Dr Celal Sami Tüfekçi, Vice President of Defence industries, became the Havelsan Chairman of the Board. Dr Tüfekçi was born in 1971 in Giresun, Turkey. He gained a B.S. degree at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey; an M.S. degree at Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; and a PhD degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA, all in Mechanical Engineering.
Dr Tüfekçi worked in various company and institutions. He worked with Pitney Bowes, Thales Alenia Space, TÜRKSAT, TÜBİTAK UZAY.
As an academic, he served as Research Assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA; as Assistant Department Head at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA; as Adjunct Faculty at University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada, at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, and Atılım University, Ankara, Turkey; and lastly as Professor and Director of the Central Research Laboratories at the Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Dr Tüfekçi started as the Head of Space at the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Undersecretariat of Defence Industries. He later appointed as the Deputy Undersecretary and still has been serving in this capacity.
He served on the Board of Directors of various companies. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at HAB, Ankara Aerospace Zone, Ankara, Turkey; the Member of the Board of Directors at ASELSAN and TRMOTOR A.Ş. Ankara, Turkey. In addition, he is the member of the Advisory Board Member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey; of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey; and of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
