She studied architecture at the Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) and received her Bachelor’s degree in 2004. After working in several architectural firms, she started her Master’s studies in 2005 at IZTECH and continued her research at KU Leuven in Belgium. Her academic career began as a research assistant at IZTECH in 2006, where she received her M.Sc. degree in 2008. Her Ph.D. studies likewise began at IZTECH and continued in the Netherlands between 2012-2013. She worked at the Department of Architectural Engineering at TU Delft as a Ph.D. researcher. She also collaborated with the Innovative Structural Design Research Group at TU Eindhoven on several projects. She received her Ph.D. degree in 2015 and currently works as Assistant Professor at Yaşar University. She conducted several scientific research projects: “Optimization Driven Architectural Design of Structures” (2016-2020), funded under the Marie-Curie RISE scheme of the Horizon 2020 Programme; “Investigating Novel Architectural Uses and Fabrication Problems of Scissor-Hinge Structural Mechanisms” (2021-2022), funded by Yaşar University. She is currently coordinating another scientific research project, “Development of Transformable Disaster Relief Shelters Using Scissor Linkages and Foldable Plates.” She is co-founder of the Innovative Structures, Mechanisms, and Automation (ISMA) Research Group and a member of the Design Thinking Research Group. Her research focuses on Kinetic Architecture, Adaptive Structures, Responsive Facades, Parametric Design, Structural Design, and Disaster Relief Shelters.

Yenal Akgün graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Architecture in 2000. After working on several national and international design projects between 2000 and 2002, he started working for İzmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) in 2002 as a research assistant. In 2004, he received his MSc degree from IZTECH. In 2006, he continued his academic studies at the University of Stuttgart, Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) with a Ph.D. grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and completed his Ph.D. in 2010. In December 2017, he received the title Associate Professor from the Higher Education Council of Turkey (YOK) in “Construction and Construction Technologies / Systems in Architecture”. Between 2017 and 2019, he worked as a full-time architect at Izmir Konak Municipality Department of Urban Design; and taught at Yaşar University Department of Architecture as a part-time lecturer. Between September 2017 and May 2023, he worked as a full-time Associate Professor at Yaşar University, Department of Architecture. Since May 2023, he has been working as a full professor at the Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Architecture. Yenal Akgün has received many awards in national architecture competitions; conducted many national and international workshops at several universities.

After completing his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Dokuz Eylul University, he completed a Master of Science degree at the Dokuz Eylul University and Ph.D. at the Ege University from the Mechanical Engineering department. He started his academic career as Specialist at the Izmir Institute of Technology and continued as Lecturer at the Izmir Institute of Technology and then the Ege University. In 2012 he was appointed to the assistant professorship at the Ege University. In 2013, he moved to Yasar University and is currently working as a full-time academician at Faculty of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department at Yaşar University.

After completing his undergraduate studies at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering / Middle East Technical University, he completed his Master Study at Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering / Boğaziçi University and Ph.D. at The Institute for Graduate Studies in Sciences and Engineering / Dokuz Eylül University. He worked as a research and development engineer in the industry. He started his academic career as a research assistant at the Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering / Dokuz Eylül University and continued his academic career as Assistant Prof., Associate Prof. at the same university. In 2001 he was appointed to the professorship at the Dokuz Eylül University. He had administrative tasks which were head of department, faculty member and similar. He is currently working as a full-time academician at the Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering / Faculty of Engineering at Yaşar University