Prof. Dr. Bestami Özkaya, çevre mühendisliği, sürdürülebilir enerji ve atık yönetimi alanlarında uzmanlaşmış bir akademisyen, araştırmacı ve girişimcidir. Lisans eğitimini Fırat Üniversitesi'nde tamamladıktan sonra, yüksek lisans ve doktora derecelerini Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi'nde (YTÜ) almıştır. Doktora sonrası araştırmalarını Finlandiya’daki Tampere Teknik Üniversitesi’nde (TUT) çevre mühendisliği, döngüsel ekonomi ve biyoteknoloji alanlarında gerçekleştirmiştir. Akademik kariyerinde hem Türkiye’de (YTÜ) hem de Finlandiya’da (TUT) doçentlik unvanı alarak uluslararası akademik yeterliliğini kanıtlamış ve 2010-2015 yılları arasında Tampere Teknik Üniversitesi'nde Adjunct Professor olarak görev yapmıştır. 2013-2025 yılları arasında Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi’nde profesör olarak görev yapan Özkaya, 2025 yılında İstinye Üniversitesi’ne profesör olarak atanmıştır. Halihazırda İstinye Üniversitesi’nde araştırma, inovasyon ve ticarileşmeden sorumlu rektör yardımcısı olarak görev yapmaktadır. Akademik kariyerinin yanı sıra üniversite yönetiminde de önemli görevler üstlenen Özkaya, 2020-2024 yılları arasında Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi'nde rektör yardımcılığı görevini yürütmüştür. Aynı dönemde Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü yönetim kurulu üyeliği, Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi'nde dekan vekilliği ve YTÜ Vakfı yönetim kurulu üyeliği benzeri pozisyonlarda bulunmuştur. Bu süreçte araştırma projelerinin geliştirilmesi, yenilikçi girişimlerin desteklenmesi ve üniversite-sanayi iş birliklerinin artırılması konularında önemli katkılar sağlamıştır. Girişimcilik alanında da aktif olan Özkaya, CSI Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş.’nin kurucusu ve CEO’sudur. Özkaya, aynı zamanda sürdürülebilirlik odaklı, inovatif çözümler geliştiren SUSTRACK® markasının mimarıdır. Bu marka ile kurmuş olduğu şirket uluslararası bir yatırımcıdan destek alarak çalışmalarını sürdürmektedir. Araştırma faaliyetlerinde yeşil enerji, hidrojen teknolojileri, sürdürülebilirlik ve atık yönetimi konularına odaklanan Özkaya, son beş yıldır Stanford Üniversitesi'nin en etkili bilim insanları listesinde %1'lik dilimde yer almaktadır. Ayrıca, Tampere Teknik Üniversitesi tarafından kendisine 2010-2015 yılları arasında Adjunct Professor unvanı verilmiş ve burada beş yıl boyunca öğretim üyesi olarak görev yapmıştır. Özkaya, Türkiye ve Avrupa’da yürütülen Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, TÜBİTAK ve UNDP projelerinde yürütücü ve araştırmacı olarak yer almıştır. Özkaya, özellikle yenilikçi projeleriyle çevresel sürdürülebilirlik ve enerji dönüşümü konularına önemli katkılar sağlamakta; kapsamlı akademik birikimi, yöneticilik deneyimi ve girişimcilik vizyonuyla, bilim ve teknoloji dünyasında yenilikçi çözümler geliştirmeye devam etmektedir.
- Biological Sulfur Production Potential of Local Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria Culture and Thioalkalivibrio versutus AL2 in Haloalkaliphilic Conditions, 2024
- Effect of nanoparticles synthesized from green extracts on dark fermentative biohydrogen production, 2023
- Assessment of biomethane potential of cotton stalk using response surface methodology, 2023
- Energy-efficient biogas production from co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge via kinetic modeling and exergy analyses, 2023
- Optimization of liquid fertilizer production from waste seaweed: A design of experiment based statistical approach, 2022
- Effect of organic fraction of municipal solid waste addition to high rate activated sludge system for hydrogen production from carbon rich waste sludge, 2022
- Determination of photoautotrophic growth and inhibition kinetics by the Monod and the Aiba models and bioenergetics of local microalgae strain, 2022
- Effect of Green synthesized silver oxide nanoparticle on biological hydrogen production, 2022
- Optimization of oxalic and sulphuric acid pretreatment conditions to produce bio-hydrogen from olive tree biomass, 2022
- Usage of source separated urine for the biodiesel production from algal biomass, 2022
- Reuse of sea water reverse osmosis brine to produce Dunaliella salina based β-carotene as a valuable bioproduct: A circular bioeconomy perspective, 2022
- Optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis conditions of chemical pretreated cotton stalk using response surface methodology for enhanced bioethanol production yield, 2021
- Electro-activated Persulfate Oxidation of Biodiesel Wastewater Following Acidification Phase: Optimization of Process Parameters Using Box-Behnken Design, 2021
- A multicriteria decision analysis for the evaluation of microalgal growth and harvesting, 2021
- Biomethane production kinetics of rumen pretreated lignocellulosic wastes, 2021
- Electro/Fe2+/Persulfate Oxidation of Landfill Leachate Nanofiltration Concentrate Using MMO/TiO2-Ti Anode: A Kinetic Study, 2021
- Statistical optimization of dilute acid pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass by response surface methodology to obtain fermentable sugars for bioethanol production, 2021
- Kinetic-based extrapolating of methane production potential for seaweed/food waste matrixes, 2020
- Bioenergy production from cotton straws using different pretreatment methods, 2020
- Recent advances in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for enhanced biofuel production, 2020
- Kinetics and modelling of thiosulphate biotransformations by haloalkaliphilic Thioalkalivibrio versutus, 2020
- Determination of Microbial Community in a Pilot Scale Two-Stage Step-Feed Biological Nutrient Removal Process, 2019
- Preface to the special issue on waste to hydrogen, 2019
- An integrated system development including PEM fuel cell/biogas purification during acidogenic biohydrogen production from dairy wastewater, 2019
- Fluidized bed bioreactor for multiple environmental engineering solutions, 2019
- Investigation of microbial communities in the field-scale co-composting of sewage sludge and organic municipal solid wastes, 2019
- Microbial fuel cell-based biosensor for toxicity testing of Cr6, 2019
- TREATMENT PROCESSES BASED ON THE MOLECULAR WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION OF TEXTILE DYEING WASTEWATER, 2018
- The impact of pretreatment and inoculum to substrate ratio on methane potential of organic wastes from various origins, 2018
- Post-treatment of anaerobically-treated compost leachate by membrane systems: emphasis on molecular weight distribution, 2017
- Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell, 2017
- Post-treatment of anaerobically-treated compost leachate by membrane systems:emphasis on molecular weight distribution, 2017
- Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell, 2017
- Preparation and characterisation of novel polysulfone membranes modified with Pluronic F-127 for reducing microalgal fouling, 2017
- The treatability of landfill leachate by direct contact membrane distillation and factors influencing the efficiency of the process, 2017
- BMP estimation of landfilled municipal solid waste by multivariate statistical methods using specific waste parameters: case study of a sanitary landfill in Turkey, 2017
- Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell, 2017
- BMP estimation of landfilled municipal solid waste by multivariate statistical methods using specific waste parameters case study of a sanitary landfill in Turkey, 2016
- Arsenic removal from acidic solutions with biogenic ferric precipitates, 2016
- The fouling effects of microalgal cells on crossflow membrane filtration, 2016
- Comparison of microbial community structure in a biological nutrient removal process at various stages of operation, 2016
- Simultaneous production of bioelectricity and treatment of membrane concentrate in multitube microbial fuel cell, 2016
- Microbial electrochemical technologies with the perspective of harnessing bioenergy Maneuvering towards upscaling, 2016
- Case study on prediction of remaining methane potential of landfilled municipal solid waste by statistical analysis of waste composition data, 2016
- Molecular Weight Distribution Of Pollutants In Leachate From Full Scale Landfill Site, 2016
- The production of electricity from dual chambered microbial fuel cell fueled by old age leachate, 2016
- Performance of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes for arsenic removal from drinking water, 2016
- Molecular weight distributions in cotton dyeing textile wastewaters, 2016
- Effect of pre ozonation on anaerobic treatability of membrane concentrate, 2016
- Simultaneous oxidation co precipitation of As III and Fe II with hypochlorite and ozone, 2016
- Comparison of treatment efficiency and molecular weight distribution of membrane concentrate from textile wastewater, 2016
- Comprehensive evaluation of two different inoculums in MFC with a new tin coated copper mesh anode electrode for producing electricity from a cottonseed oil industry effluent, 2016
- The development of catalytic performance by coating Pt Ni on CMI7000 membrane as a cathode of a microbial fuel cell, 2015
- Anaerobic treatment of ozonated membrane concentrate, 2015
- Effect of Pretreatment On Electricity Generation From Municipal Solid Waste in Microbial Fuel Cell 33 4 479 488, 2015
- A review on anaerobic biofilm reactors for the treatment of dairy industry wastewater, 2015
- Combination of a novel electrode material and artificial mediators to enhance power generation in an MFC, 2015
- Kinetics of aerobic and anaerobic biomineralization of atrazine in surface and subsurface agricultural soils in Ohio, 2015
- A review on granular reactors for the anaerobic treatment of dairy wastewater, 2015
- Electricity production by a microbial fuel cell fueled by brewery wastewater and the factors in its membrane deterioration, 2015
- Electricity generation from organic fraction of municipal solid wastes in tubular microbial fuel cell, 2015
- Electricity generating capacity and performance deterioration of a microbial fuel cell fed with beer brewery wastewater, 2014
- Novel design of a multitube microbial fuel cell UM2FC for energy recovery and treatment of membrane concentrates, 2014
- A review on fermentative hydrogen production from dairy industry wastewater, 2014
- Effect of Different Mediator Concentrations on Power Generation in MFC Using Ti TiO2 Electrode, 2014
- Bio reduction of tetrachloroethen using a H2 based membrane biofilm reactor and community fingerprinting, 2014
- Change of surface and structure properties of cation exchange membrane in a microbial fuel cell, 2014
- Electricity Generation from Young Landfill Leachate in a Microbial Fuel Cell with a new electrode material, 2013
- Profiling of bacterial community in a full scale aerobic composting plant, 2013
- Effect of Ozonation on Anaerobic Organic Removal from Membrane Concentrate, 2013
- Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water Using Low Pressure Membranes, 2013
- Biological treatability processes of textile wastewaters using electrocoagulation and ozonation, 2012
- Bioelectricity production using a new electrode in a microbial fuel cell, 2012
- Meteorological parameters as an important factor on the energy recovery of landfill gas in landfills, 2012
- Artificial Intelligence Based Prediction Models For Environmental Engineering, 2011
- Post treatment of anaerobically treated medium age landfill leachate, 2010
- Predictive modelling of Fe III precipitation in iron removal process for bioleaching circuits, 2010
- Product quality of municipal solid waste compost from pilot and real scale plants, 2009
- An Artificial Neural Network Based Model for Predicting H2 Production Rates in a Sucrose Based Bioreactor System, 2008
- Biologically Fe2 oxidizing Fluidized Bed Reactor performance and controlling of Fe3 recycle during heap bioleaching An artificial neural network based model, 2008
- Neural network prediction of nitrate in groundwater of Harran Plain Turkey, 2008
- Neural Network Prediction of Thermophilic 65oC Sulfidogenic Fluidized Bed Reactor Performance for the Treatment of Metal Containing Wastewater, 2007
- High rate sulfidogenic fluidized bed treatment of metal containing wastewater at high temperature, 2007
- Mineral and Iron Oxidation at Low Temperatures by Pure and Mixed Cultures of Acidophilic Microorganisms, 2007
- Sulfidogenic Fluidized Bed Treatment of Metal Containing Wastewater at Low and High Temperatures, 2007
- Kinetics of Microbial Ferrous Iron Oxidation by Leptospirillum ferriphilum Dominated Culture at pH Below One, 2007
- Sulfidogenic fluidized bed treatment of metal containing wastewater at 8 and 65 C temperatures is limited by acetate oxidation, 2007
- NN LEAP A neural network based model for controlling leachate flow rate in a municipal solid waste landfill site, 2006
- Quality and Quantity of Leachate in Aerobic Pilot Scale Landfills, 2006
- Adsorption and desorption of phenol on activated carbon and a comparison of isotherm models, 2006
- Mathematical simulation and long term monitoring of leachate components from two different landfill cells, 2006
- Addressing the operational problems in a composting and recycling plant, 2006
- Soluble substrate concentrations in leachate from field scale MSW test cells, 2006
- Chlorophenols in leachates originating from different landfills and aerobic composting plants, 2005
- Effect of leachate recirculation on methane production and storagecapacity in landfill, 2004
- Optimization of operation in a waste recycling and composting plant, 2004
- Effects of recirculation on leachate characteristics at landfills, 2004
- The effects on waste stabilization of leachate recirculation inlandfills, 2004
- Enhanced stabilisation and methane potential of MSWs in a field scale landfill with leachate recirculation, 2004
- Effect of leachate recirculation on refuse decomposition rates at landfill site a case study, 2004
- Investigation of Leachate Recirculation Effects in Istanbul Odayeri Sanitary Landfill, 2004