Projects per year
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Professional Information
Dr. Varol is the department chair and full professor of robotics at Nazarbayev University’s School of Engineering and Digital Sciences. He received his BS degree in mechatronics engineering from Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005. He received the MS and PhD degrees both in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. From August 2009 to August 2011, he was first a postdoctoral research associate and then a research assistant professor with the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
In 2011, he joined the faculty of Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan, as a founding associate professor of robotics, where he currently chairs the department and directs the Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics Systems (ARMS) Laboratory. His research interests include biomechatronics, soft robotics, machine learning, intelligent systems and tensegrity. He has published more than 60 technical papers on these topics in reputable international journals and conferences. He holds multiple international patents in the area of bionics. He has attracted multiple competitively-funded research grants from Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, World Bank and Nazarbayev University Research Fund.
Dr. Varol was a finalist for the KUKA Innovation Award in 2014. He was also the recipient of the IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics Best Paper Award in 2009 and IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Outstanding Paper Award in 2013. Dr. Varol, a senior member of IEEE, is a technical editor of IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics and serves as a reviewer for various journals, conferences and funding agencies.
External positions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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MFA-AI: Material Flow Analysis Using AI and Satellite Mapping Technology: A Sustainable Approach to Revolutionize Construction Industry and Promote Circular Economy
Varol, H. A. (PI), Karaca, F. (Other Faculty/Researcher), Bragança, L. (Other participant), Olagunju, S. O. (Other participant) & Pešta, J. (Other participant)
2/4/25 → 12/31/27
Project: FDCRGP
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Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Food Recognition: Creating the first Central Asia Food Scenes Dataset for delivering personalized nutrition and health promotion in Kazakhstan
Chan, M. Y. (PI) & Varol, H. A. (Other Faculty/Researcher)
1/1/24 → 12/31/26
Project: FDCRGP
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CEinCI: Circular Economy Indexing in Construction Industry Using Big Data and AI
Karaca, F. (PI), Varol, H. A. (Co-PI), Kapsalyamova, Z. (Co-PI) & Akzhalova , A. (Co-PI)
1/1/23 → 12/31/25
Project: CRP
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Motion Planning and Control of Tensegrity Robots
Rubagotti, M. (PI) & Varol, H. A. (Co-PI)
1/1/20 → 12/31/22
Project: FDCRGP
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Variable Stiffness Tactile Sensor for Robot Manipulation and Object Exploration
Kappassov, Z. (PI) & Varol, H. A. (Co-PI)
1/31/19 → 3/31/22
Project: FDCRGP
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Evaluating ChatGPT's Multilingual Performance in Clinical Nutrition Advice Using Synthetic Medical Text: Insights from Central Asia
Adilmetova, G., Nassyrov, R., Meyerbekova, A., Karabay, A., Varol, H. A. & Chan, M. Y., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Nutrition.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Improved food image recognition by leveraging deep learning and data-driven methods with an application to Central Asian Food Scene
Karabay, A., Varol, H. A. & Chan, M. Y., Dec 2025, In: Scientific Reports. 15, 1, 14043.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A GIS-Based emergency response and management support framework for Earthquake crisis: A case study of Antakya and Kahramanmaras earthquake in Turkey
Awan, H. H., Kabdrakhmanova, M., Varol, H. A. & Karaca, F., Sept 2024, In: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 111, 104706.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus) -
Analysing Stakeholder Opinions Within the COST Action CA21103 CircularB and Beyond: Circular Economy Implementation in Construction
Karaca, F., Tleuken, A., Pineda-Martos, R., Cardoso, S. R., Askar, R., Salles, A., Güemez, E. G., Agibayeva, A., Varol, H. A. & Braganca, L., 2024, 4th International Conference "Coordinating Engineering for Sustainability and Resilience" and Midterm Conference of CircularB “Implementation of Circular Economy in the Built Environment”. Ungureanu, V., Bragança, L., Baniotopoulos, C. & Abdalla, K. M. (eds.). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, p. 335-345 11 p. (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering; vol. 489 LNCE).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Open Access -
An Open-Source Tatar Speech Commands Dataset for IoT and Robotics Applications
Kuzdeuov, A., Gilmullin, R., Khakimov, B. & Varol, H. A., 2024, IECON 2024 - 50th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, Proceedings. IEEE Computer Society, (IECON Proceedings (Industrial Electronics Conference)).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Activities
- 1 Participation in workshop, seminar
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Fourteenth International Conference on Computability, Complexity and Randomness
Mustafa, M. (Organizer) & Varol, H. A. (Organizer)
Jun 23 2019 → Jun 25 2019Activity: Participating in event › Participation in workshop, seminar