Students in Research: Furkan Turker

Students in Research: Fourth-year Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. student Furkan Turker has material sciences in his blood. He points to his father’s lab work in high-impact materials for armored vehicles for giving him an early interest in research and teaching. When his curiosity drove him to keep asking the “how” questions needed to solve engineering riddles, he found the solution at 美国宾夕法尼亚州立大学 . As it turns out, he found that, and so much more. Here is his story in his own words.??

Q: What influenced you to go into a scientific field??

Turker: I was born into a family whose occupation was in science and specifically in Materials Science. My dad’s interaction with his students and his interesting lab work on the development of high-impact-toughness materials for armored vehicles drove me to be interested in research and teaching.??

Additionally, my curiosity about understanding engineering phenomena and concepts always drove me to ask “how” questions. For example, regarding my dad’s research area, I was wondering how could that extremely light foam material withstand and even protect the army vehicle from getting damaged in a TNT explosion.??

Materials Science is a perfect field if you are interested in understanding the origins of a material property, which is directly linked to its atomic structure. Being able to understand and manipulate the structure-property relationship via processing was extremely intriguing for me, which led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering.?

Q: How have your dreams manifested in the research you are doing now??

Turker: Ever since I started undergraduate studies, I have been curious about the working principle of electronic devices and their processing. Although most of my research time during my bachelor’s, M.S., and Ph.D. has been spent in material growth and structural characterization, I have always been more interested in electronic device fabrication and electrical characterization. Therefore, since the 2nd year of my Ph.D. studies, I have been more involved in the nano-lithography field where I have been fabricating mixed-dimensional (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) electronic devices by stacking ultrathin materials on top of one another, similar to building with Legos.?

Q: Why did you choose Penn State for your education in the sciences??

Turker: Right after my Ph.D. position interview with my advisor here at Penn State, Dr. Joshua Robinson , I decided to pursue Ph.D. under his supervision due to his supportive and sympathetic behavior. Now, I am seeing that I made the right decision by joining his lab owing to the calm working environment and continuous technical progress.??

Additionally, during the Ph.D. application period, I heard that Penn State was a collaborative environment, both socially and in terms of research, and I have found that to be true.???

"Collaborating with each other by means of sharing research ideas, providing feedback, and getting trained by a mentor enables us to boost our research perspectives and skills."

Q: How do you think your experience at Penn State is different from what you may have gotten elsewhere??

Turker: The collaborative research environment at Penn State taught me that by involving in other projects and helping each other, science can be advanced much more rapidly and with firmer steps while intensifying the joy that we feel when doing research.??

Collaborating with each other by means of sharing research ideas, providing feedback, and getting trained by a mentor enables us to boost our research perspectives and skills.??

Q: How do you think the Penn State facilities, equipment, and faculty have contributed to your experience??

Turker: During my Ph.D. studies, I have been working in the Millennium Science Complex , which involves multidisciplinary material synthesis, structural, electrical, and optical characterization tools, as well as a cleanroom facility for the fabrication of next-generation electronic devices. I have acquired training in material growth, device fabrication, and characterization, which will be extremely helpful for industry job applications after my graduation. The research equipment has also enabled us to do cutting-edge research at Penn State by pushing us to investigate the details of the physics for structure-property relationship.??

Q: Where do you want to go once you graduate??

Turker: I have greatly benefited from the research and social experience that I gained here at Penn State. After my graduation, I would like to explore research opportunities in Europe to have a sense of their research, ethics, and social life.??

?Q: Do you have any final thoughts to share with the younger generation who might want to follow in your footsteps??

Turker: I was reading a finance book yesterday and learned a new fact about the human brain, where the author claims that as human beings we remember 10% of what we read, but 80% of what we do after two months of doing that activity. With that in mind, I would strongly suggest the younger generation explore their interest and skills by literally “doing” rather than thinking about doing it. If I could go back to my childhood, I would try to be more involved in different kinds of projects to have a better sense of my interest. This not only includes engineering but also social sciences. But more importantly, I would suggest they listen to their “gut feeling” and be natural, rather than following a path to impress others.??

?To learn more about Turker’s research, see:?

• 2D Oxides Realized via Confinement Heteroepitaxy: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202210404?
• Material considerations for the design of 2D/3D hot electron transistors: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0051885 ?
• Controllable p-Type Doping of 2D WSe2 via Vanadium Substitution: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202105252

Students in Research Series:?

This is part of a series highlighting the powerful stories behind our students within research programs at Penn State. In our duty as a land-grant university, we are charged with teaching, research, and service, and all three of these are tied to our care of the student experience at Penn State. It is our responsibility to nurture the students to their fullest potential, and alignment with their own vision and dreams is critical on this path. The story of Furkan Turker is a perfect example of how Penn State can help a student turn curiosity and ‘how’ questions into answers that benefit global translation. The series is coordinated by AVP of Research Communications, Kimberly Brue , but is truly the voice of these amazing students. Have a story of your own? Contact us.?

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