Mehmet Oktar Önder

Software & AI Engineer | LLMs, ML & Computer Vision | Python | Ex-Huawei | Ex-Aselsan | Ex-HepsiJET

Greater Istanbul

About

Software Engineer working at the intersection of AI and large-scale software systems. I gained hands-on industry experience as an AI Research Engineer Intern at Huawei, a Software Engineer Intern at ASELSAN (Avionics Software), and a Data Scientist Intern at HepsiJET, working on LLMs, transformers, and production-level AI applications. I am the Co-Founder & Former President of the EMU Software & AI Development Club and the founder of AI Summit, a regional AI conference with 1,000+ participants, bringing together technology and industry leaders from Google, IBM, Microsoft, Huawei, ASELSAN, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, and other leading global technology companies. I participated in three Erasmus+ Youth Exchange projects and was selected for and graduated from BİLSEM (Turkey’s national Science and Art Centers for gifted students). Outside of engineering, I am a multi-instrumentalist musician and have traveled across 33 countries.

Experience

  • Research Assistant at Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi
    Mar 2026 - Present · 5 mos

  • Co-Founder & President at EMU Software & AI Development Club
    Sep 2023 - Jul 2025 · 1 yr 11 mos

    Founded and led the EMU Software & AI Development Club from scratch, growing it into an active community of ~1,000 members and building an AI and software ecosystem in Cyprus connecting students, startups, industry, and institutions. • Founded AI Summit, a regional AI conference with 1,000+ in-person participants and 1,000+ live-stream viewers, bringing together technology and industry leaders from Google, IBM, Microsoft, Huawei, ASELSAN, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, and other leading global technology companies • Led the end-to-end execution of large-scale initiatives, including vision setting, speaker outreach, sponsorships, partnerships, media relations, logistics, and on-site operations • Organized 20+ seminars, webinars, and certified trainings, reaching 200+ attendees per event and an average of 300+ registrations for online sessions • Represented the club and AI Summit in national TV programs and news, contributing to public visibility and awareness of AI initiatives • In addition to events and community building, delivered real-world software projects supporting university digitalization efforts and contributing to local digital transformation initiatives in Cyprus

  • Data Scientist at hepsiJET
    Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 · 4 mos

  • Software Engineer at Aselsan
    Aug 2024 - Sep 2024 · 2 mos

    Avionics Software Design

  • AI Research Engineer at Huawei
    Jun 2024 - Aug 2024 · 3 mos