Welcome to my website. I am an Istanbul based senior mechanical engineer with extensive know-how on project management for EPC projects, power plants and data-centers (design, certification, construction, commissioning and operation) and building an Airbus A320 type simulator at home on a private basis. So please enjoy my website. Kindly note that there is absolutely no affiliation with and no support from Airbus Industries what so ever in my simulator project. All self done.
My passion of aviation dates back to my childhood, where I was privileged to be able to sit in the cockpit during landing to Adana - Turkey in the cockpit of Turkish Airlines with the help and support of my father. I was fascinated with all the cockpit instruments (they were all analog back then) Ever since then I’ve always made my way to the cockpit to chat with the pilots and get detailed information on the cockpit and flight dynamics (this stopped after 9/11 unfortunately)
My cockpit project started back in 2003 in Switzerland. After spending many hours or internet research, this hobby was now an addiction knowing that I was able to build a simulator at home. The first step for me was to draw the cockpit in 3D to get a feeling of dimensions and ratios, this took a long time but also set the basis of my design. You may see a short video of my 3D design on the relevant pages.
There are many home cockpit blogs, websites out there, all are fully respected in their creativity and efforts placed into this hobby. You are free to use all supplied information on my website should you need to build your own home cockpit and even gladly contact me via all possible means to get further information on my setup.
I will continuously report about the progress of my own home cockpit and share interesting engineering projects and achievements. If you have any questions, remarks or you want to contribute to a topic, please do not hesitate to contact.
Email: okansacli@gmail.com
Personal Details
Date of Birth: February 1972
Nationality: British / Turkish Citizen
Marital Status: Married
Military Status: Completed
Educational Background
Master of Science, Mechanical Engineering, Boğazici University, Istanbul, August 1999
Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, June1995
High School, British A’Levels & O’Levels, June 1989 Riyadh - Kindgom of Saudi Arabia
High School, Saudi Arabian International School – Riyadh – American Section
Professional Background
PALMET Engineering A.Ş. – Istanbul/Turkey
August 2006 – present
Executive Board Member
Director of Operations
Turnkey project management, strategic planning, outsourcing and sub-contractor management, site management, finance management, procurement and resources planning of major engineering contracts and projects are a part of key responsibilities together with department & budget management, re-defining of quality procedures and modernization of procedures.
• Turnkey project management , EPC, EPC-F and contracting services for various industries (Power Generation, Data Centers, hi-tech structures and premises, critical cooling systems, civil, architectural mechanical and electrical/electronic works, firefighting and prevention systems, mission critical power systems, BMS/PMS/DSC/SCADA/DCIM monitoring and management systems)
• Facility Management of various customers’ technical premises.
• Accredited Tier Designer (ATD #1256), Data Center design, design reviews according to Uptime Institute’s Tier standards and topology.
• Project Manager: 63 MWe ALES Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Power Plant in Aydın - Project completed, government acceptance successfully completed on 27.04.2013
• Project Manager: Extension project of DELTA Natural Gas FiredCombined Cycle Power Plant from 63 MWe upto 185 MWe in Lüleburgaz (Project on hold)
• Management of the regional first line maintenance services for the biggest GSM provider of Turkey (01.01.2007 - 01.11.2011)
• Service and Maintenance operations
• Construction works /Restoration and refurbishment works
• Energy Systems and power networks
• Management of wind power measurement campaign of 3 nos. of group companies (pre-license)
• National and international business development in “W2E, waste to energy projects, recycling, incineration and/or gasification and power production” from MSW (municipal solid waste) biomass, sludge. Actively taking part in the technical project design / budgeting / acquisition and technical design of various Turkish municipality waste projects.
tele.sjb.partners AG, St.Gallen–Switzerland
August 2004 – June 2006
Deputy General Manager
Plan, organize and manage the over-all GSM & 3G-UMTS network roll-out development for the Orange Communications SA in Switzerland working as a “Strategic Partner”. Responsibilities include all design, project analysis, and preparation of construction documents, bidding, negotiations, sub contractor selection, material purchasing, scheduling, project budget, project development and quality control.
• 100% project completion on time while meeting strict timelines and budget requirements by instructing design consultants and construction sub-contractors, performing regular site visits, following up designs and planned work and evaluate the quality & quantity of the performed work, identifying problems & risks and taking the necessary corrective actions. Instruct and supervise the engineering staff and team leaders of the sub-contractors.
• Design and quality optimization: Created and implemented customized design procedures that increased efficiency, accelerated customer satisfaction and minimized error rates. Took over project that was in danger of being lost due to lack of management quality. Through series of actions, team subsequently delivered outstanding projects which were completed on time meeting customer’s approval.
• Coordinating and performing of client-specific inspections after network integration to ensure optimal performance of site.
• Coordination of periodical maintenance of the 2G / 3G sites of Orange Communications SA.
Cadmec AG, Wetzikon-Switzerland
December 2000 – August 2004
Project Manager
Responsible for the design phase of new macro and micro based GSM/3G-UMTS base transceiver stations and upgrading existing GSM sites to 3G-UMTS standards.
• Design team management and motivation, instructing designers and site inspectors to make efficient designs according to specifications from the client. Monitor all design related issues towards the Hand over documentation.
• Coordinating and negotiating with sub-contractors and all different local authorities.
• Follow up / instruct designers and site inspectors taking the necessary corrective actions on time.
• Provide specific structural solutions for detailed design.
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul-Türkiye
Sept. 1998 – Sept. 2000
Research & Teaching Assistant
• Teaching assistance in Mechanical Engineering, Thermodynamics.
• Engineering contributions in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics in R&D projects.
• Experimental work in research and student’s mechanical laboratories.
• International Relations Assistant for “International Centre for Applied Thermodynamics (partial support).
• Researcher in an experimental and numeric investigation of two-phase flows in horizontal tubes. To understand the fundamental heat transfer characteristics in two-phase flows. CFD solutions and image processing techniques used throughout the research work.
Endem Construction Co., Istanbul – Turkey
Sept.1994 – Sept. 1998
Mechanical Design & Site Engineer
• Engineering design, manufacturing supervision, installation and maintenance of numerous steel structures for industrial premises and chimneys.
• Special purpose machinery design, installation, commissioning and maintenance.
• Site management at CIMSA Cement Factory – Mersin, Steel Construction Cement Mixing Factory.
• Site management at Sisecam Kirklareli Factory, converting an existing high rise chimney into a stainless steel chimney and various revision works.
• Engineering design of a special purpose service crane for the high elevation installation works (Endem TV broadcasting tower) located at Beylikduzu – Istanbul.
Selected technical skills
• ANSYS / Fluent (Finite Element Analysis – CFD Analysis)
• Microsoft Office and SharePoint Applications
• AutoCAD and Applications
Language skills
• English – excellent oral and written communicational skills
• Turkish – excellent oral and written communicational skills
• German – excellent oral communicational skills
Trainings & Courses
• Wind Farm Development and Risk Analysis by DEWI GmbH, İstanbul Radisson
SAS Conferance & Airport Hotel, 22-23 January 2009
• Uptime Institute, Accredited Tier Designer #1256, 28 May 2015
Hobbies & Interests
• Electronics – PCs – Hardware interfacing
• PC’s (hardware), network deployment
• Flight Simulation / Flight Simulators (Lockheed Martin Prepar3D)
• Cockpit & Flight Training Device design. Actively, building an real size Airbus A320 simulator privately.
• Guitar Player (hardrock)