Meet Can Bikcora

21 April 2020
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Meet Can Bikcora, Senior Researcher at Mentech’s Data Science Team

We would like to introduce you to Can Bikcora, Senior Researcher at Mentech Innovation’s Data Science Team. Can’s responsibilities include defining research directions, model architectures, contributing to experiment design and data collection, as well as guiding students at Mentech. He has a firm grasp on extracting and treating data with the highest degree of care, to ensure projects provide strong analytical details.

Can received his MSc and PhD from the Eindhoven University of Technology and has over 10 years of experience working on numerous industrial projects. In 2019 Can decided to join the Mentech team because of its vision and values, especially working on improving happiness of people with disabilities appealed to him. Can adds value to the development of the HUME by implementing novel ideas and frameworks that enhance the operation of underlying models and algorithms in collaboration with colleagues.

Despite being occupied with a highly challenging and analytical work, what he likes most about Mentech is its friendly and interdisciplinary environment. ‘Mentech sincerely trusts in the capabilities of its employees, and I indeed experience the freedom to conduct research while working at an inclusive company where we all contribute to the same vision.’

To collect data for the HUME, people voluntarily participate in experiments. This sometimes results into a funny situation. ‘During an experiment, a participant was asked to place his hands on top of an ice pack. Something unexpected happened when to my instruction ‘place your hands on “ice”, he placed his hands on his “eyes” for several minutes as I was looking elsewhere.’

Can’s ultimate goal is to really make an impact in the healthcare sector by adding value to create a worldwide-recognized product that improves the quality of life for those who are not able to express their needs and emotions.