Berkay Kuşkıra

Profile

Lead Structural Analysis Engineer at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with eight years substantiating metallic and composite aerospace primary structure. Current scope spans AI-assisted method-and-tool development for the stress organisation and Fatigue & Damage Tolerance ownership on a fighter-jet programme. Track record includes EASA CS-23 certification on the Hürkuş trainer (forward fuselage, rudder), GFEM-driven sizing across fighter-jet primary structure, and preliminary landing-gear and e-VTOL structural studies. Authors release-level stress reports, drives slow-crack-growth and fail-safe assessments, and closes non-conformances across loads, design and test interfaces.

Experience

1. Method & Tool Development Engineer

   Oct 2025 — Present

   Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) · Ankara, Turkey

   • Develop AI-assisted internal tooling that automates repetitive stress-analysis workflows and scales analyst throughput across the organisation.
   • Build machine-learning surrogate models that approximate expensive FE evaluations, enabling rapid sizing trades and design-space exploration.
   • Use LLM-based code generation and agentic workflows to accelerate Python tooling, Nastran/Abaqus parser development and stress-report automation.
   • Build automated FE post-processing pipelines (pyNastran, Abaqus/Femap scripting) that turn raw results into margin-of-safety tables and report-ready figures.
   • Standardise hand-calc workbooks and stress-report templates for cross-programme reuse, with version control and input/output validation baked in.
   • Bridge analysis, IT and engineering teams — translate analyst pain points into deployable, maintained internal tools.

2. Fatigue & Damage Tolerance Engineer

   Aug 2021 — Present

   Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) · Ankara, Turkey

   • Lead the Durability & Damage Tolerance (DaDT) workpackage on primary metallic and composite airframe structure of a next-generation fighter platform.
   • Own the DaDT analysis chain — GFEM internal-load extraction, detailed sub-models, fatigue spectra application, crack-growth assessment, and inspection-interval setting.
   • Author and release DaDT stress reports for fracture-critical and durability-critical parts with formal revision control and design-office sign-off.
   • Substantiate joints, cut-outs, fillets, fastener load transfer and complex feature stress concentrations through detailed FE modelling and classical hand-calc methods.
   • Extract DaDT allowables for multiple material and configuration cases and feed them into the GFEM-based global sizing loop.
   • Drive primary-structure trade studies on stock size, alloy selection and section topology against weight and DaDT figures of merit.
   • Adjudicate structural non-conformances on produced parts — release repair schemes, life-impact assessments and concession dispositions.
   • Mentor junior stress engineers on hand-calc / FE workflow, fatigue methodology and report standards.

3. Structural Analysis Engineer

   Sep 2017 — Aug 2021

   Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) · Istanbul, Turkey

   • Hürkuş Trainer — substantiated metallic and composite primary structure on the Hürkuş-B forward fuselage and Hürkuş-C rudder against EASA CS-23 requirements.
   • Hürkuş-B — authored the forward-fuselage certification stress report and closed authority and internal review comments through release.
   • Hürkuş-C — led the rudder weight-reduction study via composite lay-up resizing and hinge re-design while preserving reserve-factor compliance.
   • e-VTOL Cargo Concept — drove conceptual structural sizing (load-path layout, primary-mass estimation, material down-selection) for an e-VTOL military cargo platform.
   • Re-engineered structural attachments and routing supports for aircraft hydraulic and fuel-system upgrades while preserving the original type-design substantiation.
   • Landing-Gear Preliminary — built the first analysis-grade landing-gear FE model and performed initial sizing of strut and trunnion fittings against drop and braking load cases.
   • Correlated FE results against coupon and element-level test data; closed analysis-vs-test discrepancies inside the certification report chain.

4. Project Student & Intern

   Jul 2016 — Jun 2017

   TEI — TUSAŞ Engine Industries · Eskişehir, Turkey

   • Undergraduate research on a gas-turbine-engine curvic coupling — parametric FE study of tooth-flank stress and contact pressure under various load cases (B.Sc. thesis).
   • Earlier 2016 summer internship — hands-on exposure to the engine programme stress and design teams.

Education

1. M.Sc. in Solid Mechanics

   Feb 2018 — Jul 2022

   Istanbul Technical University · Istanbul, Turkey · GPA 3.69 / 4.00

   Thesis

   Optimization of CFRP Prepreg Composite Rim by Using MOGA-II Genetic Algorithm

   Lectures

   • Finite Element Analysis in Engineering
   • Theory of Elasticity
   • Foundations of Solid Mechanics
   • Failure Analysis
   • Fatigue of Materials and Structures
   • Engineering Mathematics
   • Advanced Topics in Materials Handling
   • Introduction to Computer Aided Engineering

2. B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering — Specialty: Structure

   2012 — 2017

   Yıldız Technical University · Istanbul, Turkey · GPA 3.55 / 4.00

   Thesis

   Behavior of a Gas Turbine Engine Curvic Coupling Parameters Under Various Loads · TEI undergraduate research

3. Erasmus+ Exchange — Mechanical Engineering

   2015 — 2016

   Brno University of Technology · Brno, Czech Republic

Selected reading

References that shaped how I work.