Sila Gungor, Siemens Gamesa: “I like solving problems, finding solutions!”

Sila Gungor’s educational background is immaculate and after her Bachelor of Science (BS), she obtained a Master of Science (MS) “Materials and metallurgical engineering” from Middle East Technical University in 2008. During this cycle, she was also a research and teaching assistant and in general, she has very good memories of this student life period. “I was raised in a family of engineers and this context encouraged me very early on to like solving problems and finding solutions for people. I was good at physics and chemistry, my favourite subjects, and mathematics too. But I also loved letters and languages ​​in fact,” recalls Sila Gungor. She says that in the composites sector, she finds a perfect balance between science and engineering, with a dimension that is both pragmatic and creative. “When you lead projects and produce pieces, it’s very stimulating, very creative indeed. Especially since the perfect piece is very difficult to obtain. Furthermore, I realised that I enjoyed being involved in the applications: beyond just theoretical knowledge, I really enjoy knowing that everything works well after the research, design and manufacturing phases,” she explains.

Thirst for knowledge and understanding

Sila Gungor obtains her first job in a company specialising in defence technologies, within which she believes she will quickly take on a new dimension, with highly applied aeronautical skills and new possibilities for the exploitation of composites. As a brilliant researcher, she then wants to find a way to go further and is admitted to a research unit at the prestigious Pennsylvania State University, known for certain buildings on its main campus as well as for having welcomed feminine students since the 19^th century. In just two and a half years, she further specialises in understanding nano-composite materials, for example CNT and CNF-filled GFRPs and, in structural health monitoring technologies, particularly for the lamination process. At the end of her PhD, she returned to her group specialised in defence as a composite materials leader. Sila Gungor recognises that she needs to be close to the academic world, while working for private companies. Indeed, while she was working in the defence company, she also worked as an adjunct faculty member in TOBB University. “I need both! I can’t choose. The proximity of the product attracts and motivates me, and in the company, I like to be close to R&D projects. While working on concrete subjects, I enjoy staying in the scientific world, particularly by remaining close to students and researchers,” she says. Her curiosity and her missions lead her to have a very broad spectrum of skills relating to composite materials as such, but also to the process and certain very specific properties (anti-icing, anti-corrosion, radar absorption, etc).

Making diversity a strength for companies

In 2021, Sila Gungor takes a new direction in her professional career by joining Siemens Gamesa. “I felt the need to have a useful mission, truly useful to others. And wind energy is a solution of the future for supplying energy to populations while respecting the environment,” she says. An important choice because she has to leave Türkiye to move to Denmark, a real change of culture and daily life. “I had to make a significant effort to adapt, but I have a positive nature and that helps me to take on new challenges. There is one point that we sometimes do not emphasise enough: the climate! This matters a lot and I have known people who had difficulty adapting or thriving because of the weather,” underlines Sila Gungor, who adds with humour: “Now, when I go to Türkiye on vacation, after a while, I want to go home to Denmark!” A positive nature which also allows her to live out her identity as a woman in a very masculine sector: “Engineers are predominantly men, especially in R&D and manufacturing. But I was never sidelined or underestimated, I had the same offers and the same promotions as my male colleagues, no worries from that point of view.” She believes that diversity constitutes a strength for companies and seeks to promote the attractiveness of engineering studies and courses among young women. She also remembers a manager who gave her good advice and taught her how to manage her colleagues and her teams by adopting their point of view and taking their technical arguments into account. This made it easier for her to take decisions that were sometimes tricky and helped her to strike a good balance between hard and soft skills.

Generalise and optimise sustainable solutions in the wind industry

Sila Gungor looks forward to a future full of challenges and solutions to find. The potential of advanced materials is still vast and we will have to use them more and more, with ever more functionalities at affordable costs. Sustainable development also represents a very stimulating challenge, especially for the wind industry, which has some catching up to do. “Solutions already exist, particularly at Siemens Gamesa, and we are now going to generalise and optimise them,” she says with determination and ambition without abandoning her passion for composites. Besides, she does not really know in which other sector she could have worked in. “Maybe chef! Teamwork that covers a broad spectrum similar to that of composites, with ingredients, temperatures to respect, associations to enhance, etc. Personally, I love cooking and taking care of the presentation of dishes. With family or friends, it’s a leisure activity that I indulge in at least once a week.”

All photos: Sila Gungor