2006 Board
Executive Board of Directors
One year term, starts April 2006, ends March 2007
Mehtap Aksoy
President
Beyza Sarıoğlu
Vice-President
Mine Özalp
Treasurer
Didem Şeyhoğlu
Secretary
Didem Şeyhoğlu was born in İstanbul. She completed high school education in Üsküdar American Academy and then graduated from İstanbul Technical University in 1997, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She recently received her MBA degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Didem came to the US first in January 1999 as part of a foreign assignment from Ford Otosan in İstanbul. Her assignment duration was one year; however she accepted a job offer at Ford Motor Company at the end of the assigned time and has been living in Michigan since then. She’s currently still employed at Ford Motor Company as a Lead Product Design Engineer, responsible for design and release of safety / restraints systems in truck programs.
Didem has participated in the executive board of many non-profit organizations in the past, recently in TACAM. She has been an active member of TACAM since 2004 — she served as the Treasurer for 2006 – 2007 term and as the President for 2007 – 2008 term. She recently got elected again as the President for 2008 – 2009 term. As being very proud of her Turkish heritage, she takes it very seriously to volunteer in TACAM activities to promote Turkish culture and traditions. She believes that it’s extremely important to ensure that the Turkish community remains intact through its own customs. She sees it as a responsibility for Turkish-American individuals to introduce our culture to others and advance the image of our country among other nations. She also has worked very hard during her presidency to ensure proper representation of Turkey in public affairs arena, keeping close ties with Turkish and American media to promote Turkey. As committed to the Turkish community here, Didem will work hard during her presidency to ensure TACAM meets its historical, cultural and financial goals in the best possible way.
Board of Directors 2006 – 2007
One year term, starts April 2006, ends March 2007
Burak Akyalçin
Özlem Falkiewicz
Ahmetjan Keyim
Birsel Küsefoğlu
Serkan Özdemir
Serkan Özdemir was born in Witten, Germany in 1977. He graduated from İstanbul Technical University (İTU) in 2000, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Serkan was involved in several student organizations during his university education. He was a member of the Engineering Orientation Club in which he organized numerous activities such as field trips, career days, concerts and student festivals. He played a major role in establishing the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) student chapter and TEMA (The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats) ITU-Section.
Following his graduation, he started to work as a Project Engineer at TRW Automotive in Germany, where he specialized in NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness). After 4 years service, in 2005, he was transferred to TRW Headquarters in Livonia, Michigan. His current position is Lead Product Engineer, responsible for NVH research and development of vehicle brake systems. He is fluent in Turkish, German and English.
Serkan has been an active member of TACAM (Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan) since 2006. He was elected to the Board of Directors for the 2006-2007 term and served as the Vice President for 2007 – 2008 term. He recently was elected again for Vice-President position for 2008 – 2009 term.
Alternate Board of Directors
İlhan Berberoğlu
Board of Trustees
Two year term, end-year alongside name
Ali Kayaalp 2008
Evelyn Sonbay 2008
Cihangir Taşdemir 2008
Cihangir Tasdemir was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, and he has lived in the Metro Detroit area ever since. His parents, Server & Nurhan, have always shown Cihangir and his twin sister, Deniz, the importance of their Turkish culture. Cihangir has been an active board member of TACAM since 2000: Treasurer 2000-1, Secretary 2001-2, Director from 2002-5, Secretary 2005-6, Trustee 2006-7 & Director 2007- Present. In addition, Cihangir had been the main webmaster for TACAM.org from 2002 until 2006.
Cihangir has numerous degrees from several colleges: Michigan State University, BA in Economics 1996, BS in Neuroscience Psychology 1998; Wayne State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering 2001; University of Michigan-Dearborn with a MS in Engineering Management and currently studying towards another MS in Mechanical Engineering. Since 1999, Cihangir has worked for the US Army TARDEC as a mechanical engineer in the area of engine research where he has co-authored 6 technical papers.
Cihangir has been married to Dr. Kimberlyn Kucharczyk since 2003 where they live in Livonia with their 3 dogs and 1 cat. In addition, Cihangir and Kimberlyn are happy to announce they are growing their family by adopting a baby from China.
Emre Bülbül 2007
Hülya Çakan 2007
Rengin Usmen 2007
Audit Committee
Two year term, end-year alongside name
Yesim Kayaalp 2008
Hâlide Koçak 2008
Voula Sonbay 2007
Aslı Yashın 2007
Born and raised in Mersin, Turkey, Aslı has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey. She moved to London, England in 1988 right after getting married to her high school friend Murat Yashın. While being eager to learn about a western culture, the two years in London actually taught her the great value of understanding and representing Turkey’s rich culture and values. She and Murat moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1990, then to Charlottesvile, Virginia, in 1991. Aslı received an MBA degree from James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1996. They moved back to Michigan in 1997 when she started her career in banking. She is a Vice President and Relationship Manager in Business Banking. Her job focus is commercial lending. Living in South East Michigan, Aslı finds herself fortunate to work with businessmen and businesswomen from different ethnic backgrounds, whose cultural treasures she truly likes to learn and celebrate along with her Turkish heritage. Aslı served on the TACAM Board as a Vice President in 2002. She appreciated being welcomed by TACAM as a new comer and continuously enjoys being involved in cultural and community activities of TACAM.
Aslı received a Cultural Bridge Ambassador award representing Türkiye, from the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit at “Who’s who in Michigan’s Professional Women Gala”in June 2009.
Aslı and Murat have a son in high school and a daughter in first grade.
President Emeritus
TACAM president for 2005 – 2006
Leylâ Ahmed
Development & Marketing (Non-Board)
Developers of the Anatolian Voice and Web site


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