My name is Müge Akın and I was born in 1975 in Ankara (Turkey). I am now a lecturer in Engineering Geology at the Department of Geological Engineering of the Yuzuncu Yil University, Van (Turkey).
Muge Akin - Turkey
When I graduated from the university in 1997, I decided to specialize in engineering geology. While I was working for different engineering geological projects in several geotechnical companies and governmental organizations, I have completed my master’s degree. Having completed my M.Sc., I have started to work as a research assistant and I have continued my academic career. I finished my Ph.D. in December, 2009 in the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (Turkey). Other than taking some courses at different universities in Turkey, I have also attended educational programmes at ITC (The Netherlands) and Rose School (Italy). Furthermore, I had “Fulbright Visiting Scholar” for 12 months between July 2008 and July 2009 in the University of Washington-Seattle (USA) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I have 21 published technical papers, of which 5 are in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, I was involved in 8 research projects.
My research fields are the application of GIS-based seismic microzonation techniques for urban planning, site response, liquefaction, landslides, slope stability and rockfall hazards. Currently, I am focused on the site response analyses of an urban area which is located on the main fault zone of Turkey.
My career expectations include post-doctoral studies about natural hazards especially the seismic related hazards. I am expecting to receive my assistant professor degree in a year period from the university that I work for. Then, I will give lectures about the important topics of engineering geology. I believe that the theoretical background should be supported by experimental works and they should be shared with other colleagues. I would like to contribute to new publications including new projects. It is a great honor to be nominated for the Richard Wolters Prize by the International Association of Engineering Geology and the Environment Turkish National Committee.