About Dr. M.A. Baytaş

Dr. Mehmet Aydın Baytaş, known as Baytaş among friends, is a Turkish/Swedish designer and engineer, currently based in Gothenburg, Sweden.

He runs an independent studio practice building products and experiences on the web, working with startup founders and fellow designers.

He produces Design Disciplin, a multi-platform publication with a website, podcast, and YouTube channel to inspire and inform the next generation of designers.

He has a PhD in human-computer interaction design, based on engineering, creative, and qualitative research contributions around spatial computing.

Born 1988 and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Baytaş attended Robert College in Istanbul, and earned degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Economics, as well as master's and PhD degrees from the innovative Design, Technology and Society program, at Koç University.

After an early career in freelancing and e-commerce startups, he developed his practice at the intersection of design and technology as a founding member of Koç University's Design Lab and Research Center for Creative Industries.

As an academic, Baytaş has authored 30+ peer-reviewed publications with 300+ citations, including award-winning works given at the esteemed ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and the ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. His research projects spanning spatial computing, physical interfaces, interactive robotics, augmented reality, gesture sensing, blockchain applications, electronic music, and design education have received funding from the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Program, the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council, an engineering sciences grant from the Swedish Research Council, and a $1.5M grant for AI research from the Wallenberg Foundations.

He has co-founded the Research Center for Creative Industries at Koç University in Istanbul – a first-of-its-kind institution in Turkey focusing on design, technology, and creativity – raising a $2M startup grant from Arçelik, and grown it into a self-sustaining organization.

He has designed and taught curricula on interface design, user experience design, interaction design, design philosophy, research methods, creative coding, computer science, and software development to hundreds of students at Koç University and Chalmers University of Technology, and given guest lectures at institutions that include Simon Fraser University's School of Interactive Arts & Technology, University of East Anglia's School of Psychology, RMIT University, Boğaziçi University, University of Nottingham, University of Bergen, the Italian Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. More recently he has taught UI Design, web design, front-end development, and creative coding at IT-Högskolan and Hyper Island in Sweden, as well as coaching creative innovators worldwide through workshops and online platforms.

As a learning enthusiast, he has earned degrees in mechanical engineering and economics, a PhD in human-computer interaction design, and certifications in AI, finance, Design Thinking, product strategy, innovation management, and yoga.

Baytaş is a member of the advisory board at SXSW Pitch, recruiting and mentoring startups to meet industry experts, high-profile media, and investors at the yearly event.

Since 2021, Baytaş conducts his commercial practice through his business studio WEATHERLIGHT.