Internationally Renowned Faculty

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Barbaros Çetin received his MS from Department of Mechanical Engineering at Middle East Technical University, and PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. His MS research was on the analysis of convective heat transfer inside microchannels under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hafit Yüncü and Prof. Dr. Sadık Kakaç. His PhD research was on the development of lab-on-a-chip technology for the separation of microparticles and cells under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dongqing Li. Prior to joining Bilkent University, he worked at the Middle East Technical University-Northern Cyprus Campus Mechanical Engineering as a faculty member. He joined Bilkent University Mechanical Engineering Department in 2011, and initiated the Bilkent University Microfluidics & Lab-on-a-chip Research Group. Dr. Çetin has completed TÜBİTAK 3501, 1001 and 1003 projects. Dr. Çetin has published many research articles in prestigious journals including Nature, Electrophoresis, Biomicrofluidics, Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, Electrochimica Acta, Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer, Int. J. Thermal Science, ASME J. Heat Transfer.
Curriculum Vitae| Publons | ORCID | Google Scholar

Dr. Çetin is the recipient of the following awards:

- 2018 Science Academy Association Distinguished Young Scientist Award (BAGEP)
- 2018 Most Inspiring Professor Award by I.D. Bilkent University Class of ME'2018
- 2017 Outstanding Young Scientist Award of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA-GEBİP)
- 2017 METU Prof. Dr. Mustafa N. Parlar Research Incentive Award
- 2016 Travel grant through 2015 Gateway Faculty Associates Program by University of Nebraska, Lincoln
- 2016 Travel grant through Newton-Katip Çelebi Fund Researcher Link Program
- 2015 Billkent University Distinguished Teaching Award
- 2014 TÜBİTAK Threshold Award for the EU proposal PHOTONGUE
- 2012 TÜBİTAK Career Program Award
- 2002 Graduated from METU with High-honor standing
- 1997–2002 Turkish Education Foundation Scholarship
- 1991–1997 Scholarship throughout the secondary education for outstanding academic standing

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

- Professor, Bilkent University, Türkiye (2024 (July) -- Present)
- Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Bilkent University, Türkiye (2018 (March) -- 2024 (March))
- Visiting Scholar (Sabbatical), Mechanical Engineering Department, Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX, USA) (2018 (Aug.) -- 2019 (May))
- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Bilkent University, Türkiye (2011 (Sept.) -- 2018 (Feb.))
- Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Program, Middle East Technical University–Northern Cyprus Campus, Güzelyurt, T.R.N.C., Mersin 10 Türkiye (2010 (Dec.) -- 2011 (July))
- Instructor Dr., Mechanical Engineering Program, Middle East Technical University–Northern Cyprus Campus, Güzelyurt, T.R.N.C., Mersin 10 Türkiye (2009 (Sept.) -- 2010 (Nov.))
- Research Assistant, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA (2006 (Sept.) -- 2009 (Aug.))
- Teaching Assistant, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA (2008 (Jan.) -- 2008 (Dec.))
- Graduate Student Supervisor, Sarah Shannon Stevenson Science & Engineering Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA (Summer 2007, 2008, 2009)
- Research & Teaching Assistant, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara Türkiye (2002 (Sept.) -- 2006 (Aug.))

Administrative Duties

- Associate Dean, Engineering Faculty, Bilkent University, Türkiye (2023 (July) -- 2025 (September))
- Vice Chair, Mechanical Engineering Department, Bilkent University, Türkiye (2020 (March) -- 2023 (June))

EDUCATION

B.S. METU, Mechanical Eng. (2002)
M.S. METU, Mechanical Eng. (2005)
Ph.D. Vanderbilt University, Mechanical Eng. (2009)

RESEARCH

My research interest can be classified in two main categories: (i) microfluidics for biomedical applications (originated from my Ph.D. study) and (ii) micro-scale heat transfer (originated from my M.S. study). For (i), I have concentrated on the dielectrophoretic and acoustophoretic bio-particle manipulation, and my research includes modeling, fabrication and experimental verification. On the modeling side, I have been developing efficient computational models especially on the simulation of particle trajectories in a microchannel under the action of flow together with external forces like electric and/or acoustic to optimize the performance of microfluidic devices. On the fabrication side, I have been developing fabrication protocols with high repeatability and reproducibility for the fabrication of 3D structures for high throughput bio-particle manipulation. For (ii), I have concentrated on the investigation of thermal characteristics of single-phase fluid flow in micro-channels. More recently, I have extended my heat transfer study to micro-groove heat pipes where I implement my modeling, fabrication and experimentation experience from (i) to flat-grooved heat pipes.

Microfluidics for Biological and/or Chemical Applications

For biomedical and chemical analysis in microfluidic systems, there are some fundamental operations (i.e. unit operations) such as separation, focusing, filtering, concentration, trapping, sorting, detection, counting, washing, lysis of bio-particles, and PCR-like reactions. A certain combination of these operations lead to a complete analysis system or a lab-on-a-chip system for a specific application. Manipulation of bio-particles is the key ingredient for the aforementioned processes. Simulation of bio-particles' trajectory inside microchannels is the key ingredient for microfluidic bio-particle manipulation. Our group together with our collaborators have been developing computational models for these kind of simulations. For the simulation of hydrodynamic and acoustic bio-particle manipulation, we have developed computational models via MATLAB interface of COMSOL Multiphysics. Implementing point particle approach in conjunction with pseudo Monte-Carlo approach, our group demonstrated that microfluidic particle manipulation can be effectively modeled in a real experimental setting for hydrodynamic and acoustic techniques. Albeit point particle approach is an effective and computationally inexpensive way for the simulation of particle motion, it is appropriate when the particle size is small compared to the channel dimensions. It is not straightforward to include any particle-wall and particle-particle interactions. Our group have been developing a computational model based on Boundary Element Method (BEM) to simulate the electro-kinetic motion of particles in microfluidic networks. We have recently concentrated on the electro-kinetic motion of the colloidal particles near conducting and non-conducting walls.In conjunction with these modeling efforts, our group have been developing microfluidic technologies for bacteria and DNA isolation, synthesis of nanoparticles.

Micro-scale Heat Transfer

With the development of the fabrication techniques, the channels with a size on the order of micrometers can easily be fabricated. These micrometer scale channels have become elements of micro heat exchangers, micro heat sinks, micro-sensors, and micro power generation systems. For an effective and economical design of these micro-scale thermal systems, heat transfer characteristics at micro-scale need to be well understood. Although there exists some experimental data for fluid flow, experimental data on convective heat transfer for microchannel flows is limited. Therefore, numerical and analytical models are the key ingredients to gain fundamental understanding of fluid flow and heat transfer at micro-scale. Our group developed analytical and numerical models to investigate how the scaling alter thermal characteristics of fluid flow in microchannels with different thermal boundary conditions. Our models have been followed and used as benchmark in the literature. I have extended my heat transfer research towards the modeling and experimental characterization of flat grooved heat pipes. Together with my collaborators from METU and ASELSAN, we have been developing computational model for the comprehensive modeling of grooved heat pipes. Recently, we have developed a universal computational framework for a fast and accurate modeling of heat pipes. An analysis tool based on this framework, named Heat Pipe Analysis Toolbox (H-PAT) has been presented and will be available for academic use soon.

PRESENTATIONS

Workshop / Symposium / Conference Organizations

• I was the Local Organizing Chair for the 15th International Conference on Computational Heat & Mass Transfer (ICCHMT'25) (May 19–23, 2025, Antalya, Türkiye), and hosted 160 participants from 22 countries. The conference had 3 Plenary Sessions, 6 Keynote Sessions, and 164 technical presentations in 34 sessions.
• I co-organized the "Electrokinetic and Dielectrophoretic Phenomena" session in ASME 17th International Conference on Nano/Micro/Mini-channels (June 23–26, 2019, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada) together with Prof. Ali Beskok (SMU-ME).
• I co-organized the 2018 Symposium on Advances in Thermal & Fluid Sciences (June 28–29, 2018) at Izmir Institute of Technology, Izmir, Türkiye with Asst. Prof. Murat Barisik (Izmir Inst. Tech, ME). The event was supported by the Turkish Academy of Sciences and ITFS Engineering. Fifteen invited speakers were hosted and nearly 70 attendees from academia and industry participated.
• I co-organized the "Electrokinetic and Dielectrophoretic Phenomena" session in ASME 16th International Conference on Nano/Micro/Mini-channels (June 10–13, 2018, Dubrovnik, Croatia) together with Prof. Ali Beskok (SMU-ME).
• I organized an industry session in the 21st National Conference on Thermal Sciences (September 13–16, 2017). Five invited talks were delivered by R&D engineers from ASELSAN, TAI, ROKETSAN, and FORD OTOSAN regarding state-of-the-art thermo-fluid applications in industry.
• I organized the Symposium on Heat Pipes and High Heat Flux Heat Transfer together with Prof. Dr. Zafer Dursunkaya (METU-ME) on October 7, 2016 at Bilkent University, Ankara, Türkiye. The event was supported by ASELSAN and TAI. Nearly 45 attendees from defense industry and 25 attendees from academia participated. Two sessions with eight invited talks were held.
• I organized the Workshop on Heat Conduction & Inverse Problems: Special Emphasis on Green's Function Method with the participation of Prof. Dr. Kevin Cole (UNL) on May 17, 2016 at Bilkent University, Ankara, Türkiye. Nearly 30 attendees from defense industry and 25 attendees from academia participated.

Book Chapters

TEACHING

Graduate Courses (Southern Methodist University)

Graduate Courses (I.D. Bilkent University)

Undergraduate Courses (I.D. Bilkent University)

Undergraduate Courses (METU-NCC)