Dr. Huseyin Atakan Varol is the department chair and
full professor of robotics at Nazarbayev University’s School of Engineering and
Digital Sciences. He received his BS degree in mechatronics engineering from
Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005. He received the MS and Ph.D.
degrees, both in electrical engineering, from Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
TN, USA, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. From August 2009 to August 2011, he
was first a postdoctoral research associate and then a research assistant
professor with the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. In 2011, he
joined the faculty of Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan, as a founding
associate professor of robotics, where he currently chairs the department and
directs the Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics Systems (ARMS) Laboratory. He
was the recipient of the IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation
Robotics Best Paper Award in 2009 and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and
Biology Society Outstanding Paper Award in 2013. He is a senior member of IEEE.
His research interests include biomechatronics, soft robotics, machine
learning, intelligent systems, and tensegrity.
Mei-Yen Chan is an Assistant Professor at the School of Medicine, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. She obtained her Ph.D. from the School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. She was trained as a clinical dietitian at King’s College, London. She has a strong background in nutrition education and research, with expertise in chronic disease treatment and management, specifically cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.
