Mert Bakır

Data & Decision Systems Engineer

Data and decision systems engineer with 8+ years across operations research, machine learning, and data infrastructure. Designs optimization algorithms and the systems that run them, and leads small engineering teams. Rooted in industrial engineering and mathematical modeling.

Experience

Evreka - Technical Lead, Optimization & Decision Systems August 2022 - Present
  • Designed and implemented capacitated clustering and heuristic algorithms for Vehicle Routing Problems, handling networks with up to 10,000 nodes.
  • Built spatial analytics pipelines that process raw GPS data, reconstruct operational trajectories, and produce structured stop-level datasets for optimization and analytics.
  • Designed a graph-based dependency resolution system to safely cascade tenant-specific data deletion across a multi-tenant schema with partial foreign key constraints.
  • Developed time-series smoothing and anomaly detection algorithms, reducing noise and false-positive events by 20%.
  • Built and deployed machine learning models for container fill-level forecasting and faulty sensor detection, feeding predictions into operational planning.
  • Led architectural decisions for migrations from Oracle to AWS and GCP, reducing infrastructure costs by 35%.
  • Resolved database and throughput bottlenecks, cutting response times by 4x for large operational applications.
  • Built and operated production PostgreSQL clusters on AWS and GCP, using streaming replication, automated failover, and point-in-time recovery for high availability and disaster recovery.
  • Mentored junior engineers and interns on optimization, machine learning, and backend design.
Evreka - Data Engineer October 2020 - August 2022
  • Developed route optimization services for constrained Vehicle Routing Problems, including heuristic solvers, backend endpoints, and REST APIs.
  • Built a Mixed Integer Programming model for an employee scheduling problem with real-world constraints using Python and CPLEX.
  • Conducted operational analyses for waste-collection clients to improve resource allocation and fleet utilization, reducing fleet sizes by up to 17%.
  • Built data infrastructure and ELT/ETL pipelines using dbt, Airflow, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, and AWS.
  • Designed and built a dimensional data warehouse for internal and customer-facing reporting.
  • Set up and maintained open-source map and routing engines, cutting monthly costs against proprietary services.
  • Designed business intelligence solutions with Power BI Embedded to support operational decisions.
Turkish Technic - Team Lead, Monitoring & Observability June 2019 - October 2020
  • Initiated and led the company-wide monitoring and observability program, building centralized log and metrics aggregation infrastructure.
  • Led a team of 4 engineers and coordinated with external consultants to design and deploy the monitoring architecture.
  • Built streaming pipelines for high-volume metrics and logs using InfluxDB and Kapacitor.
  • Designed automated incident workflows that turn Kapacitor alerts into Jira tickets, assigning teams based on alert context.
  • Built executive summary dashboards in Grafana to support IT decision-making.

Mert Bakır

Data & Decision Systems Engineer

Experience

Turkish Technic - System Engineer October 2018 - June 2019
  • Managed on-premise server infrastructure across multi-site data centers, maintaining high availability and reliability.
  • Automated administrative and deployment tasks across Linux and Windows using Bash and PowerShell.
TAI - Operations Research Intern November 2016 - July 2017
  • Developed a metaheuristic optimization system for constrained 3D cutting-stock problems, reducing raw material waste by 35-48% in CNC manufacturing.
  • Designed geometric feasibility algorithms to generate manufacturable cutting layouts under guillotine-cutting constraints.
  • Built a visualization tool that converted optimized cutting plans into step-by-step instructions for CNC operators.

Technical Skills

Operations Research
Mixed Integer Programming (CPLEX)MetaheuristicsConstraint ProgrammingConvex OptimizationVehicle Routing Problems3D Bin-PackingShift Scheduling
Machine Learning
ForecastingAnomaly DetectionTime-Series Analysis
Programming
PythonSQLC#Bash
Data & Analytics
PostgreSQLMongoDBRedisTimescaleDBAirflowdbtPower BIpgvector
Spatial Analytics & Routing
PostGISOSRMValhallaHERE MapsGoogle Maps Platform
Cloud & Infrastructure
AWSGCPLinuxJenkinsGitDocker

Education

PhD(c) Operations Research Hacı Bayram Veli University, Ankara, TR 2024 - 2028
Msc. Industrial Engineering Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, TR 2019 - 2023 · GPA: 3.71
Bsc. Industrial Engineering Gazi University, Ankara, TR 2013 - 2017 · GPA: 3.35

Languages

Turkish - Native

English - Professional

Research & Academic Work

Integrating Machine Learning In Mean-Variance Portfolio Optimization: A Study On Borsa Istanbul
Presented at the 44th National Operations Research and Industrial Engineering Conference, 2025
Developing a Heuristic for Vehicle Routing Problems in Industrial Waste Collection Operations
M.Sc. Thesis, Yıldız Technical University, 2023
Exploring Challenges in Industrial Waste Collection
Presented at the 10th International Engineering, Architecture and Design Congress, 2022
Developing a Metaheuristic-Based Optimization System to Minimize Scrap in 3D CNC Cutting Processes
Presented at the 10th International Engineering, Architecture and Design Congress, 2017