Curriculum Vitae

1. Personal Details

D.Sc. (ongoing), Computing and Electrical Engineering (Internet of Things), Tampere University
M.Sc. (2022), Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Analog Circuit Design), Isparta University of Applied Sciences
B.Sc. (2017), Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Industrial Automation), Manisa Celal Bayar University

Native language: Turkish
Other languages:
- English (Proficient – C1, IELTS: 7)
- Finnish (Elementary)
- German (Elementary)

Doctoral Researcher (Since 2023), Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Finland

My doctoral research focuses on creating intelligent indoor environments by integrating the Internet of Things (IoT) with Artificial Intelligence (AI). I am particularly interested in potential risks associated with AI deployment in these environments. With this aim, I contribute as a researcher to the EVIL-AI Project, which investigates AI-related harms and develops mitigation strategies.

Research Assistant (2020–2023), Faculty of Technology, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Turkey
- My main task was conducting the laboratory courses of the Fundamentals of Electrical and Electronics, Electronic, Circuit Analysis, Digital Systems, Digital System Design, System Design with Microprocessor.
Electrical Maintenance Engineer Intern (2016), Habas Industrial and Medical Gases Production Industries Inc., Turkey
- I was responsible for monitoring operations and maintenance in the power generation sector at a natural gas combined cycle power plant.
Electrical Maintenance Engineer Intern (2015), Çimentaş İzmir Cement Factory, Turkey
- I was tasked with the maintenance and repair of equipment in the electrical and electronics departments.

Study Abroad Programme Scholarship (2021), The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of National Education
- Monthly stipend: €1,592.50; Sponsorship period: 4 years. This scholarship programme is designed to sponsor Turkish students for post-graduate studies abroad.

Total publications: 7 (26 citations)
Publications:
1. Varol, A., Motlagh, N. H., Leino, M., Tarkoma, S., & Virkki, J. (2026). Creation of ai-driven smart spaces for enhanced indoor environments–a survey. Internet of Things, 101876.
2. Varol, A., Motlagh, N. H., Leino, M., & Virkki, J. (2025, June). Performance of Large Language Models Across Edge and Cloud Platforms in Smart Spaces. In 2025 10th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies (SpliTech) (pp. 1–6). IEEE.
3. Shaikh, A., Varol, A., & Virkki, J. (2025). From Prompts to Motors: Man-in-the-Middle Attacks on LLM-Enabled Vacuum Robots. IEEE Access.
4. Varol, A., Yucel, F., Yuce, E., & Cakir, A. (2024). A single-IC realizable, electronically tunable, OTA-based full-wave rectifier with simultaneous positive and negative outputs. AEU-International Journal of Electronics and Communications, 155374.
5. Kayaalp, K., & Varol, A. (2024). LeNet ve ResNet Derin Öğrenme Modelleri ile Asma Yapraklarının Sınıflandırması. Veri Bilimi, 7(1), 16–25.
6. Varol, A., Yucel, F., & Cakir, A. (2023). A new electronically tunable transimpedance-mode OTA-based first-order universal filter and its quadrature oscillator application. Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers, 32(11), 2350184.
7. Varol, A., & Çetin, B. K. (2020). A New Mobile Application For Physical Measurement in A Cellular Network. Journal of Scientific Reports-A, (045), 178–200.

1 graduate (Master’s) student co-supervision at Tampere University (2025–2026)
5 undergraduate (Bachelor’s) research project supervisions (2020–2023), TÜBİTAK 2209-A Research Grant Program for University Students at Isparta University of Applied Sciences

Teaching Assistant (2025–ongoing), The Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University
Teaching Assistant (2020–2023), The Faculty of Technology, Isparta University of Applied Sciences

Guest Speaker (2024), The 1st Winter School on 3D Digitainability, Tampere University
- Topic: AI Agents in Smart Spaces

IoT & Connectivity: End-to-end IoT prototyping (device, data collection, processing, dashboards/UIs)
AI/ML & LLM Engineering: LLM fine-tuning, quantization, deployment optimization, robustness/accuracy evaluation across edge vs. cloud; both proprietary and open-source models
Cloud & Hybrid Inference Systems: Edge–cloud inference workflows, API-driven services, time-series data handling for monitoring, analytics, and automation
Embedded & Edge Systems: Embedded/edge deployments (e.g., Raspberry Pi sensing), performance profiling, workload optimization for constrained hardware
Programming Languages: Python, C/C++, Java, LaTeX
Tools: Visual Studio, Android Studio, MATLAB, PSpice, Origin
System Design: IoT system design/implementation; analog circuit design

My CV