Umut Asan

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umut Asan is an active faculty member in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Faculty of Management. He holds the academic rank of Associate Professor and has been affiliated with ITU since 1999, progressing from Research Assistant to his current role. He earned his PhD from Technische Universität Berlin and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s from ITU in Engineering Management and Industrial Engineering, respectively.

• PhD: Technische Universität Berlin (2003–2009)
• MSc: Istanbul Technical University, Engineering Management (1999–2001)
• BSc: Istanbul Technical University, Industrial Engineering (1995–1999)

Dr. Asan's research lies at the intersection of decision science and industrial systems, with a strong emphasis on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping, Scenario Planning, and Digital Twins. His work applies advanced modeling techniques such as Bayesian networks and fuzzy logic to solve complex problems in supply chain resilience, urban mobility, technology adoption, and organizational behavior.

His recent publications (2023–2025) reveal a consistent trend toward integrating artificial intelligence and data-driven methods into decision support systems. Topics include electric vehicle adoption in urban logistics, digital twin frameworks for manufacturing, risk analysis in forestry and rail systems, and consumer behavior in digital platforms. These works demonstrate interdisciplinary applications across engineering, business, and social sciences, often using fuzzy and probabilistic models to handle uncertainty.

Dr. Asan is actively involved in research leadership, having served as Vice Dean (2018–2023) and currently supervising numerous graduate theses. He is the principal investigator of funded projects, including BAP grants on qualitative cross-impact analysis and consumer cognitive models.

• Principal Investigator, "A New Approach to Qualitative Cross-Impact Analysis" (BAP Project, 2016–2020)
• Principal Investigator, "A New Approach to Consumer Causal Chain Models" (BAP Project, 2022–2024)

He is a member of several international academic societies, including the International Society on MCDM, ENBIS, and EURO, reflecting his active engagement in the global operations research community. His research has been published in journals such as IEEE Access, European Journal of Forest Engineering, and Decision Science Letters, with a growing citation impact (Scopus h-index: 13).

Dr. Asan advises a large cohort of graduate students, both at the Master’s and PhD levels, in areas ranging from risk modeling to digital transformation. His lab or research group focuses on decision support systems and cognitive modeling, supervising theses on FMEA, Bayesian networks, and digital twins. Future work appears to be directed toward enhancing predictive capabilities in industrial and societal systems through hybrid AI models.