Resume
Education
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
September 2026 – Present
Koç University, College of Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey
B.S. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering (Artificial Intelligence Track)
B.S. in Computer Engineering (Double Major)
September 2020 – June 2026
Cumulative GPA: 3.70; major GPA: 3.78 (100% merit scholarship)
Boston University, College of Engineering, Boston, MA
B.S. in Electrical Engineering
September 2022 – January 2023
Cumulative GPA: 3.56; major GPA: 3.71 (100% merit scholarship; transferred to Boston University, degree not completed)
Research Experience
UCLA Ozcan Lab, Graduate Student Researcher
Advisor: Prof. Aydoğan Özcan
September 2026 – Present
- Working on machine-learning-integrated lens-free imaging systems.
Helmholtz Munich and Technical University of Munich, Researcher
Advisor: Prof. Zeynep Akata
July 2025 – March 2026
- Studied constructive interference and benchmarked conventional and subspace-based model-merging methods for large language models.
KUIS AI Center, Koç University, Researcher
Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Aykut Erdem
July 2025 – Present
- Working on generative image models, diffusion-based architectures, and identity-preserving style transfer.
Koç University GGLab, UG Research Assistant
Advisor: Asst. Prof. Gözde Gül Şahin
June – August 2024
- Integrated lightweight NLI models and BIO-tagging-based slot extraction with Dialogue State Tracking on MultiWOZ 2.4.
Boston University STIR Group, UG Research Assistant
Advisor: Prof. Vivek Goyal
September 2022 – August 2024
- Developed probabilistic methods for improving resolution and mitigating noise in particle-beam microscopy, resulting in three co-authored publications.
Koç University CALICOLAB, UG Research Assistant
Advisor: Asst. Prof. Murat Kuşçu
January – June 2022
- Investigated olfactory signaling and conducted scattering experiments to improve mathematical models of odor transport.
Work Experience
Leagle, Co-Founder — Istanbul, Turkey
April 2024 – Present
- Developed LLM-powered agents to automate legal workflows, enhancing efficiency and enabling professionals to focus on high-value strategic tasks.
- Led NLP solution design and full-stack development for the successful launch of Leagle’s web platform.
Valensas, Software Engineer — Istanbul, Turkey
July – Dec 2024
- Designed and implemented backend APIs for enterprise fintech solutions, including the Loyalthy and Paranoiac platforms for Turkish Airlines.
- Integrated third-party APIs and services into core systems to ensure seamless interoperability.
- Built tailored Docker images for deploying GraalVM-based applications across diverse production environments.
Koç University IT Department, Software Engineering Intern — Istanbul, Turkey
Jan – July 2024
- Designed and developed the Flutter-based KUGate app to streamline campus access and security workflows.
- Enhanced the KUHub Mobile app by implementing new features to improve user experience and functionality.
ASELSAN, Software Engineering Intern — Ankara, Turkey
Aug – Sep 2023
- Developed a Unity-based infrared gesture recognition system for potential integration into helmet avionics.
- Implemented a UDP-based data transmission protocol enabling low-latency communication for remote pilot training simulations.
Projects
Trajectory-Aware RL for Efficient Multi-Hop Retrieval
Final Project, COMP438 Reinforcement Learning, Spring 2025
Identity-Preserving Portrait Stylization with LoRA-Based Diffusion Models
Final Project, COMP447 Deep Unsupervised Learning, Spring 2025
Enhancing Coreference Resolution via POS-Enhanced Transformers
Final Project, COMP442 Natural Language Processing, Spring 2024
Honors
- 62nd nationwide in Turkey’s 2020 University Entrance Exam (YKS); among >2,000,000 candidates.
- Koç University Dean’s Honor Roll, 2020–2024.
- 3rd place, TUBITAK Undergraduate Research Projects Competition (2021), Defense, Space & Aeronautics category.
Skills
- Languages and libraries: Python, Java, Kotlin, C, SQL, PyTorch, CUDA, Django, Spring Boot, React, and Flutter.
- Systems and tools: PostgreSQL, Microsoft Azure, Git, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Slurm, and Firebase.
- Research areas: Computational imaging, microscopy, model merging, generative modeling, and reinforcement learning for natural language processing.
Publications
- Oğuz Kağan Hitit, Leander Girrbach, and Zeynep Akata. “A Systematic Study of In-the-Wild Model Merging for Large Language Models.” Transactions on Machine Learning Research, 2026.
- Akshay Agarwal, Leila Kasaei, Xinglin He, Ruangrawee Kitichotkul, Oğuz Kağan Hitit, J. Albert Schultz, Leonard C. Feldman, and Vivek Goyal. “Ion Count-Aided Microscopy for Quantitative, Shot Noise-Mitigated Secondary Electron Imaging.” Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2024.
- Akshay Agarwal, Leila Kasaei, Xinglin He, Ruangrawee Kitichotkul, Oğuz Kağan Hitit, Minxu Peng, J. Albert Schultz, Leonard C. Feldman, and Vivek Goyal. “Shot Noise-Mitigated Secondary Electron Imaging with Ion Count-Aided Microscopy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024.
- Oğuz Kağan Hitit, Akshay Agarwal, and Vivek Goyal. “Fourier-ring Correlation Resolution for Time-resolved Measurement in Charged Particle Microscopy.” Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2023.