Muharrem Sahbaz has been pursuing a career full of technical knowledge and innovations at Özdisan Elektronik, where he has been working as the Director of the R&D and Technical Support Department for many years now. Born in Istanbul, Sahbaz was raised with sense of responsibility as a member of a working family and constantly developed himself in a technical and professional sense during his youth full of difficulties. Sahbaz, who made his name in the industry after graduating Marmara University, gives valuable information about his career at Özdisan, the roles he has assumed and the opportunities the company provides to its employees. You will find the details of his life and professional journey with his own words in this interview.
The biggest advantage that Özdisan offers is an organization where you can feel yourself at home, allows you to take risks, and is open to innovative ideas.
Muharrem, can you tell us about yourself please?
I was born in 1982. I spent my childhood, school age and youth in Istanbul. As a child of a worker, the responsibility, taking on tasks and finishing the given jobs have been associated with my character since my childhood. I live with my 14 year old son Ali and my 12 year old daughter Zeynep. You can call me a person who is away from anything artificial and close to everything that carries the truth, even when it’s painful. My interests and hobbies include reading books, listening to music, nature, scouting, swimming, Aikido, mysticism, personal development and child development, and recently adolescent psychology. Professional knowledge and innovations, on the other hand, have become our “individual” interests rather than our professional obligations. I have been working at Özdisan Elektronik as the Director of the R&D and Technical Support Department for about 18 years now.
How about your educational background?
I graduated Marmara University Department of Electrical Education. I have been working in the industry anyway, since I had to work, but now I’m working as a certified employee with a diploma. Also, even though I studied at a technical school, I used to visit the library of the faculty of arts and sciences frequently. Literature, philosophy and mysticism became the three “pillars” that formed the foundations of my life. I can say that my “profession” is the sustenance of my material side, while these three pillars are of my inner world. By the way, reading Paulo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist”, which I can define as the fundamental book in my life, was a cornerstone for me at my highschool age. I recommend it to everyone. O also think that studying at a university in Istanbul and having real friends is one of the greatest gifts the world has to offer.
Can you tell us about your experience and your story of joining Özdisan?
I can say that I have experienced “all the possible jobs” that every child raised in the suburbs of Istanbul. In a professional sense,
however, I started my career by working as an electrician at several workshops, automation staff at some factories and as the
apprentice of Hilmi Ucak, who is one of the best electricians in the city. I have experienced many automation applications and realized several projects. While I was looking for a way to get rid of relays and time relays and find a faster and easier solution, I came across
programmable integrated circuits known as PIC. I have completed some of my automation tasks with this small but highly functional
integrated units.
The day I applied for an R&D engineer position at a company at which my friend Abdulkadir Kayikli was the Manager of R&D Department after I graduated the University, I also wanted to visit and thank to Yasin Yilmaz, the Manager of Automation and Technical Department at Özdisan, who had also remotely helped me in some Panasonic PLC and Servo jobs before. During this visit, Yasin stated that they were looking for a technical support engineer and that I could apply for the position. I accepted to work at Özdisan as it offered better opportunities. As a young engineer at the age of 24, I stepped into my first and yet last corporate working life. This is how I started to work at Özdisan.
I have experienced many automation applications and realized several projects.
Can you tell us about your role at Özdisan and the advantages that the company offers?
Just one year after I completed some projects at the automation department, our Assistant General Manager Okan Abdi offered me a
position at the electronics department. With the content from Yasin, I moved to my new position as the first electronic technical support engineer at Özdisan, which offered new roles and opportunities. During my professional life, I had the opportunity to establish a “technical unit”, if you will, that will pave the way for establishing several technical departments at Özdisan and allow new engineers to work at. Our company, which has been constantly growing and is a pioneer of innovations in its field, has established technical infrastructure departments such as R&D, FAE, LED, PCB in the following years as well. Many employees who will take an active role in sales and export operations have been trained by our department. To me, the biggest advantage that Özdisan offers is an organization where you can feel yourself at home, allows you to take risks, and is open to innovative ideas. Working at a local company that was “born” in and has been representing these soils in global markets makes you feel that all of your efforts contribute to your country, not only to your pocket. My biggest source of motivation is to be able to reach thousands of companies and tens of thousands of engineers and offer innovations, technical details and products to them.
Can you tell us a little about the R&D and Technical Support Department and its tasks?
The most basic task of our R&D and Technical Support Department where I work as the Manager is to support the sales operations of the company. We do this in four main categories with our staff of 8 engineers, 3 technicians and several trainees. Technical support, project, testing and reporting, training and documentation… The tasks of Technical Support can be summarized as providing a solid two-sided data flow by acting as a bridge between the technical staff of the brands we represent and our customers, solving the issues by site visits, phone or email, providing our customers with any kind of support that will allow them to use our products easily, opening the way for business using this communication channel again according to the situations faced by sales personnel on the field. Project tasks include providing partial support for the projects of our customers with whom we have made corporate agreements, so that they can use the products we sell. Testing and reporting; According to the requests from our customers or our quality department, we conduct tests on the products as much as we can measure with our advanced laboratory equipment facilities, which are regularly calibrated, and provide reports to both our manufacturers and our customers. These reports are audited and archived in accordance with ISO standards. Training and documentation: Although Özdisan Elektronik consists of many departments that operate dynamically, supporting the technical infrastructure of the staff is among our tasks. We also organize training programs for the technical trainings about our brands, as requested by our customers. Our department also provides documentation and logistics support for preparations to trade fairs and for data feeding of web information services, upon request.
And finally, what are your final messages for our readers?
I advise our readers not to neglect to look around them as they move along the time train. There is a saying, “Living is to wait for the music you love to end, before getting off the car”. Özdisan Elektronik offers a perfect environment for hardworking people who want to succeed. If you neglect your friends, neighbors, family members or children, no success is success. We, as the Özdisan family, have this social richness.
