Mehmet Ali Sarıkaya

AI Engineer | BCI Researcher | Affective Computing & Emotion Recognition | EEG, VR, Machine Learning

Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye

About

I am an AI Engineer and BCI Researcher with over 10 years of experience in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and large-scale data systems. My work focuses on developing intelligent systems that combine data-driven AI methods with human-centered technologies, particularly in the areas of Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCI), affective computing, and emotion recognition in virtual reality environments. I hold B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). My research explores how physiological signals such as EEG can be integrated with machine learning and immersive technologies to better understand human emotional and cognitive states. From an engineering perspective, I design and build scalable AI systems and data pipelines, working extensively with Python, SQL, and R. My experience includes developing machine learning models, processing large datasets, and deploying AI solutions in cloud-based environments. Core Expertise: - Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning - Deep Learning (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras) - Transfer Learning, - Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) - Deep Reinforcement Learning - Natural Language Processing (BERT) - Predictive Modeling (XGBoost, Random Forest, SVM) BCI & Affective Computing: - EEG-based emotion recognition - Multimodal affective computing - Human–computer interaction in VR environments - Machine learning for physiological signal analysis Big Data & Cloud Technologies: - PySpark, Spark ML - Azure Databricks - Data Lake architectures - Large-scale data processing and ETL pipelines Data Science & Analytics: - Customer analytics and personalization - Churn prediction, recommendation systems - A/B testing and experimentation - Data visualization (Seaborn, ggplot2, Plotly, R Shiny) I am particularly interested in bridging AI research and real-world applications, developing intelligent systems that can better understand human behavior and improve interaction with digital environments. I am always open to collaboration in AI, BCI, affective computing, and advanced machine learning projects.

Experience

  • Independent Researcher at Self-employed
    Feb 2026 - Present · 6 mos

  • Expert Data Scientist & Machine Learning Researcher at Freelance
    Apr 2024 - Dec 2025 · 1 yr 9 mos

  • Senior Big Data Engineer & Expert Data Scientist at Domino's
    Nov 2020 - Apr 2024 · 3 yrs 6 mos

  • Machine Learning Researcher & Expert Data Scientist at BKM Bankalararası Kart Merkezi (Interbank Card Center of Turkey)
    Jan 2019 - Nov 2020 · 1 yr 11 mos

  • Machine Learning Researcher & Senior Data Scientist at Cerebro
    May 2018 - Dec 2018 · 8 mos