Draft:Mustafa Ergen

Mustafa Ergen completed his primary education in Konya and İzmir, then pursued a degree in Electrical-Electronics Engineering at the Middle East Technical University, graduating as the top student with a GPA of 4.0.

Ergen obtained his master's and doctoral degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley[2]. His research focuses on communication in unmanned vehicles, broadband mobile communication, and statistical learning. In the international relations department of the same university, he earned a second master's degree by researching countries benefiting from Silicon Valley, and successfully completed the Technology Management program at the HAAS School of Business.

In 2004, Ergen began his career at National Semiconductor (now Texas Instruments), establishing a research center at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on smart sensors and autonomous transportation technologies. In 2005, he founded WiChorus Inc. in Silicon Valley, conducting research in the field of 4th Generation (4G) communication technology. The company was later successfully acquired by Tellabs. Upon his return to Turkey, Ergen took on high-level roles in the private sector alongside his own companies. He played a pioneering role in the establishment of the domestic base station company, ULAK, in entrepreneurship and indigenous 5G studies.[5] With his company Ambeent, he was accepted into the European Union Innovation Accelerator in the ICT field in 2020,[6] and brought the Best Wi-Fi Technology Award to Turkey in 2022 and 2023 by the Wireless Broadband Communication Association.

Starting his academic career by teaching at Berkeley and Boğaziçi University, Ergen later worked as a part-time lecturer at Koç University, teaching entrepreneurship, establishing an incubation center, and organizing TEDxKoçUniversity.[9][10] In 2017, he joined Istanbul Technical University as a professor, holding leadership positions in entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity centers. He organized TEDxITU as well.[11] In 2022, he served as the Chief Innovation Officer at Sabancı University, focusing on entrepreneurship and technology commercialization, and founded the J-START venture capital firm for the university.

Ergen has won eight Bülent Kerim Altay Awards from ODTÜ and served on the board of trustees of TOBB Economics and Technology University. He has also been selected as a founding member on international platforms such as Europe's 5th Generation (5G) communication platform. He is a member of the advisory board for Berkeley University's Asia-Middle East-Africa Entrepreneurship Program. In 2014, Ergen hosted the Entrepreneurship Index program on Bloomberg HT television, earning the Golden Pen Award from the Economic Journalists Association. Ergen has contributed to more than fifty patent applications and has authored three books, including 'Entrepreneurial Capital: Startup Economy and the History of Silicon Valley.' Since the inception of the list ranking influential scientists in the top 2% of Stanford University, he has been a member.