTAK National Young Researchers Career Award, and the Rector’s Special Award.

Dr. Arı has also been involved in numerous industry projects as a project leader, consultant, and reviewer within the scope of university–industry collaboration. He is a member of IEEE and ACM and is among the founders of the IBM Cloud Academy. In 2024, he earned the Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) certification, which is recognized in more than 60 countries.